An important monument with very poor curation
1.5
1.5
Date of visit: May 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Poor
This is a very important and poignant memorial to a horrific chapter in Scotland's history. The monument itself depicts a family leaving our shores for parts unknown and is surrounded with plaques in Gàidhlig and English. There are also interesting information boards explaining this awful episode. However, for such an important monument, it is curated very poorly. There is no signposting at all; we drove past it four times. The car park is not well maintained, and you think you're pulling up in front of a derelict, though modern, Scout hut... I'm guessing the building was originally intended as some sort of small visitor centre, but it sits closed and apparently empty. Once you realise you're in the right place, there is plenty parking. If you can get to the monument (my companions were able to, I was not), the views are spectacular, and it is a fascinating monument to the 19th century emigrants. But the implementation is sadly lacking.
Disabled Access In and Around
Bad
The statue is accessed by some steep steps, rendering it completely inaccessible to wheelchair users and, indeed, anyone with restricted mobility. I'm not one to complain about unreasonable access problems but, as a relatively new monument (unveiled in 2007), this is pretty unacceptable. A sloping path would have been easy enough to build instead. If there is better access through the park, this is, again, not intimated anywhere.
Parking & Transport
Average
Very poorly signposted from the main road. There is a large, gravelled, car park when you do find it.
