Museum Celebrates A Perfect Ten
The National Museum of Rural Life at Kittochside, East Kilbride has marked its 10th anniversary year by gift-wrapping one of its most popular exhibits – a 1949 David Brown Cropmaster tractor that is on display at the attraction’s main entrance.
The Museum will be also giving away the perfect birthday present in the form of free entry for all visitors on Sunday 3 July this year.
The National Museum of Rural Life opened its doors for the first time on 3 July 2001. A successful partnership with the National Trust for Scotland, it has since seen over 600,000 visitors through its doors. The popular attraction comprises a modern 50,000 sq ft Museum building that showcases the history of Scotland’s rural past, as well as a 1950s working farm complete with an Ayrshire dairy herd, sheep, pigs, hens, a Highland Cow and Mairi the Clydesdale horse.
Since it opened, new arrivals at the Museum have included 630 lambs, 96 calves and 42 piglets. The Ayrshire dairy herd has produced 294,000 litres of milk and over 247 new objects have been added to the collections in the main Museum building. The attraction has also introduced two play tractors, allotments, a bug-house, an Anderson Shelter, a blacksmith’s display, a threshing mill and a horse engine.
In the last decade, Museum staff have also seen some of the rural values of the past make a welcome return as topics such as the importance of local, sustainable means of production, care for the environment and an increased interest in rare breeds become common currency in the current food debate.
Duncan Dornan has been the General Manager at the National Museum of Rural Life since it opened. He said;
"In 10 years, we have seen this Museum grow into one of the country’s best-loved and popular attractions. It is a chance to experience the real countryside – from farm animals and acres of fields to the tools we have used to shape the land over the centuries. It plays a valuable role in sharing the story of Scotland’s rural heritage and exploring topics such as food production and environmental sustainability. We’d like to thank everyone for the support they have shown us over the last decade and hope that people from up and down the country will visit during our anniversary year."
