All going on at Zetland Park

On Saturday and Sunday, between 9.30am and 4.30pm, representatives of the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative (IFLI) will be in the park taking part in a unique and ambitious project to digitally reconstruct Grangemouth’s historic town clock tower.

IFLI will be working with AOC Archaeology, Falkirk Council, Friends of Zetland Park and Grangemouth Heritage Trust, to recreate a virtual model of the clock.

Iain Mitchell, managing director of local haulage company John Mitchell Ltd, is kindly managing the massive operation to transport all the stones to and from Zetland Park free of charge.

Once the digital model is complete local groups will be able to establish the cost of a physical restoration and apply for funding to allow the clock tower to be re-built, possibly within Zetland Park. It will form an important part of a future bid to secure funding for a wider restoration of the Park itself.

Also looking to help the funding bid, members of the award-winning Grangemouth Community Care group will be moving from their base in Talbot House, Talbot Street, to hold their very own Tea in the Park in Zetland on Saturday between 2pm and 4pm.

Then on Sunday Friends of Zetland Park will by hosting a community event at the location between 11am and 3pm, to allow people to come along and give their opinions on the future of the park.

RNLI members will also be holding a coffee morning in Abbotsgrange Church – across from the park – from 10am-1pm.

An IFLI spokesperson said: “The clock tower was dismantled after a fire that destroyed the old Town Chambers, and has been held by Falkirk Council in storage ever since.

“Currently in dozens of parts, it is like a huge stone jigsaw without a box.

“To enhance its chances of being rebuilt, the project aims to make a detailed record of all the component parts, and collect data that will allow it to create a 3D digital model of how the clock tower should be reconstructed.

“Local volunteers will be heavily involved with the creating the documentation and will learn skills in photography, photogrammetry, and cataloguing, as they contribute to this important local restoration project.”