I READ with interest your article “Time for our battlefields to be protected” (April 16), and the fact that continued attempts have been made to encroach on the Culloden site, bringing this to the fore.
I live on the fringes of one of the most ignored sites of all: The Battle of Sheriffmuir, 13th November 1715, the site of the first Jacobite rising.
This location was badly mutilated in the late forties by the installation of what was at that time the drive to provide electricity for all, by the erection of a very large pylon line right through the middle of the battlefield.
READ MORE: Culloden 275: Call to support World Heritage status bid on battle anniversary
Move on to around 15 years or so ago and it became time to replace this, with even higher new pylons. We locals, allied to other interested parties, objected to this proposed course of action, and the usual objections were raised in an attempt to relocate the line, or even put it underground. All, however, to no avail; it was given the go-ahead and the monstrous new construction replaced the old.
There are other parts of the history of this site which have not been investigated, for instance there is no record of the location of the burial sites for the fallen, which must be somewhere, and I would have thought that modern technology could play some part in finding such locations.
With the proposed enthusiasms of the coming election and an independent future for our country, it might just be possible to rectify some of these ill-judged actions of the past.
George M Mitchell
Sheriffmuir, Dunblane
NOT only is Culloden a site of historical significance, it is a war grave/memorial. It should be afforded the same due regard and protection of other Commonwealth war graves around the world. Commercial/housing pressures should never be allowed to impinge on the site, as not only would that be crass and disrespectful of those killed in the battle but it would lead to our history being relegated to a footnote or, worse, forgotten.
Bill MacGregor
via thenational.scot
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