WORKERS at Helensburgh’s popular Hill House have spoken of their joy at the venue’s doors being re-opened and are thankful for the Covid-19 restriction compliance that visitors have shown.
The local attraction is widely considered Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s “domestic masterpiece”, and sees tourists flood in from all over the world to visit its rooms. However, alongside many other aspects of life, the coronavirus pandemic took its toll, and Hill House had to close its doors to the public.
But now, with the easing of lockdown, visitors have returned, and the staff couldn’t be happier.
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Rachel Thompson, visitor services manager with the property’s owners, the National Trust for Scotland, told the Advertiser: “The visitors have been great, they’ve been respectful and wearing their masks. We’ve got sanitiser and handwash throughout and everyone’s been sticking to the rules.
“The feedback from since we’ve re-opened has been great as well. With the new restrictions and one-way system, it means the visitors have more time to explore themselves and they are getting to experience the house on a much more quiet and personal level.
“We’ve had 4,000 visitors through so far, half paying visitors and half members.
“There’s been a lot of new visitors, people are exploring what’s on their doorsteps even more and holidaying more locally.”
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The venue is also offering its culinary services again, with the café re-opened for soups and sandwiches and everything social distanced per government guidelines.
“You don’t have to book to come to the café, you can just pop by,” Rachel continued.
“We’re selling vegetables from the garden by donation too, and you can get them up at the greenhouse.”
The Hill House is currently open from 10am until 5pm Thursday to Monday, with last entry at 4pm.
Booking in advance for specific time slots is strongly advised - call 01436 673900.
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