Evaluating Peregrini

The new(ish) visitor buildings on #HolyIsland proved useful when Holy Island Hikes #walkers were dodging the rain showers at the weekend. pic.twitter.com/fV8jt60i5G

The new leaflet from @NE_Northumbria shows the marsh helleborine next to the caption and description of the #Lindisfarne helleborine !?! pic.twitter.com/CWRf6AuseI

I am really excited to have started working with @alanfentiman to produce an evaluation film which will celebrate the best of the Peregrini Lindisfarne Landscape Partnership Scheme. Filming will start properly next week with a visit to live projects at Common Slap (archaeology) and St Cuthbert’s Island (historic buildings). I can’t wait to see the results. Fingers crossed for some good weather!

Last week I visited the gun emplacement at Scremerston. The first thing that struck me about it was just how huge it was. Seeing the size of it suddenly gave me a glimpse into what it might have been like all those decades ago (the dog in the photo shows the scale). It is not a beautiful construction as many of the other Peregrini heritage buildings are, but it is no less evocative.

This weekend, the project hosted an open day at the gun emplacement and 23 visitors were able to view illustrations showing the structure during wartime, with the huge gun in situ. Project staff and volunteers were on hand to provide further information about the site and other areas of the project.

It seems a shame that more people didn’t take up this opportunity and I wonder what would encourage more people to view this as a building of historical significance. Perhaps the interpretation that will be installed here will help with this - to enable walkers and beach goers to find out a little bit more about the heritage of this coastline.

The evaluation questions for this project are:

1. Is the work done to improve the structure (cleaning graffiti, removing litter etc) sustainable?