More than 11,000 people crossed the thresholds at courts around Scotland for this year’s Doors Open Days marking a very successful contribution by SCTS to the national event.
A total of 16 courts from Lerwick to Ayr took part during the month of September with some of the bigger courts recording thousands of visitors in one day. A wide variety of activities were on offer from mock trials to a chance to try on wigs and gowns and visit custody vans.
Members of the public enjoyed the days with many positive comments from visitors young and old with visits to the cells a particular favourite. One young visitor commented: “I hope I don’t end up here, ever!”
The courts which took part were: Aberdeen, Ayr, Elgin, Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock, Hamilton, Inverness, Kirkcaldy, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Paisley, Stirling, the Supreme Courts in Parliament House Edinburgh and the High Court in Glasgow.
The Doors Open Day at the Supreme Courts Parliament House in Edinburgh also marked the end of this year’s Hidden Gem exhibition on the history of the building which ran throughout the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe and was itself visited by thousands of people from all over the world during the weeks it was on.
The Doors Open Days event is organised by the Scottish Civic Trust to enable people to visit hundreds of buildings normally closed to the public. Details can be found on the
Doors Open Day website.