Revamped St Cyrus visitor centre opens

A new-look visitor centre has opened to the public at NatureScot’s St Cyrus National Nature Reserve (NNR).

Staff were delighted to welcome Mairi Gougeon MSP to officially cut the red ribbon and open the revamped building on Monday, April 7.

The overhaul has taken a year to complete with fresh interpretation focusing on what makes St Cyrus NNR truly unique.

The reserve is one of the most diverse in Britain, with the warming influence of the sea and shelter from the cliffs and dunes creating a unique microclimate. The plants, birds and animals that live on the reserve do so in a landscape that shifts over time with the weather and tides.

Mairi Gougeon MSP for Angus North and Mearns Constituency said:

“I am thrilled to see the newly revamped St Cyrus visitor centre open its doors to the public. St Cyrus is a spectacular location with rich biodiversity, and the new centre will help inspire even more people to explore, appreciate, and protect this unique environment.

“Credit goes to Therese and the team in St Cyrus as well as everyone who made this transformation possible.”

NatureScot reserve manager Therese Alampo said:

“It’s been an absolute pleasure working on this project and we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped for their creativity and patience. We hope that visitors enjoy the revamped centre which aims to celebrate all the unique and wonderful things that make St Cyrus NNR so special.

“Over the past three years, we’ve been working really hard to improve the visitor experience at the reserve, including upgrading the car park and creating a new accessible toilet block. The revamped visitor centre will be a great new addition to help make the welcome even warmer for our visitors.”

The visitor centre building started life around the late 1860s as a lifeboat station.  It only saw 20 years of active service and was no longer in use by the mid-1880s due to a storm altering the course of the river North Esk.