1000th visitor for Scapa Flow Museum

Visitor numbers are off to a roaring start at the newly-reopened Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum, with the facility welcoming its 1000th visitor over the weekend.

Following at £4.4m refurbishment the Museum reopened to visitors from 2 July.

Bridgett Brunea from Harrisburg, Virginia, USA, was the 1000th visitor through the door. 

Nick Hewitt is the Council's Team Leader for Culture.  He said: "It's been an absolute whirlwind since we opened the doors on 2 July.  The feedback from visitors has been absolutely incredible. 

“The facility is truly a place that my team, the Council and the whole community can be proud of. With us less than two weeks into the school holidays it has been fantastic to hit that 1000 milestone so quickly and we look forward to welcoming many more visitors through the door in the coming months - including Olympian Sir Chris Hoy in September for the official opening."

The £4.4m Scapa Flow Museum refurbishment comprises an extension to the Museum and refurbishment of its historic oil pumphouse. The project has been supported by Orkney Islands Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland, the Orkney LEADER 2014-2020 programme, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, NatureScot and Museums Galleries Scotland.

Scapa Flow Museum is run by Orkney Islands Council. It charts Orkney’s military involvement in the First and Second World Wars and provides a safe home for a major collection of wartime artefacts, many of national and international importance. Sited at the former Lyness Royal Naval Base HMS Proserpine, on the island of Hoy, the Museum tells the story of Scapa Flow as the UK’s most important naval anchorage during both world wars.

New additions to the Museum include a Virtual Reality display drawing on the expertise of the University of St Andrews School of Computer Science and funded by CUPIDO, a collaboration between Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the University aimed at boosting cultural assets and offerings across the North of Scotland. Also in store for visitors are renewed audio visuals developed the history of Scapa Flow and its modern-day role in Orkney.

Local pupils from North Walls Community School have been closely involved as ‘Junior Curators’ in the development of offerings for their peers, including the dedicated 'education space' for visiting children, with a hand in details such as labels and voice recordings for artefacts and even instructions for interactive elements of the Museum.