Pete Ellis, Northern Isles Manager for RSPB Scotland, describes his excitement at seeing the new visitor facilities at Sumburgh Head opened.
On Tuesday I attended the opening ceremony for the newly refurbished Sumburgh Head Lighthouse Buildings. The buildings are on the RSPB Sumburgh Head nature reserve at the southern tip of mainland Shetland.
Image credit: Frank Bradford.
Shetland Amenity Trust was the lead partner in this ambitious and visionary project, with support from RSPB Scotland and the Northern Lighthouse Board. Much of the £5.4 million of grant funding was provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and European Rural Development Fund. The development has been over ten years in the planning and construction, refurbishment and design work took two years, culminating in a brand new and exciting visitor facility.
HRH The Princess Royal was there to declare the world class facility officially open, along with hundreds of invited guests including RSPB Scotland Director Stuart Housden, East Scotland Regional Reserves Manager Simon Busuttil, and me (Northern Isles Manager).
As patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board, Her Royal Highness has visited Sumburgh Head Lighthouse many times, but I was proud (and a little nervous) to be given the honour of showing her around the new Marine Life Centre. We enjoyed the new interpretation, especially the calling ‘whales’ and despite the bad weather even managed to spot a few seabirds.
Image credits: Frank Bradford.
The Sumburgh Head Project has been a long-term ambition for the local community, and everyone involved, particularly Jimmy Moncrieff, the Shetland Amenity Trust’s General Manager, was proud to see so many years of hard work and planning come to fruition.
We are absolutely thrilled to have been a part of it. The main RSPB office for Shetland is next to the shop, and there is self-catering accommodation which can be rented by the public. There is also a bothy which we will use for residential volunteers from 2015. We welcome volunteers keen to work and stay at Sumburgh who would like to apply.
Shetland is a magnificent place for marine wildlife. Scorpion fish, sandeels, and bootlace weed are just a few of the amazing things waiting to be discovered in the waters around Shetland. And those seaborne riches mean the isles are home to internationally important colonies of seabirds including skuas, razorbills, kittiwakes, shags, fulmars, guillemots, and of course puffins.
Puffin by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Sumburgh Head is probably the most accessible place to see seabirds like puffins up close in the UK, and given the threats to seabirds and marine wildlife it’s vital their story is told to as big an audience as possible. We are delighted Sumburgh now has world-class visitor facilities to accompany its world-class wildlife experience.
Sumburgh Head nature reserve is open at all times and the Visitor Centre is open daily between 10.00am and 4.00pm. Special family and concession tickets are available for the indoor elements of the Sumburgh Head Experience. Visit www.sumburghhead.com or http://www.rspb.org.uk/sumburghhead/
We hope to see you soon! But, don’t worry if you can’t make it here in person - you can watch fabulous footage from the world-famous Sumburgh Head webcams online at www.shetland.org/puffincam/