Tuesday 4th November Scottish History Month
Carnoustie’s Neolithic Halls
The longest and largest earliest Neolithic timber hall, to date in Scotland, was discovered on the raised beach at Carnoustie together with another large hall and a smaller one. It seems to have been constructed close to the end of the 4th millennium BC and was the first permanent structure to be built in the landscape. The talk will attempt to trace the origins, design and to the extent we can, the architecture of this monumental building. We can also ask questions about why it was built, why there, who built it and what it was used for. A modern day parallel provides us with some stimulating insights.
This building was joined by another, with possibly a different function and later both were replaced by a small hall built within the footprint of the long hall. Was the earlier hall burnt down at the end of its use, as happened to others in Scotland, or did different beliefs and systems come into play in its resurrection as a new building? Did the small hall reflect changes in society, the landscape and woodland cover, and what happened in areas around the buildings?
These themes will be explored while also considering the environmental and cultural evidence that survived from these buildings and their surroundings.
Our speaker, Beverley Ballin Smith, is the Publications Manager for GUARD Archaeology and editor of ARO (Archaeology Reports Online). She also specialises in the analysis of prehistoric pottery and coarse stone tools. She has published widely: the Howe Broch and the Crantit Tomb both on Orkney, the Neolithic and Bronze Age aspects of Iain Crawford’s work on the Udal, North Uist (Archaeopress publication), and with Dr Barbara Crawford on the Norse site of the Biggings at Papa Stour, Shetland. Most recently she brought the Carnoustie excavation to publication with Alan Hunter Blair and Warren Bailie.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available for donation.
Entry is free but seats are limited so please book a place via Eventbrite: Carnoustie’s Neolithic Halls
Tuesday 11th November Scottish History Month
“Who are the Picts and are they still here?” Pictish history, art and relevance in 21st century Scotland.
Our speaker, David McGovern is a heritage stone carver, based in Monikie, Angus, next door to the sandstone quarry at Denfind Stone, which has resurrected the Angus stone industry- an industry that sent Angus sandstone all over the world.
David carves both replica monuments and new monuments influenced heavily by the work of medieval stone carvers. He’s been fascinated by the Picts since his early teenage years, and will share his knowledge and love of that mysterious people, and their art, with us.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available for donation.
Entry is free but seats are limited so please book a place via Eventbrite: “Who are the Picts and are they still here?”
Tuesday 18th November
Don Roberto: the Adventure of Being Cunninghame Graham
Who was Don Roberto? Co-founder with Keir Hardie of the Scottish Labour Party, founding president of the Scottish National Party, horseman, traveller, writer, radical politician, descendant of Scottish kings, visionary and humanitarian. So why does practically no one in Scotland know anything about him?
Come and hear writer Jamie Jauncey talk about the life of his extraordinary great-great-uncle, and offer some answers to the question of why this hugely influential figure is so overlooked today.
Jamie Jauncey is a Birnam-based writer who has published fiction for adults and children. Don Roberto: the Adventure of Being Cunninghame Graham is his first biography. For many years Jamie sat on the board of the Edinburgh International Book Festival and still chairs events there every year. He is also a musician.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available for donation.
Entry is free but seats are limited so please book a place via Eventbrite: Don Roberto: the Adventure of Being Cunninghame Graham
Tuesday 25th November Scottish History Month
Before Carnoustie; Panbride and Barry 8th to 17th Centuries
This lecture looks at the early history of the two parishes, Barry and Panbride, in which now the 18th century town of Carnoustie is situated.
Pictish and Gaelic place-names, medieval charters from the 12th – 16th century cartulary of Arbroath Abbey and early written accounts of the area are examined in order to throw light on this ancient and historically important part of Angus. This account covers the period from the 8th to the 17th century before the settlement of Carnoustie was founded and became a burgh in the 19th century.”
Our speaker, Norman Atkinson, was born and bred in Arbroath. He was educated at Inverbrothock Primary School and Arbroath High School, where he was Geography Dux, Dundee College of Education and Leicester University.
After graduating in 1972, he taught at Hayshead School in Arbroath before joining Dundee Museum as an Education Officer in 1975. He moved to Angus District Council in 1977 as District Curator, a post which he held until Local Government reorganisation in 1996. He refurbished all five museums in Angus, and established Kirriemuir Museum, winning the Scottish Museum of the Year Award.
In 1996 he became Head of Cultural Services with Angus Council. He established Angus Archives at Restenneth, and redeveloped the Webster Memorial Theatre in Arbroath.
He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and a Fellow of the Museums Association.
Norman retired in September 2013 after 41 years of service with local government. He was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014 for services to the community in Angus. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Angus in 2016 and served until 2025.
Norman’s interests include Scottish, local and natural history, on which he has lectured and written extensively. He is a past President of the Montrose Natural History and Antiquarian Society, the Scottish Museums Federation, and the Pictish Arts Society.
He is currently Chair of the Friends of the William Lamb Studio, Vice President of the Forfar and District Historical Society, and a trustee of the Graham Hunter Foundation, which owns Restenneth.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available for donation.
Entry is free but seats are limited so please book a place via Eventbrite: Before Carnoustie; Panbride and Barry 8th to 17th Centuries
Sunday 30th November Special Event
St Andrew’s Day Christmas Fair