Arduaine Gardens, near Kilmelford, keeps one of the largest ranges of rhododendrons in the UK. Alongside the rare species brought back from all over the world in the 19th century by botanist George Forrest, it makes it botanically very important for Scotland. However, due to a downturn in visitor numbers and related revenue, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has decided to close its doors, putting at risk four jobs.

John Roy of the Society of Rhododendrons said: ‘The closure of the gardens at Arduaine will mean that rare species may be lost to the nation forever. It does not take long for a garden to get overgrown and lost once it is no longer tended.’

Barbara Newth, chairwoman of the NTS Argyll Members Group, said: ‘I don’t know how you can close a garden when the NTS is supposed to keep it open for the nation. A garden, unlike a house, cannot be mothballed. We will be ardently objecting to this closure. The NTS is reducing its staff numbers by 91.’

An NTS insider said: ‘This is the third time in two years jobs have been cut at the trust. You are asked to reapply for your own job or your colleague’s or manager’s job. Frankly, the organisation will soon be so short staffed that visitors will need to make appointments to see properties and gardens.’

NTS decline to comment on their timeline for the garden's closure  but it will be over the next few months. NTS also refused to comment on whether staff at the site would be lose their jobs.

Ed and Harry Wright gifted the gardens to the nation in 1992 after 21 years of restoration work by the brothers. The history of the garden goes back to 1895 when the site was purchased by J Arthur Campbell of Inverawe.

The Forth Time Line approach

                                                                                                                      The exhibit at the Regimental Museum of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders explores the sounds of front-line surgery during the nineteenth century.  The exhibit describes a battlefield amputation carried out by Surgeon General William Munro M.D., C.B., L.L.D., who served with the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders and the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders between 1844 and 1867. Told through the tale of an actual operation carried out during the Indian mutiny of 1857, listeners hear the sound of scalpel and saw on flesh and bone, while the battle carries on outside.
 
Rod Mackenzie, Assistant Curator of Regimental Museum of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, “As well as being an accomplished surgeon Munro was a gifted writer. He scribed a wonderfully descriptive account of his life in the regiment. This resource has proved invaluable to historians researching how the men in the regiment lived and the medical practises of the period.”
 
“He was an intriguing character, popular and well loved by all the ranks, often administering his skills under enemy fire. He was a great believer in the use of specific forms of anaesthetic long before they were widely used on the battlefield.
 
“At the museum, people can use their imagination to match the grim sounds of the recording to Munro’s tools before them. Munro was alive during a fascinating part of British history and his accounts and legacy give us a window into the life of a soldier towards the end of the British Empire.”
 
A former serving officer with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlander, Colonel Bobby Steele T.D. J.L. L.P. the Regimental Secretary at the Headquarters of The Royal Highland Fusiliers in Glasgow, has lent his voice to William Munro.
 
The audio exhibit was created for the Forth’s Timeline Project, a collaboration of 16 museums, galleries and sites of historic interest in the Forth Valley backed by Museums Galleries Scotland’s Regional Development Challenge Fund.
 
The other audio presentations can be heard beside the world’s oldest football in the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, and the Carronade display at Callendar House in Falkirk. The latter  gives voice to Charles Gascoigne, a controversial man working in Scotland’s eighteenth century Iron industry who was the developer of the Carronade (right) weapon of choice for the British Navy, and manager of the Carron Company Ironworks.  Dr Les Forester, a member of Falkirk Local History Society, originally from the North East of England, provided the voice of Charles Gascoigne.

Not having yet mastered the insertion of code in ComputeScotland's website, Gaberlunzie sources the quickest route for enthusiasts to access the embedded code for the AVs that is so helpfully provided.
 
The Regional Development Challenge Fund is funded by the Scottish Government and administered by innovative Museums Galleries Scotland. The Fund aims to encourage the development of partnerships at regional level across local authorities and between museums of all types and other related agencies.
 
The Time Line takes in The Regimental Museum of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Kilmadock Information & Heritage Centre, Clackmannanshire Tower Trail, Clackmannan Tower, Menstrie Castle, Sauchie Tower, Alloa Tower, Castle Campbell and Garden, Dollar Museum, Tullibody Heritage Centre, Callendar House, Kinneil Museum, Grangemouth Museum, The Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, Birkhill Fireclay Mine and the University of Stirling Art Collection.

If the National Trust is hell-bent on closing properties such as Haddo House and the famed Arduaine Gardens in Argyll, perhaps a Lost Attractions Time Line is urgently needed to snatch some audiovisual memories of the historic dissolving of some of those good jewels in Scotland's crown.
Sources: Oban Times
Forth Time Line
Multimedia exhibits
Haddo House