Don Martin MBE is East Dunbartonshire Community Champion for Arts and Heritage 2026

Don Martin MBE was presented with a Certificate and Quaich as Community Champion for Arts and Heritage 2026 on Thursday 30th July by East Dunbartonshire Provost Gillian Renwick and Deputy Provost Colette McDiarmid. 

In May, the Provost and Depute Provost launched the search for this year’s Champions – a call for local people to nominate unsung heroes who go above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of others. Anyone who makes an outstanding contribution through volunteering, fundraising or any other selfless act was eligible. There are six categories for the Champions Awards: Arts and Heritage; Caring; Community; Sports; Sustainability; and Young Champion. More details about the Awards can be found on the East Dunbartonshire Council website here.

Don received the Arts and Heritage Champion award for his lifelong commitment to engaging people with their local history and particularly with a number of initiatives to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway earlier in 2026, including an exhibition in the Auld Kirk Museum and the installation of a National Transport Trust Red Wheel at Southbank Marina, the northern terminus of the Railway where cargoes were transferred onto the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch Basin.

Don is presented with the Certificate and Quaich

The Certificate

(Photographs courtesy of Ivan Ruddock)

Advance Notice: Thursday 16th September 2027; Bruce Keith on "Scotland beneath the surface"

We are pleased to announce that Bruce Keith, who gave us an excellent and highly entertaining talk on milestones, "Are we nearly there yet?" in November 2023, has agreed to give us a talk on "Scotland beneath the surface" on Thursday 16th September 2027. The meeting will be in the Park Centre at 7:30pm. This is an advance notice to allow members to put the date in their diaries, as we do not usually have meetings in September. We are currently finalising the programme for 2026-27, which will start with a meeting in the Park Centre at 7:30pm on Thursday 1st October. Full details will be circulated by the end of the summer.

"Scotland beneath the surface" is a journey across, and under, the country, celebrating our rich and varied natural and man-made heritage. The illustrated talk explores natural caves, hollow mountains in which to generate hydro-electric power, railway tunnels and underground defence bunkers. The materials for our built heritage are hewn from rocks beneath the surface, as are the coal and oil shale deposits which powered the industrialisation of the nation and the water resources on which we all depend to this day. Celebrating our natural wonders and our human ingenuity, the talk focuses thought on how we manage our resources in a sustainable manner given today's environmental challenges. 

Bruce Keith is a retired chartered surveyor and environmentalist, having started his professional career working on several Perthshire and Aberdeenshire estates and in Edinburgh with the Department of Agriculture. Bruce moved south of the border to Peterborough in 1996 as Chief Surveyor with English Nature, but kept his Scottish connections, retiring eleven years ago as Head of Property at SSE (the Hydro Board).  In his retirement, Bruce has researched and written three books combining his passion for Scottish history, geography and landscape with his interest in heritage conservation. This evening Bruce takes us on a journey through Scotland exploring the natural and man-made heritage under our feet, which was the topic of his third book, "Scotland beneath the surface".

Cave in Applecross

Cessnock Station on the Glasgow Subway

Excavation for Cruachan Hydro Power Station

Red Wheel at Southbank Marina Unveiled by the Provost and Don Martin MBE

On Wednesday 13th May, the National Transport Trust Red Wheel at Southbank Marina was formally "unveiled" by the Provost, Gillian Renwick and Don Martin MBE f the Antiquaries. The Red Wheel scheme is run by the National Transport Trust and is designed to commemorate sites of national transport heritage in the UK. The Wheel at Southbank Marina marks the northern terminus of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, the first modern public railway in Scotland, with the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch Basin. The railway was opened in 1826 to enable coal, iron and other products from the mines and foundries of the Airdrie and Coatbridge area to be taken to the Canal for transport to markets elsewhere in Central Scotland and was a major step forward in the Industrial Revolution in Scotland. The first train on the line ran from Gartsherrie to Kirkintilloch in May 1826, so the bicentenary of the opening was a good time to unveil the Red Wheel.

The unveiling was attended by the Provost, Gillian Renwick, Council Leader Gordan Low, Don Martin MBE and other office bearers from the Antiquaries, John Cameron CBE, the Vice-President of the National Transport Trust and other office bearers, representatives from Scottish Canals and railway enthusiasts from the Monklands area and Kirkintilloch. Further details are available on the East Dunbartonshire Council website here. Photos of the ceremony are shown below.

Photos courtesy of East Dunbartonshire Council and Ruth Ruddock

Presentation to Don Martin at AGM

The Annual General Meeting was held in the Park Centre on Thursday 23rd April. Before the start of the AGM, Mrs Susan Murray, MP for Mid-Dunbartonshire, made a presentation to Don Martin. Mrs Murray had put down an Early Day Motion in Parliament noting the 200th anniversary of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway and its importance as the first modern railway in Scotland, following the model of the Stockton and Darlington the previous year. In her Statement to Parliament, Mrs Murray highlighted the role of Don Martin in drawing attention to the anniversary and its importance. She presented Don with a copy of the Statement and stated that Don was a huge asset to the Kirkintilloch Community through his lifelong work spreading knowledge of the area’s history through talks and publishing numerous books. The Statement was warmly applauded by the members and greatly appreciated by Don.

The exhibition in the Auld Kirk Museum on the Monkland and Kirkintilloch and its contribution to the development of Kirkintilloch is open until 20th May, and the National Transport Trust Red Wheel at Southbank Marina will be formally unveiled by Don and the Provost on 13th May.

Photo courtesy of Ruth Ruddock

The AGM was well-attended and received reports from the President, Secretary, Research Group and Treasurer. The Society's funds are in good health and the subscription will remain at £10 for 2026-27. Dr David Graham stood down as President and was succeeded by the Vice President, Ms Louise Nixon. Dr Murray Reid became Vice President and Mr Alan Gifford took over as Secretary. Mr David Gow remains the Treasurer. There are a number of vacancies for ordinary members on the committee and anyone interested should contact one of the officers or drop an email to kdsantiquaries@gmail.com. 

The AGM was followed by a talk by Dr Murray Reid on "What lies beneath: the geology of Strathkelvin". 

Annual General Meeting, 23rd April, 7:30pm in the Park Centre

The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held in the Park Centre, 45 Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch on Thursday 23rd April at 7:30pm. Reports from the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Research Group will be presented, the subscription for 2026-27 agreed and elections for Office Bearers held. There will be discussion on the future of Society Outings and other matters. 

The AGM will be followed by a presentation by Murray Reid on "What lies beneath: the geology of Strathkelvin". Murray is a geologist who worked in the civil engineering industry. Strathkelvin is underlain by a wide range of igneous and sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age but, except in the Campsie Fells, they are mostly obscured by recent glacial and alluvial deposits. The strata are visible in natural outcrops and old quarries, and the traces of the extraction of coal and other minerals are visible throughout the area. These natural resources and the geographic location of the Kelvin Valley as the easiest route between the Forth and Clyde valleys have shaped the history of the area. Murray will show photos of the principal rock types and illustrate how they have shaped the history of Strathkelvin.

Please come along and participate in the AGM; the Society is there to serve its members, and the AGM is your opportunity to influence our future direction.

Looking across Kirkintilloch and the Kelvin Valley to the Campsies from a colliery spoil tip; what lies beneath these rolling fields and valleys?

Early Scottish Railway by John Yellowlees, National Transport Trust Scotland. Wednesday 18th March, 2pm, Kirkintilloch Town Hall

Our contribution to Local History Month 2026 will be a lecture in Kirkintilloch Town Hall, Union Street on Wednesday 18th March at 2pm by John Yellowlees of the National Transport Trust Scotland on "Early Scottish Railways". All of the early Scottish railways  - the 1722 Tranent to Cockenzie and Alloa wagonways, the Kilmarnock & Troon, the Edinburgh & Dalkeith, the Garnkirk & Glasgow, the Dundee & Newtyle - have their claims to fame. However, it is the Monkland & Kirkintilloch that ticks the most boxes - the first public railway in Scotland with an Act of Parliament, first successfully to use steam, even the first train-ferry. The Monklands was the cradle to much early railway activity, and the M&K would become the ancestor of present-day railway endeavour including Airdrie-Bathgate, Lumo and Russell Road-Rail.

Typical engine used in the early days of Scottish railways

Admission is free but registration in advance is required. To register, send an email to kdsantiquaries@gmail.com.

Copies of Don Martin's new book, "The Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway in the 1960s" will be on sale, price £11.95. Cash sales only.