Local History and Historic Buildings
| When | 3rd Thursday in the month alternating with Saturdays |
| Facilitator | please use the link top right to send a message |
Next meetings
Saturday 6th April, 10:30 - Sorbie Tower for a tour of the tower and surroundings.
Thursday 25 April 2pm - Guided tour of Newton Stewart Museum. Cost is £3 each.
Saturday 11 May 2pm - Tour of the former site of the RAF Chain Home Radar station
See the Groups Bulletin for details.
PLEASE NOTE This group is an amalgamation of Local History and Archaeology and the Historic Houses & Gardens groups from 2024.
At the moment we are looking for a facilitator for this group. In the mean time, Fiona is acting as temporary facilitator until October.
It's unlikely that we'll ever run out of places to visit or talk about as we live in an area that is full of places of interest from the historical and archaeological point of view. If you have any suggestions, please let us know by using the link on the right or at one of the meetings.
Previous meetings
- February - Talk by Jayne Baldwin about the wrecking of the MV Orion just off Portpatrick in 1850 when over two hundred people were saved by local fishermen but 50 drowned. Also about Elsie Mackay, daughter of Lord Inchcape of Glenapp who, aged 27, disappeared in an attempted to fly her airplane across the Atlantic from West to East in 1928. Also the sad story of Mary Timney from near St Johns Town of Dalry who was publicly hanged in Dumfries for the 'murder' of a neighbour. She was the last woman to be hanged in public in Scotland.
- January - Talk on the history of the Isle of Whithorn
- November - Local historian, Donna Brewster talked about her book “The House that Sugar Built”. The story encompasses the sugar trade, slavery, and life for a mixed-race woman in Victorian rural Scotland.
- October - Andrew Nicholson, archaeologist with Dumfries & Galloway Council talking about around eight thousand years of archaeology in the region.
- August - guided tour of Creetown Heritage Museum.
- July - Kirkcudbright; thanks to Don Cowell. Kirkyard Tours by Kirkcudbright History Society are run weekly. What do wine, Madras, porridge and scallops have in common? No, it’s not the menu for the Social Eating group but rather some of the topics on our interesting guided walk of Kirkcudbright’s ancient centre, from the harbour through the L-shaped streets. Wine was brought in from France (probably for the monks at Dundrennan); the sinking of the ship Madras, the prison tower and the current harvesting of scallops keeping the harbour busy.
- June 2023 - Tom gave a talk about the history of Galloway House in Garlieston.