Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.
Past Times

Inverness Floral Hall to Botanic Gardens: Name may have changed but it’s still blooming marvellous after 30 years

Susy Macaulay
Using the name Floral Hall may give away your age - but Inverness Botanic Gardens are blooming  good no matter what they are called.
Using the name Floral Hall may give away your age - but Inverness Botanic Gardens are blooming good no matter what they are called.

It’s 30 years since the Inverness Floral Hall opened on the west bank of the River Ness.

A scented oasis of warmth and beauty – and at one point, somewhere you could get up close and personal with butterflies, snakes, millipedes and even giant hissing cockroaches.

The glasshouse rose from the grounds of Bught House, an 18th Century stately home pulled down in the 1960s to make way for a new ice rink, among other ambitions.

The Bught lands have an ancient history, including the request of 18th Century owner Duncan Grant that his estate should be sold to the town at a nominal price, with a restriction on the area that could be built over, the remainder to be used for sport and recreation.

The construction of Inverness Floral Hall under way in 1990. Image: The Highland Council courtesy of Am Baile

It’s not known whether he had a Floral Hall in mind, but in any case, his request wasn’t granted until 1923, when the estate was in the ownership of  Col Alexander Redmond Bewley Warrand of the Seaforth Highlanders.

Inverness Floral Hall attracted 80,000 visitors a year

Unmarried and with no children, he followed up Duncan Grant’s earlier request by selling the Bught estate to the people of Inverness for £11,250 (around £870,000 today) as Common Good Land.

The Floral Hall now nestles in the former walled garden of the old Bught House.

Inverness Floral Hall nearing completion in 1990. Image: DCT

The Highland Council facility cost £500,000 and was opened in 1993 by Prince Edward on May 14, 1993.

It immediately attracted 80,000 visitors a year.

But when entry charges were introduced three years later, not even the award-winning cactus house and steamy tropical section could persuade people to cough up.

Numbers plummeted to 13,000, forcing the city fathers to think again.

They’d been trying to balance the books with offers like having your wedding photo taken there for £17.50, but it wasn’t making much of a dent in the overspend of more than £260k.

The opening in May 1993. Inverness Provost William Fraser and guests admire Floral Hall’s hi-tech structure, with auto-screening and ventilation. Image:DCT

Charges wouldn’t be dropped until 2013.

Watch those fingers around the carnivorous plants

At its heart is the steamy tropical house, mimicking rainforest conditions.

Here you can spot large healthy versions of your own possibly lacklustre houseplants.

Watch your fingers, kids, around the carnivorous plants such as sundew, Venus flytrap and pitcher plants.

The feature waterfall and fountain are popular backdrops for weddings and events.

Violet Johnstone, who donated the cactus collection in memory of her late husband, John, a former council maintenance man. She’s with director of leisure services, Alan Jones on opening day, May 14 1993. Image: DCT

The resident Koi carp seem unperturbed by the constant flow of humans.

If it gets too steamy, it’s only a quick step through to the arid cactus house.

Inverness joined other major cities with botanic gardens

There are hundreds of different specimens from all over the world arranged in 75 tons of rock and sand.

In 2003 one of the succulents made an escape bid, reaching for the skies and forcing staff to remove a glass pane.

Reaching for the skies: Alex Howie of the Inverness Floral Hall with the agave succulent which took off through the roof in 2003. Image: Sandy McCook/DCT

As the 14ft agave plant was 12 years old, it was perhaps a fit of teenage rebellion.

To call it the Floral Hall these days betrays your age.

In 2014 it underwent a £110,000 revamp and operator High Life Highland renamed it Inverness Botanic Gardens.

This meant that Inverness joined other Scottish cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, in boasting botanic gardens.

Peter Kelly watering a bromeliad tree in the newly-opened Floral Hall in 1993. Image:DCT

You might enjoy:

Elgin showbiz agent Albert Bonici brought The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who and Eric Clapton to the north

Conversation