Battle of Prestonpans Visitor Centre proposed
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A detailed proposal for a new Visitor Centre at the site of the Battle of Prestonpans in East Lothian has been published. The report authored by a leading management and hospitality consultants predicts 70,000 visitors a year.
The Battle of Prestonpans was a victory for the Jacobite forces over the Government troops. I always thought it was a bit strange that the only permanent memorial to the Battle is a modest stone cairn. In fact I first found out about the Battle when I saw a battle scene depicted on the exterior wall of an amusement arcade at Portobello beach in Edinburgh.
The cairn
There is currently a portocabin Visitor Centre in a car park close to the site only open at weekends and staffed by volunteers A 6 million pound Visitor Centre with grand arches and a pyramid style roof will be a far cry from the lowly portocabin.
The current Visitor Centre
I think in the current climate of nationalism in Scotland the Visitor Centre would attract a lot of Scots. Its location 10 miles from central Edinburgh and a couple of minutes drive off the A1 dual carriageway would provide a large number of potential visitors.
I think that East Lothian already has a lot of attractions for visitors and another place to visit within a fairly compact county should increase visitors numbers. The village of Prestonpans already has a really interesting murals trail and a well preserved mercat cross.
One of the beach murals in Prestonpans
