Sinclair’s Bay Trust are excited to announce their intention to create a “Caithness At War” World War Two trail around Sinclair’s Bay, which will initially focus on 16 sites or events of significant importance during the war.
The trail is being launched in collaboration with Wick Development Trust who plan to continue the trail into Wick, and it is hoped that other trusts or organisations will eventually get involved in the project to help spread the trail across the remainder of Caithness.
Alistair Jack, Development Trust Officer stated;
“The initial aim of this project was to protect and showcase the remaining World War 2 structures around Sinclair’s Bay, however it has grown into something much larger and more impressive.
The trail has been designed to tell the story of how important Caithness was during the war, and to educate not only visitors, but locals as well. It is so important that people understand the sacrifices made by the people of Caithness, and that we never forget what happened in our county during these turbulent years in our recent history.”
The first two phases of the project will be the creation of the trail that will stretch from Keiss to Noss Head, with extremely detailed and accurate information being provided at each site by display panels, however the truly exciting part is that we are also in the process of developing an Augmented Reality App that will be able to be download for free, and will generate an Augmented Reality experience at 8 of the 16 designated sites on the trail.
Augmented Reality is an exciting and emerging technology, that merges the real world with the virtual world, and our App will allow users to interact with computer generated 3D experiences on their smart phone or tablet, which will truly bring history to life.
As well as the App, the information panels will have QR codes linking back to a new “Caithness At War” website which is being created, that will allow users of the trail to access loads of additional information, as well as war time videos and photographs. To get the best out of the trail it will be important to combine the physical sites, with the information panels, Augmented Reality App, and the website to create what we hope will be a truly amazing experience for all generations.
Maysie Calder, Chairperson of Sinclair’s Bay Trust commented;
“Sinclair’s Bay Trust is very excited to bring this project forward and showcase our historical wartime past. This will bring multiple benefits to both locals and visitors to the area, and is an attraction that will contribute towards a much-needed economic growth within the county.
Using emerging AR technology that brings history to life, will allow the Trust to deliver an exciting learning experience to all age demographics, and we hope to further develop the App to capture all aspects of our rich heritage, which will be used on future historical trails around Sinclair’s Bay.
We are delighted to be working in close collaboration with Wick Development Trust to establish these first two Caithness At War trails, which we hope will be the start of something that will eventually expand across the county, creating what has the potential to be an amazing educational experience.”
The first two phases of our project have been kindly funded by the Caithness Beatrice Community Fund, and we hope that over time we will be able to deliver more elements to the trail which will further enhance the experience of the “Caithness At War” project.
We are currently in discussions with landowners and the planning department regarding the information panels, but if all goes well hope to have the trail established by May 2022.