I'll bring Edinburgh Castle to life for the locals says new boss of famous attraction

Published on Thursday 10 February 2011 12:23

THE new "king" of Edinburgh Castle carefully positions himself in front of Mons Meg, taking meticulous care to disguise the small sign which warns visitors against climbing on the famous canon.

"Ah, a 'don't do' sign," he says with a small shake of his head. "Not quite what we're aiming for. We want people to know they're welcome here.

"It's not about what they can't do here. It's about what they can do."

Nick Finnigan, the Castle's new executive manager, is certainly of the "can do" variety. Indeed, so passionate is he about revitalising the Castle's role in the city, that his ethos isn't so much "can do" as "already done it, what's next?".

Just a few weeks into the job and he's already forging ahead with dramatic plans which he and his Historic Scotland bosses hope will boost the fortunes of the Capital's most famous landmark. And he's moving at a breakneck speed.

Fresh from the announcement that the Castle is welcoming Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire to the Esplanade - a dramatic switch from typical "middle of the road" concert fare - he's unveiling an equally fresh approach which he hopes will draw even more people through its portcullis gate.

He has lavish ideas to lure in more families, more tourists - "So many come here, stand on the Esplanade for a photograph and don't come in," he announces, outraged - expand the entertainment programme into new directions and develop the Castle not only as Scotland's premier historic visitor attraction, but as a place that locals learn to love more.

Top of his long list of things to do is to reposition our most instantly recognisable landmark and place it slap at the heart of city life for a new, younger generation who demand much more from their historical attractions than well-trod cobbled walkways, cold stone walls and a dollop of their own imagination.

Back in the relative comfort of the Gate House - just inside the Castle walls, it once hosted court martials now, perhaps ironically, it lays down life sentences of another kind as a wedding venue - he sets about revealing what's in store for one of Scotland's most iconic structures.

"We asked people who would not normally visit the Castle what they might want here," he explains. "They recognised our work is vitally important, but they just wouldn't dream of coming here to visit.

"They said 'you're worthy but, really, it's just a pile of stones and rocks'.

"Our marketing effort had been about asking people to bring their imagination with them. But people were saying they couldn't do that, we'd need to bring the Castle to life for them."

The father-of-two had already done that for many visitors to Historic Scotland's properties. Back in the Nineties he pushed for the Castle to open at night to cater for visitors being lured to the city by the new Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

And he'd already helped revamp its approach to weddings which once, he groans, consisted of a sheet of green paper for the happy couple and a staff diary containing a name and a phone number.

Today, he stresses, it's a much slicker affair. But when it came to meeting modern visitors' sophisticated demands, work was required.

As events and filming manager he'd rubbed shoulders with filmmakers - scenes from the recent Burke and Hare movie were captured within the Castle. He'd helped Hollywood come to this ancient site - now, it seems, he wants to generate some of that drama to boost returns at his own box office.

So expect more glitzy events, battle re-enactments, history brought to life by people in costumes and hands-on experiences. It's not - he is eager to stress - Disney at the Castle, but it's a tad more exciting than being handed a guide book and pointed in the general direction of the ramparts.

"We are in a generation of new technology, of virtual reality but that's not a road we want to go down," says Nick, who lives with wife Tracey and children Amy, 14 and Eve, 13, in Barntongate.

"For a start, we can't compete with that. But we want people to see the knight on horseback, watch them fall and hear the clash of swords. Or they find out, close up, about make-up and fashions of the period."

He certainly understands how challenging it can be for parents to opt for a trip to the Castle with two surly kids in tow and an eye on the household budget. He recognises that generation isn't going to be set alight by a moss-covered wall or a rusty blade.

"We've got to say to kids, 'Okay, we haven't got an Xbox, we don't do that here. But what we have got is a really scary guy who'll from jump out from nowhere and yell 'argh!' at you... will that do?'," he smiles.

You can almost hear some traditionalists tut-tutting at the thought of disturbing the historic ambience with people in fancy dress shouting "Take that, peasant!" and brandishing swords.

"It's about engaging them and not about ramming the historical message down their throats. People in their pleasure time want to be entertained, not lectured at.

"Besides," he adds. "I don't want adults looking at their only experience of Edinburgh Castle as a school trip 30 or 40 years ago and thinking it was really dull.

"The Castle has changed, it's not a time capsule."

He could have been one of those uninterested adults for whom the Castle is a pile of stone on top of a rock. Raised in Canonmills - he went to Holy Cross Primary and St Augustine High School - his own childhood memory of the Castle was of having to pay an extra fee to see the Scottish crown jewels.

"It was free to get into the Castle but there was a separate charge for the crown jewels and some apartments," he recalls. "You got a little ticket as you went in - strange, I remember the ticket, nothing else."

He worked at the Scottish Office specialising in industrial relations - the middle man between unions and management - before joining Historic Scotland as it morphed from being a government agency into a much more modern one that juggles conservation with marketing Scotland's rich historic heritage.

Even now he's still something of a middle man: balancing the need to generate income and managing around 90 staff, with the delicate issue of retaining the Castle's historic integrity and working hand in hand with the conservationist teams.

First test of his marketing strategy comes in Easter, when the Castle hosts events aimed at encouraging families to visit and, hopefully, return.

"We have an incredible responsibility, not just as a tourist attraction but to engage as Scots and make them proud of their history," he says.

"So many think this is a place where you get a great view of the city, they don't know there are museums here, they might not realise the Stone of Destiny is here, we have great restaurants here.

"This is not just a visitor attraction," he adds, "it's for everyone."