Why we love Glencoe

Transcript

Seven voices: Emily (Operations Manager); Lucy (Visitor Services Assistant); four visitors; Lynsay (Ranger)

Emily - I'm Emily. I'm the Operations Manager for the National Trust for Scotland here at Glencoe National Nature Reserve.
Glencoe is quite unique as a National Nature Reserve in that we've got a major road passing right through the middle of it and that brings 2 million cars every year.
Loads of people who stop to enjoy the views, enjoy the landscape and go out for walks in the glen.
I think Glencoe is a place that you can visit all year round but we do have quite a bit of rain here, so the visitor centre can be a great place to come in in all weathers to warm up and dry off if you do happen to visit on a day where it's a little bit wet.
Our team at the info hub give visitors advice about where to go for walks, and we've got a lovely café with fantastic views and lots of homemade food for you to enjoy.
If you really want to help our charity, you can treat yourself in our shop, which has a whole range of local gifts and unique souvenirs to take away with you.
I feel thoroughly lucky to have the opportunity to come to work every day in Glencoe; it's one of my favourite places.
To know that the work that we do is helping to conserve these places for centuries to come, I just feel really lucky to play a part in it all.

Lucy - I'm Lucy and I'm a Visitor Services Assistant for the National Trust for Scotland here at Glencoe National Nature Reserve.
This is the 17th-century turf and creel house reconstruction project.
The whole project is inspired by archaeological excavations that were made further down the glen at Achtriochtan.
We know that Achtriochtan was a settlement at the time of the massacre of Glencoe in 1692.
The excavations that were done there by the archaeologists inspired this building and informed how the building would look.
It's all based on the archaeological evidence and then backed up with other documents and descriptions from the period to give us an overall image of how the building would have looked.
This has been a really exciting project to work on and it's a great addition to our centre here in Glencoe.
It was made possible entirely through the generous donations made by supporters of the National Trust for Scotland and memberships as well.

Visitor 1 - I really like just seeing the Highlands. I've heard about them my whole life.
My family comes from Scottish ancestry but I've never been here.
Seeing the thatch house is super cool because I've always wondered how they were put together.
Between going inside and going outside, you could really understand what they were doing, and I loved seeing the water dripping off of the roof and stuff -- it's really neat.

Lynsay - My name is Lynsay.
I’m a Ranger for the National Trust for Scotland here at Glencoe National Nature Reserve.
This is my office!
What I love most about Glencoe is just a feeling when I'm there in Glencoe, and it's just the whole thing, everything: the wildlife, the plant life, the mountains.
I just love it.
It's like home. I came here and I never left because I just fell in love with the place as a whole.
I can't put it into words.
I love it!

Visitor 2 - This is our second visit to Scotland.
The first time we couldn't make it here.
We had heard a lot about this visitor centre as well.
Obviously the beauty of Glencoe is really beautiful but also the tragic past, the Glencoe Massacre.
It's a romantic past and it’s a tragic past as well. The combination of it was something that attracted and I thought I should make this trip north to see how they lived.
The turf house was really beautiful.
It gave us a background of how they would have lived, so it was good.

Visitor 3 - I seriously love Glencoe.
I loved that little archaeological house that they built.

Visitor 4 - I love the heather.
I've always wanted to touch the heather.
I want to be Scottish now!

Visitor 3 - Yes! We want to come back here.

Visitor 4 - And we may need to!

Visitor 3 - It's gorgeous.

Visitor 4 - Breathtaking.

Lucy - I love Glencoe because it's home.
It's where my family come from, it's where I've grown up and I feel a part of the glen.
I love Glencoe because it's full of stories, folklore, tales that have been told for hundreds of years.
I love Glencoe because of the changing seasons.
It's never the same from one day to the next.
I love Glencoe because it looks like this!