A new £238,000 pedestrian bridge built by Beaver Bridges has been officially opened at Doune Castle.
The crossing comes as part of a collaborative partnership involving Historic Environment Scotland (HES), Stirling Council and local community groups.
Spanning the Ardoch Burn by The Mill of Doune, the new bridge utilises homegrown Scottish Larch sourced from woods to the north east of Doune. Locally sourced stone was also used, with HES’ in-house apprentice team learning traditional skills to cut and lay it in place during the build.
The build follows a ‘significant’ rise in interest in Doune Castle over recent years, which HES said is thanks to its part in global TV hit Outlander. Prior to the new crossing’s opening, there was ‘no obvious’ pedestrian links between the castle and Doune Village – with a new interpretive trail also coming alongside the bridge build.
Speaking at the opening of the new bridge, HES chief executive Alex Paterson said, “Doune Castle and the surrounding village are wonderful heritage and tourism attractions, which have seen a marked rise in popularity in recent years. While this is always welcome, especially given the importance of heritage tourism to both the local and wider Scottish economy, it also highlights the need for and importance of sustainable investment to ensure sites like Doune and its local community are maintained and protected, so they can be enjoyed by visitors and locals now and into the future.
“The construction of this new bridge is a great example of that approach, working with local communities and partners to improve the overall visitor offer by linking the castle to other attractions around the area, thereby further enhancing what was already a first-class visitor destination.”
The upcoming March edition of Project Scotland will feature an exclusive interview with Adam Curtis, senior project manager at Beaver Bridges, on what he described as the ‘most challenging’ build of his career.
