A new session, an old night and the end of an era

The new session for Kirkintilloch and District Society of Antiquaries starts on Thursday 1st October 2015 when Jimmy Watson and Don Martin present "Thomas Muir 250: celebrating a local hero". An application form to join the Society can be downloaded from the Membership page.

Meetings will once again be held on Thursdays having been on Fridays for the past two sessions due to the availability of a suitable venue. The Society is remaining in The Park Centre but moving to the MacKay Hall. Entrance to this hall is via the door on the right hand side of the former church building. The programme for the year can be previewed here.

This session also marks the end of an era and the beginning of another following the resignation of Mr William 'Bill' McNeill as President at April's Annual General Meeting. A member of the Society for 37 years, he was the 11th President, although the 10th person to occupy the office from its foundation in 1933, and was the longest serving at 24 years. This period coincided with a strong increase in the membership from less than fifty to over one hundred but the choice of meeting night and venue was as much an issue at its beginning as at its end. In 1994 Bill introduced the very successful evening walks that for many years was the Society's contribution to Local History Week. When this April event was later moved to March, the Society's contribution has usually taken the form of an afternoon talk due to the shorter days ruling out an outdoor activity in the evening.



Bill McNeill

Bill's devotion to the Society is another example of his involvement in the community. It sits alongside being an elder in St David’s Memorial Park Parish Church, a patron of Kirkintilloch Players and a volunteer with the Seagull Trust and Strathkelvin Talking Newspaper.

His Presidency will be remembered for his low key style of chairmanship at meetings and the warmth of his welcome to all arriving. The members of the Committee are also grateful to his wife Jean for the lavish hospitality she provided as a reward for working through long agendas. The Society looks forward to seeing Bill and Jean at its future meetings, but now relaxing and enjoying the evenings’ proceedings.

Ivan Ruddock

It's official! Alexander Bain is the father of television

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the United States announced today (2nd September 2015) that an Emmy has been awarded to Alexander Bain to recognise his invention of scanning and image transmission. The Emmy is the television equivalent of the Oscar and is one of the highest honours associated with this particular medium, and Kirkintilloch and District Society of Antiquaries played a part in this decision.



The Emmy 
(© National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences).

Alexander Bain (1810-77) was born in Watten, Caithness and died in poverty in Broomhill Home, Kirkintilloch. For a few years he was a successful entrepreneur and business man, and although his achievements include the invention of the electric clock and important contributions to the electric telegraph, he is now known worldwide as the inventor of the fax machine. This early form of image transmission combined elements of electric clocks and telegraphs but the breakthrough was the concept of dissecting an image, sending it as a varying electric current in a wire, and then reversing the process to reassemble the image. It was the first time that an image was ever transmitted from one location to another and is the basis of the process used later by the developers of mechanical and electronic television. The link with the fundamentals of television was explored by Ivan Ruddock in "Alexander Bain: The Real Father of Television?" published in the Summer 2012 issue of Scottish Local History.

Alexander Bain in 1876 (© IET).

Alexander Bain's headstone in Kirkintilloch's Old Ailse Cemetery.

Ivan Ruddock

Lenzie Old Parish Church's new weather vane: Thursday 2nd July 2015

Miss Susan Ross, a member of Kirkintilloch and District Society Antiquaries of long-standing, helped to dedicate Lenzie Old Parish Church's new weather vane on Thursday 2nd July 2015. This was the culmination of extensive repairs to the steeple which involved the rebuilding of part of this familiar landmark.

Susan and a representative of the contractor with the weather 

vane before it was hoisted to the top of the steeple.

The Lion Foundry on BBC Alba: Wednesday 24th June 2015

BBC Alba is showing again the 1978 series, Diary of Britain, which focuses on the lives of fifteen communities throughout the United Kingdom.

Episode 2, broadcast on Wednesday 24th June 2015 was "Men and Iron" which followed the work of Kirkintilloch's Lion Foundry between the 11th and 15th of December 1978. It is available here on BBC iPlayer until 19th July 2015.

Report on the Summer Outing: Saturday 6th June 2015

Notwithstanding the wet and windy weather, 31 boarded the coach at 9.30 am in Sainsbury’s car park in eager anticipation of a full day’s outing. Travelling by motorway the group arrived at Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway for the great majority to catch the 10.45am train to Manuel hauled by the former LNER steam locomotive Morayshire. As the train departed the station, those on the platform and also some of the passengers were reminded of their childhood - not only by the spectacle but also by the sight and smell of steam, smoke and sulphur fumes!

Morayshire after arrival at Mauel station. © I.S. Ruddock

The Turkish Class 8F undergoing restoration. © I.S. Ruddock

The travellers returned some 60 minutes later to begin a visit of the Museum of Scottish Railways which houses a fine collection of exhibits that record and display railway history - both steam and diesel. Departure from Bo’ness was scheduled for 1.00 pm which gave the group sufficient time to appreciate the exhibits including the LMS designed Class 8F locomotive No.45170 built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow and first steamed on 28th February 1942; after modification, it was shipped by the Ministry of Supply to Turkey and but repatriated to the UK in 2010. This visit was a great start to the day. 

The End of an Era: Update on the Annual General Meeting, Friday 17th April 2015

An important event in the life of the Society occurred at the 2015 AGM on 17th April when Mr Bill McNeill resigned as President. Bill has been a member of the Society for 37 years and was the eleventh and longest serving President. He took up the post in 1991 and during this period the Society’s membership grew to its present large size. The Society is grateful to Bill for his dedicated service and looks forward to welcoming him back to its meetings in the coming session.

As the AGM also included the launch by David Graham of the review of the Society’s constitution, an interim President (Ivan Ruddock) was elected for the 2015-16 session with the other office bearers and committee members remaining unchanged. New elections will take place at the 2016 AGM.