YOUNGSTERS are using top range technology to delve into the past and learn about their heritage.

Pupils at St Columba’s High visited Gourock Heritage Centre for a flashback aimed at bringing the town’s past to life.

Staff from the O2 shop in West Blackhall Street provided them with virtual reality goggles and ran the workshops.

Kay Clark, heritage and cultural co-ordinator, said: “We wanted to get some people to test the technology.

“We have a YouTube channel with old film footage and we transferred a film called River of Steel we had made about the shipyards to virtual reality and pupils watched it through the goggles.

“When you put the goggles on, it’s like stepping back in time. It’s actually like being there.”

Kay says the headsets are a ‘more interesting way’ for young people to learn about history. 

She said: “Not all young people are academic, not everyone responds to reading a book or listening to a teacher.

“Virtual reality allows people to learn in a different way. I think it’s going to be huge.”

Town councillors Ronnie Ahlfeld and Lynne Quinn also attended the workshops and were impressed by the hi-tech headgear.

Kay believes that it could also be used to help market Inverclyde to visitors.

She said: “We could make a podcast about something like the history of Newark Castle, make a film using a 360 degree camera and transfer that to virtual reality, so that people could put on the goggles and watch and listen to the podcast.

“It would give people a visual and audio experience.

“I’d like to think that we could aim this at tourists coming off cruise liners, by offering them a virtual reality tour, a film of The Cut or Lunderston Bay or Gourock and it would encourage them to visit these places and venture further afield.”