THE Portland Historical Society opened the doors to its curator’s cottage in the Botanic Gardens on Thursday last week, as the town welcomed visitors from the cruise ship that docked at Portland.
In light of the occasion, local volunteer Wayne Marsh dressed in period attire in a bid to welcome guests into the cottage where they could have a look at some of the local relics from decades and centuries gone by.
“Most of the stuff we have in the cottage comes from the Portland area, and the cottage itself was built for the curator who took care of gardens,” Mr Marsh said.
“It was built in 1857, and it’s been added to since then as different curators came along and required additional space for families.
“We had originally been planning to open the place up at midday but with the amount of people around town and the tram travelling back and forth and mentioning the cottage to drum up a bit of business, we figured it was worth opening up a little bit earlier.
“We haven’t had huge numbers come through the door but there’s been plenty more who have stood out the front who we’ve had a bit of a chat to about the place.”
Mr Marsh explained that the cottage had seen visitors from all across the globe come through its doors over the course of the day.
“Along with people from around Australia, we’ve had some from Scotland, England, Canada, USA, Germany, Netherlands and Cyprus, so there’s been a good mix of people from different parts of the world who have come through,” he said.
Mr Marsh said the society is trying to push towards creating a new volunteer base, and he said the door is always open to people who might be interested in coming along to help out.
“As all these places are, we’re always looking for new volunteers who want to lend a hand, Stephanie Plowman is in charge of the society so anyone who wishes to potentially get involved can get in touch with her,” he said.