Kirkintilloch & District Society of Antiquaries: 2023

Don Martin MBE: 'Local history in folk song': Thursday 11th January 2024

Don Martin retired in the early 2000s as the reference librarian for East Dunbartonshire and has a national reputation as a historian, author, and photographer. He was also Secretary of Kirkintilloch and District Society of Antiquaries for 41 years until 2021. During his career as a librarian, and in retirement, Don has been a prolific researcher and author on mainly Scottish history and culture. As a result, he has published regularly on such topics as histories of the local communities – Kirkintilloch, Lenzie etc, and local transport – Forth and Clyde Canal, Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway etc. His contributions to Scottish libraries and heritage were recognised by the award of an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours.

When first working in Glasgow’s Mitchell Library, Don met colleagues with similar interests in music, and this led to the formation of Clutha, the famous folk group which later developed an international reputation via its live performances and recordings.

Clutha on the roof of the Mitchell Library in 1965. Don Martin

is on the extreme right. (Public domain)

In this talk on Thursday 11th January 2024, Don – accompanying himself on guitar - will explore the rich resource for the study of local history that is contained within the traditional folk repertoire.

The meeting will be held in the Park Centre, 45 Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch, G66 1LF at 7.30 pm. The annual membership subscription is £10 and visitors are welcome at all of the Society's evening events without charge as a 'taster'.

Al Fleming and Linda McIntosh: ‘The 1941 German air crash at Lennoxtown, 7th May 1941’: Thursday 7th December 2023

On 7th May 1941, a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju88 aircraft taking part in a large raid on Clydeside, was shot down by a Boulton Paul Defiant nightfighter of 141 Squadron operating from RAF Prestwick. The bomber crashed on Blairskaith Muir between Balmore and Lennoxtown with two of the four man crew being killed and subsequently buried in Lennoxtown's Campsie cemetery, The grave of one - Hauptmann Gerd Hansmann (observer) - can still be seen there, but his compatriot - Oberleutnant Werner Coenen (pilot) - was exhumed after the war and reburied in the German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. The other two crewmen were taken prisoner and spent the remainder of the war in Canada, although one was hanged in 1946 for a murder committed in the PoW camp.

Hauptmann Gerd Hansmann and his wife Gisela.

(Public domain)

Al Fleming and Linda McIntosh, local historians and researchers, have unearthed and chronicled the events of that night. In this talk, they will unveil a story of tragedy, murder, and the chilling spectre of mass execution. Yet, amidst the shadows of war, their account illuminates a family's remarkable journey of discovery that traverses continents, leading to an unlikely alliance with Germany and an inspiring, unexpected and heart-warming friendship nearly sixty years later.

Visit to Fairfield Heritage, Tuesday 14th November 2023

On Tuesday 14th November 2023, 20 members of the Society were welcomed at the start of a two hour semi-guided tour of the museum which was opened in 2014 by Govan Workplace Ltd. This magnificent A-listed former office headquarters was built for the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd in 1891 and bought in 2009 from Clydeport for £5.8M. The preserved architecture, with its restored tiled floors, marble columns, wood panelling and lead glass windows, houses the many exhibits and displays that celebrate Govan’s ship building history. Over 800 ships were built in the yard’s 150+ years history, and shipbuilding at Fairfield continues today as BAE Systems.

Society members at the original entrance to

the Fairfield shipyard. (© R. Ruddock)

Two members of the Antiquaries listening to one of the

museum's volunteers (left). (© I.S. Ruddock)

From the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries the river Clyde in Glasgow was the centre of shipbuilding in the world, manufacturing some of the biggest and fastest vessels ever built. Engineer John Elder opened a small yard in Govan in 1860 before expanding the business to 70 acres four years later for it to become the world’s first integrated shipbuilding yard where boilers, engines and ships were built and assembled. The efficiency of the compound steam boiler at Fairfield meant that vessels needed less coal, could carry more passengers or cargo, and could travel faster and further than ever before.

On a rather wet and windy day of late autumn we were given insight into the conditions in which the former shipyard workers toiled to support their families and to the hazardous conditions in which they worked.

All in all, a great day’s outing to a museum where shipbuilding history was made.

David Graham

Bruce Keith: ‘Are we nearly there yet? – milestones in Scotland’: Thursday 2nd November 2023

'Are we nearly there yet?' is a celebration of Scottish milestones - not just distance markers and waymarkers, but much else asides. In his talk on Thursday 2nd November, Bruce Keith will discuss early means of measurement and maps, and the travellers of the 18th and 19th centuries whose journals laid the foundation of the Scottish tourist industry. He will also celebrate the 'Top 50 Scots', the sportsmen and women who have gone the extra mile in terms of speed and endurance to set new world records. So, something for everyone!

The cover of Bruce Keith's latest book - 'Are we nearly there yet?,
a celebration of Scotland's milestones. (© B. Keith)

Bruce Keith is a retired chartered surveyor and environmentalist, having started his career on several Perthshire and Aberdeenshire estates. Following 15 years in the Department of Agriculture in Edinburgh, Bruce migrated south of the border as Chief Surveyor with English Nature and then retired nine years ago as Head of Property at SSE (the Hydro Board). Since retirement, Bruce has combined his passion for Scottish history and geography with his interest in conserving our heritage, which has yielded three coffee table type books.

John Jackson: ‘For the benefit of all – Scotland’s first public lending library’: Thursday 5th October 2023

For the opening of this year’s programme, KDSA welcomes one of its members, John Jackson, who will speak on Innerpeffray Library. The library in rural Perthshire is the oldest public lending library in the UK, having first opened its door to borrowers in 1680. It is a remarkable historical survival from three and a half centuries ago, and remains a focus of interest for historians and academics, as well as a delight to tourists and interested visitors today. It is like nothing else – no longer a lending library, not quite a museum, but with a new life around education and community. We hear its story in this presentation.

The interior of Innerpeffray Library. (© M.Jackson)

John Jackson is a former physics teacher and retired Church of Scotland administrator. He last spoke to the Society in 2019 when he presented the history of Arran as recorded in some of his extensive collection of antiquarian books on the subject.

UPDATE: Doors Open Day and Old Aisle Cemetery Walk, Saturday 9th September 2023

The Society's exhibition on significant personalities buried in Kirkintilloch's Old Aisle Cemetery opened on Saturday morning, 9th September. This was part of its contribution to East Dunbartonshire Doors Open Day and will be available for viewing until Saturday, 16th September.

The William Patrick Library with the Doors

Open Day banner. (© I.S.Ruddock)

Part of the Antiquaries exhibition in the William

Patrick Library. (© I.S.Ruddock)

In the afternoon of Doors Open Day, a guided walk was led by the Antiquaries around a selection of the graves featured in the exhibition, with the assistance of Alistair Strang, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission volunteer guide, who described the work of the Commission and gave brief biographies of some of the First and Second World War casualties buried in the cemetery. To finish off the tour, Kirkintilloch photographer and entrepreneur, Edward Z Smith, entertained the large group of participants by outlining the history of the 'Spider Bridge' which previously crossed the southern end of the Old Aisle Cemetery. This wrought iron bridge was part of a right of way from Waterside to Lenzie station, and was the result of the campaign by John Ferguson (also in the exhibition) in 1885, but was demolished in 1987 and not replaced.

The participants in the guided walk in the Old Aisle Cemetery
hearing about the history of the site and the belfry. (© I.S.Ruddock)

The group at the monument to Father James Bonnyman, the first Roman
Catholic priest appointed to Kirkintilloch for an extended period and who
was responsible for the building of St Ninian's. (© I.S.Ruddock)

Photographer Edward Z Smith, an enthusiast
for the much lamented 'Spider Bridge', giving
the story of its construction and demolition.
(© I.S.Ruddock)

Alistair Strang, representing the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission, describing its work and
the backgrounds of some of the casualties buried
in the Old Aisle Cemetery. (© I.S.Ruddock)

Doors Open Day and Old Aisle Cemetery Walk, 9th September 2023

This year's Doors Open Day in East Dunbartonshire is on Saturday 9th September 2023. The Society's contribution is an exhibition in the foyer of the William Patrick Library profiling significant personalities buried in the Old Aisle Cemetery, Kirkintilloch. In connection with the exhibition, which this year will be on view for the following week, a guided walk around a selection of these graves will start from the cemetery's belfry at the Old Aisle Road entrance at 2.00 pm. The full programme for 2023's Doors Open Day may be downloaded here with details of the Antiquaries exhibition and walk on pages 9 and 10.

The grave of Alexander Bain, telegraph engineer and inventor of the electric
clock, who died in 1877. He was posthumously awarded an 'Emmy' in 2016 for the
invention of line scan for image transmission and is now recognised as the
'father of television'. (© I.S.Ruddock)

Visit to the Museum of Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Members of the Antiquaries were able to visit the museum recently opened by Friends of Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI). Seventeen members accepted the invitation and were welcomed at 11.30am on Tuesday 23rd May 2023 by a volunteer guide from Friends of the GRI. We were informed of the 200 years history of the hospital which was designed by the Adams family and opened in 1794 in grounds adjacent to Glasgow Cathedral. It is the oldest hospital in Glasgow.

Members of the Antiquaries in the Museum of Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
(© I.S.Ruddock)

The museum exhibits the rich history of the GRI as a centre of scientific, medical and nursing innovation of which there are many examples on display, either as artefacts or as old photographs with explanatory captions. To cite but a few, there was information about Joseph Lister (antisepsis), William MacEwan (first to undertake brain surgery in Glasgow), Tom McIntyre (first to introduce X-rays as a diagnostic tool), Rebecca Strong who trained under Florence Nightingale (recognition of nursing as a profession and introduction of working practices that exist today), Ellen Orr (trained as the first female surgeon in Scotland), and the appointment of Jacqueline Taylor as the first female President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. And much more, including old photographs of the ‘chicken run’ – the glazed walkway between the GRI and the nurses’ home - as the group was invited to stroll the corridors of the ground floor which are lined by further exhibits, while in search of the atrium, the chapel and the cafeteria.

This was the third mini outing of the Society's 2022-23 programme - the first being to Glasgow City Chambers in Glasgow, the second to the Berkeley Street Gurdwara and the third to the GRI Museum. Further outings are possible in the 2023-24 session depending on feedback, including suggestions for possible places to visit, preferably limited to the city and its immediate surroundings.

David Graham

Annual General Meeting and 'Every contact leaves a trace': Thursday 20th April 2023

This session's Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 20th April 2023 at 7.30 pm in The Park Centre, and is an opportunity for all members to have their say in the running of the Society. The various activities since the last AGM will be reviewed, the accounts will be presented for approval, and the office bearers and committee membership - for which nominations are sought - will be confirmed.

After the business part of the meeting, Ms Louise Nixon, will give a talk entitled 'Every contact leaves a trace'. Louise is Scottish Police Authority's West Coast Scenes of Crime Team Manager, and she will describe her career and give an overview of her work and various aspects of forensic science and its history.

Visitors are welcome at all of the Society's evening meetings.

The Society's contribution to East Dunbartonshire's Local History Month: 2.00pm, Thursday 23rd March 2023

As originally planned, the Antiquaries had arranged for the Chair of the Alexander Thomson Society to give a talk on the life and work of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, from his start in Balfron to becoming one of Scotland's most famous architects. His influence is most obviously seen in Glasgow, but also throughout the West of Scotland including Lenzie. This would have been the Society’s contribution to East Dunbartonshire’s Local History Month, but unfortunately, due to illness, the talk had to be cancelled with possible rescheduling on a later date. Rather than cancel the event itself, the Society's President, Dr Ivan Ruddock, volunteered to present ‘Memories of the Glasgow Garden Festival, 1988’ at the originally advertised time and place, i.e. 2.00 pm on 23 March 2023 at the Park Centre, Kirkintilloch.

The decision to proceed was vindicated by a good attendance of members and non-members. The audience was first reminded of the many large exhibitions held in Glasgow prior to the Garden Festival, and then taken down memory lane with an overview of the location, the various themed gardens, the trams and trains provided to tour the site, the entertainment and the thrill rides, and the options for eating. The impact of the Garden Festival on the economy of Glasgow was also examined, as well as the current locations of some of the major exhibits. The talk was beautifully illustrated and expertly delivered. Great memories and a big thank you to Ivan.

David Graham

CANCELLATION: Scott Abercrombie: Alexander 'Greek' Thomson': 2.00pm, Thursday 23rd March 2023

Unfortunately, due to illness, the advertised talk by Scott Abercrombie on Alexander 'Greek' Thomson on Thursday 23rd March 2023 at 2.00pm will not take place. This event would have been the Society's contribution to East Dunbartonshire's 2023 Local History Month. In its place, Ivan Ruddock, the Antiquaries President, will present 'Memories of the Glasgow Garden Festival'.

The talk will be given in The Park Centre, Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch on Thursday 23rd March at 2.00 pm and is open to all.

Visit to Central Gurdwara, Berkeley Street, Glasgow: Tuesday 14th March 2023

In spite of the forecasted early morning fall of snow, 20 members of the Society made their independent way by public transport and by car to the distinctive flag pole at the front entrance of Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Berkeley Street, Glasgow for a prearranged tour. On arrival we were greeted at 11.00.am on Tuesday 14th March 2023 by our guide with whom the visiting arrangements had been made. These included a dress code of no tobacco, meat or alcoholic substances, and modest clothing to cover shoulders and legs if possible, and a head covering, although bandanas were also provided by the Gurdwara if required. Coats, shoes and socks were stored in lockers at the start of the tour.

The tour included two levels of the Gurdwara and consisted of an account of the origins of Sikhism in the Punjab region of the subcontinent of India in the mid-15th centenary and its subsequent evolution and development into one of the world's principal religions. The very important part played by its members in various military campaigns including both World Wars was also highlighted. Using plaques and charts arranged on the walls it was easy to learn of the history, articles of faith, practices and culture of Sikhism as narrated by the enthusiastic guide who, by a combination of teaching skills and good 'Glasgow' humour, held the attention of the group for some 90 minutes. The tour also included time to witness part of a religious ceremony and to take part in a period of meditation, all of which was accompanied with a background of 'live' music.

At the end of the tour, the group was invited to lunch, or 'langar' as the free food in a Sikh Temple is referred to, where we were served an appetising meal of chapati, curry sauce, pasta, French fries, a glass of water and tea. It was very evident why the hospitality of the Gurdwara is greatly appreciated as we learned it serves many hundreds of meals per day as a gesture to those in need and a contribution to the community.

As the group was gathering to leave, a vote of thanks was given to the enthusiastic, kind and very helpful guide whose skilled presentation gave us a much greater appreciation of Sikhism, and its involvement in Glasgow. Arrangements were also made for the Society to make a donation to the Gurdwara in appreciation of the success of the visit and in recognition of its humanitarian work.

David Graham

Scott Abercrombie: Alexander 'Greek' Thomson': 2.00pm, Thursday 23rd March 2023

Each year, Kirkintilloch and District Society of Antiquaries hosts an event in the programme of East Dunbartonshire's Local History Week or Month. This year, Mr Scott Abercrombie, Chair of the Alexander Thomson Society will speak on the life and work of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson.

Alexander 'Greek' Thomson (1817 - 1875) was a Scottish architect who was inspired by the style and motifs of Ancient Greece. His reputation suffered during the twentieth century along with that of other Victorian architects, but since the 1950s it has been restored, and his remaining buildings are now prized examples of Scottish architecture.

The event will be held in The Park Centre, Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch on Thursday 23rd March at 2.00 pm and is open to all.

James Kennedy: 'It started with Rob Roy - film making in the Trosachs, 1911-53': Thursday 2nd March 2023

Lights, camera, action!...Rob Roy is one of the best known works of Sir Walter Scott and, since the earliest days of the motion picture industry, adaptions of it have been regularly filmed in Scotland, including on location in the Trossachs. In his talk, Mr James Kennedy, will describe the background to how these films came to be made, including some of the personalities involved.

Actor David Hawthorne as Rob Roy in the eponymous 1922
film on the cover of Bioscope, 21st September 1925 (from
the British Newspaper Archive).

James is a historian who lives in the Trossachs, and has recently researched its use as a location for film making. A detailed account has been published in Scottish Local History, the journal of the Scottish Local History Form of which he is a trustee. On his previous visit to the Society in March 2020, he spoke on the 1919 influenza pandemic, just as the reality of Covid was becoming only too clear a few days before the first lockdown.

Members' Night: 'A serendipitous discovery': Thursday 16th February 2023

The theme of this year's Members' Night is 'A serendipitous discovery', interpreted in whichever way the participants wish. In other words, the topic could be a person, a place, a historical fact or an artifact. The format of the evening will be as in previous years - each contributor has the opportunity of speaking on his or her topic for about five - ten minutes with or without illustrations.

If you are thinking of contributing, please let Ivan Ruddock know of your intention, and if you wish to have some images included in the composite PowerPoint presentation, please send them using the Society's email address that can be found under 'Contact Us'.

Grant Pinkerton: 'Records and research using the CWGC archive': Thursday 3rd February 2023

Almost everyone living in the United Kingdom is related to someone, however distant, who served and died in either of the two World Wars. That service man or woman is commemorated in perpetuity somewhere in the world by a headstone or memorial erected and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), originally founded as the Imperial War Graves Commission in 1917 and renamed in 1960.

Mr Grant Pinkerton's talk, entitled ‘Records and Research using the CWGC Archive’, will cover the origins and work of the Commission from foundation to the present day. He will introduce the archives held both in terms of casualties as well as the Commission's own papers which provide an insight into its early years and a number of the decisions made. Using the Casualty Archive, he will look at some of the individuals commemorated with connections to the Kirkintilloch area.

Grant is one of volunteer speakers and tour guides for the Commonwealth Graves Commission as part of the MacRoberts Trust Speakers Programme. His particular area of interest is the First World War but focusing more on the lives of those remembered from the greater Glasgow area.

Some of the documents that can be downloaded from CWGC for a WWI casualty, anticlockwise from top left: the medal card, his/her effects and their disposal, and the commemorative scroll. (© CWGC)

Carol Primrose: 'The history of Mavis Valley – a mining village near Bishopbriggs': Thursday 12th January 2023

The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in what is now East Dunbartonshire saw a drastic change from a rural way of life to intensive industrial development, notably in mines and quarries. To service them, several new villages had to be built to house the workers yet within a century most of them had disappeared. One of them, Mavis Valley, has left enough of a footprint to suggest what life was like for the miner and his family. Surveyed and mapped in 2012, it is a rare survivor of industrial archaeology in West Central Scotland. In this talk, Carol Primrose will present the growth and decline of the Mavis Valley and describe what still remains to be seen at this location.

Mavis Valley (public domain)

Mrs Primrose is a former librarian who, started in Glasgow's Mitchell Library after studying French and German at Glasgow Univeristy, and retired from the latter's library after twenty-two years during which she focused on staff training and study skills and information retrieval for students. Her career also included spells at Strathclyde University and two years in charge of the St Andrew’s House branch of the Scottish Office library in Edinburgh.

A subject specialism in archaeology led to a Certificate in Field Archaeology and membership of a number of archaeological societies including being President of the Glasgow Archaeological Society, Vice President of Archaeology Scotland, Chair of The Association of Certificated Field Archaeologists and Fellow of the Society of Antiquities of Scotland. She has taken part in several surveys and co-directed two in Arran, and, following retirement in 1998, she developed an interest in local history and directed a survey of Mavis Valley. She is currently Secretary of East Dunbartonshire History and Heritage Forum and a Trustee of Gavin’s Mill in Milngavie.

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