Catrine

10 March 2023

Catrine is a small village in East Ayrshire with a fascinating history in the textiles industry. Sadly, not many people have heard of Catrine, certainly not compared to the nearby and better-preserved World Heritage Site of New Lanark.

In 2012, I was appointed jointly with another consultant as ‘Interpretation Project Manager’ for an HLF-funded project to create the “Community Education and Visitor Interpretation Centre” (CEVIC).

The centre was created via a community ‘right-to-buy’ application for an existing Manse and Chapel. A good summary of the entire project and the wider context in Catrine can be found in this article in the Daily Record newspaper.

Exterior view of the Community Education and Visitor Interpretation Centre, Catrine, East Ayrshire

The project was entirely community and volunteer run. The CEVIC is both a visitor centre and a community centre. It holds interpretation, digital archives, film and children’s activities as well as a locally-run café. It opened in 2017.

My role was to create the (mainly digital) exhibits. All the content for the interpretation was developed with community groups and members, from the Audio-Visuals to the panels and digital exhibits, the website and even the GPS-enabled guided-walks delivered by smartphone App.

The walks were developed in community workshops I ran with a group spanning three generations of local residents. Together we decided on the ‘must see’ points of interest and stories to be covered. This was followed up by a series of ‘test walks’ where we followed the proposed routes, finalising the directions and content for each stop. The app was built using software by a New Zealand based company called My Tours at the time and now called STQRY.

Graphic Design throughout is by Tea and Type.