Cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them or accept our recommended settings. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

Options
Necessary cookies enable core functionality on our website. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
We use marketing cookies to personalise your visit to our website and show you tailored advertising based on your likes and interests.
We use analytics cookies to monitor visitor behaviour patterns and improve our website performance.

Your preferences have been set. If you wish to change your preferences, you may do so on our cookies page.

Search My Trust
Join now
Join
Close

Looking for places? Use our place search to find them by name, town or postcode.

See all stories
26 Jun 2025

Aberdeenshire actress brings Scotland’s heritage to life

Written by Paul Williams
A young woman, dressed in Georgian costume, stands beside a portrait of herself in a castle drawing room.
Actress Eve Reynolds appeared as Anna Irvine in the Timesliders school activities at Drum Castle
An actress from Banchory-Devenick in Aberdeenshire, with an uncanny resemblance to a member of Drum Castle’s Irvine family, has helped the National Trust for Scotland engage young people with their local heritage.

Eve Reynolds, 19, was spotted locally due to her striking similarity to Anna Irvine and was asked to work with us to bring the historical figure to life, as part of our recently launched Timesliders education programme at Drum Castle. Eve portrayed Anna in different activities for the 12 schools who took part, helping the pupils develop an interest in the castle’s 700 years of history and Scotland’s wider heritage.

Timesliders features fictional heroes Kyla and Eden, as they travel throughout Scotland’s past, present and future to try to stop their adversaries from rewriting history. By using a combination of audio stories, live theatre shows in schools and interactive learning activities, Timesliders aims to engage pupils through storytelling, using time travel to get them excited about Scotland’s heritage.

Two pupils kneel down at either side of a wooden puzzle chest, sitting on top of a small table. The box has cogs and writing on the front. There is a small window in the wall of a cellar-like room, with shelves and cooking implements on the right, and a small wall light in a niche in the wall on the left.
Pupils explored a series of interactive challenges in Drum Castle.

The National Trust for Scotland’s Senior Heritage Learning Advisor, Sarah Cowie, developed the programme alongside Schools Co-ordinator Katie Mackenzie, the team at Drum Castle and Creative Consultant Ben Humphrey. Sarah said:

‘We met Eve earlier in the year and couldn’t believe the similarities between her and Anna Irvine. It was by sheer luck and coincidence that Eve happened to be a talented actress, so we knew we had to get her involved in some capacity. Thankfully, we were able to use Eve’s talents to portray Anna, who had been trapped inside a portrait in Drum’s drawing room – the pupils had to find clues to help release her.’

Eve, who is the Vice President of the Treading the Boards Musical Society at the University of Aberdeen, said: ‘Growing up, I spent a lot of time at National Trust for Scotland places going for walks with my family and our dog Baxter – but I always had a soft spot for Drum Castle. It always felt like we were walking through centuries of history, so having the opportunity to recreate some of Drum’s fascinating stories as Anna Irvine has been an honour. It was lovely getting to work with all of the dedicated Trust staff and finding out more about Anna and her time in the castle.’

Quote
“Filming at Drum was truly an incredible experience, and it makes me so happy to know that the children attending Timesliders are enjoying it.”
Eve Reynolds
Actress
Expand image 1: A young woman, dressed in Georgian costume, stands beside a portrait of herself in a castle drawing room. On the wall beside her is an original Georgian portrait of a woman who looks very alike. Expand image 2: A portrait of a young woman in the Georgian era. She has long dark hair, neatly tied back, and is wearing a white voluminous dress with lacy arms. She stands in front of a portrait backdrop, with trees in the foreground and Drum Castle in the distance. Expand image 3: Two school children hold an open plastic box with a glowing green light coming from inside. An old stone castle wall is in the background.

The Timesliders programme was developed through an innovative community partnership, with great input from teachers and pupils at Drumoak Primary and Culter Primary Schools. This has helped to ensure the programme is relevant to their curriculum and suitable for the Primary 3–4 age group. Teachers and pupils helped feed into the content and resources, using important milestones in the castle’s history as inspiration for maths, literacy and problem-solving activities, while the pupils helped identify some of the key features of the site that they found interesting. The sessions were led by former teacher Katie Mackenzie, the Trust’s new Schools Co-ordinator, who has taught across various schools in Aberdeen over the last 19 years.

Sarah added: ‘The development of Timesliders at Drum follows a successful pilot at Pollok House in 2023, which was followed by an evaluation of the programme with feedback from teachers and pupils. This has guided the development of the programme, with the community partnership helping to ensure it is relevant to the local area, the castle and the wider conservation work of the Trust.

‘The workshops and visits to Drum have immersed the pupils in the history of the castle and instilled a sense of belonging to the site and the wider work of the Trust. This in turn makes Timesliders relevant to their local environment, enhancing the pupils’ learning and contributing to the outcomes within the school curriculum. Collaborating with the local teachers and pupils has been invaluable in helping us develop an engaging, exciting and informative education programme. The pupils also learn about the outdoors and are able to take part in a competition to name one of the ancient oak trees in the Old Wood of Drum.

‘It’s thanks to the continued generosity of our members and supporters that we can create fun, innovative education programmes such as Timesliders, and through this support we’re able to provide schools with transport to help remove financial barriers that may have stopped schools visiting in the past. We’re widening access and enjoyment of our places, while also helping to grow the next cohort of conservationists, who can carry on our vital work to protect Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage for future generations.’

By working in this way, we’re tailoring the content and resources for Timesliders, linking their learning to the castle, the 700 years of its history and the woodlands right on their doorstep. We hope this experience will instil a curiosity for our cultural and natural heritage within the pupils that will develop as they get older, and encourage them to bring their families for a visit.

School pupils in grey, black and purple uniform sit on top of a raised log at the edge of a woodland, with their feet dangling.

Bookings for next year’s Timesliders programme open in October 2025. Following the initial series of events, the programme will be refreshed, based on further feedback from our partner schools.

Projects like Timesliders support the National Trust for Scotland’s vision to care for, share and protect Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage, as outlined in our strategy launched in 2022, and contributes to our engagement objectives to provide access and enjoyment for everyone and be a learning organisation.

Featured Places

Place

Drum Castle

Jacobite tales whisper through the medieval grand hall of this castle

Aberdeen City & Shire

Read next

Large vehicles help to clear a road of storm damage

Your Gift in Action – spring 2025

As a charity, we rely on the generosity of our supporters to care for, share and speak up for Scotland‘s heritage.

Eleven gardeners stand at Threave Garden, holding shovels, spades and rakes.

Threave School celebrates 65 years of growing great gardeners

The Threave School of Heritage Gardening is celebrating its 65th anniversary with a special reunion in July.

Two people stand on a wooden platform, looking out across a tumbling burn through a rocky gorge. The banks are filled with rhododendrons. It is a very sunny day.

Why we love Crarae Woodland Garden

A slice of the Himalayas in the heart of Argyll? Enjoy our short film celebrating the magic of Crarae Woodland Garden.

Man in high-vis clothing abseils down the steep sides of a deep gorge with a metal suspension bridge spanning the crevasse

Defying gravity to manage invasive species

The Trust employs aerial specialists to help tackle invasive non-native plant species.

Read more stories on

Related Content

A view of the exterior of Drum Castle with its ancient square stone tower on the left. It is dusk and there are lights inside, giving it an orange and red glow.

Timesliders resource hub

These resources are for schools who have enrolled in the 2025 Timesliders programme taking place at Drum Castle, Garden and Estate.

A view of the Old Tower at Drum Castle, standing beside the Jacobean extension of the castle. The tower is square with battlements. A large area of mown grass is in the foreground.

Drum Castle, Garden & Estate teacher information

Drum Castle is one of Royal Deeside’s most beautiful castles and the oldest intact castle in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.

Back to top