A couple who were the first workers from a major Highland industrial centre to tie the knot were among those visiting a special exhibition reminiscing about the company yesterday.
Sandy and Linda Cuthbert both worked at McDermott Construction’s Arsersier yard, which was a leading supplier in the field of offshore construction for oil and gas companies for almost 30 years.
Their wedding, which took place at The Methodist Church 40 years ago, was reported in one of the company’s in-house magazines on show at the Highland Archive Centre yesterday. Mrs Cuthbert was a secretary for the company’s engineering department and Mr Cuthbert worked in the purchasing department.
The pair were among 90 people, mainly ex employees and relatives, who showed up to the drop-in exhibition which included photographs, staff magazines and other records documenting the yard’s development, engineering contribution and its wider benefit to the region.
At its peak, around 4,500 people were employed at the Whiteness Point site, building and then moving some of the world’s largest manmade structures.
This industrial heritage was celebrated in the latest of the Highland Archive Centre’s Living Memories series. Yesterday’s exhibition was only on for a limited time between 2pm and 4pm.
Fiona MacLeod, senior Archivist at the centre, said: “The event was a huge success. There were a lot of ex employees and many whose fathers had lived there and lots of memories were shared. The in-house magazines in particular prompted a lot of discussion.”
The yard was opened in 1972 and eventually closed its doors in 2001, when 1,300 people lost their jobs. It has lain vacant since but plans were granted in principle in February last year for the site to be transformed into a new major manufacturing and maintenance facility for offshore windfarm construction.
The consortium behind Port of Ardersier say that the new facility would be able to support around 2,500 jobs.