Saturday, 20th September, 11am – 1pm
i-Switch Campaign Launch
Tuesday 23rd September
Scotland’s Energy Future
Renewable energy is set to be one of the defining features of our future. How can we make a success of the just transition and make the most of renewable energy’s benefits, for Scotland and our case for Scottish independence?
Our speaker, George Bruce is a renewable energy lawyer. Join us to talk through all things renewable energy and Scottish independence.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available for donation.
Entry is free but please book a place via Eventrbite: Scotland’s Energy Future
Tuesday 14th October
“Direction” A Strategy for Independence
In the aftermath of the SNP Annual National Conference, we are delighted to welcome Robin McAlpine to share his views on the proceedings and the way forward for the independence movement.
Our speaker, Robin McAlpine, is Founder of Common Weal and is now its Head of Strategic Development. For 25 years, Robin has worked in journalism, public affairs, political strategy and policy. He is writes on Scottish politics for a number of publications and has authored several books. He is probably one of the most recognisable and respected figures in the wider pro-Independence movement.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available for donation.
Entry is free but seats are limited so please book a place via Eventbrite: Our Scotland “Direction” A Strategy for Independence
Tuesday 28th October
The Highland Wind Farm Revolt
Young filmmaker (and mum of three boys under 9 (!)) Katy Kilgour has made a film with renowned journalist and activist, Lesley Riddoch, about the wind farm overload developing in the Highlands. A whopping 1,300 wind farm proposals are active or already built. One glen – 22 miles in length – has enough separate projects to power 70% of Scotland’s housing. Isn’t that enough?
An unprecedented meeting of 53 Highland community councils took place in June and August, demanding a planning pause and a strategy from the Scottish Government. Katy and Lesley were there at the meetings, visiting the glens and hearing the stories behind one of the biggest civic Highland protests in decades. Are they just NIMBYs or have the Highlands become a ‘sacrifice zone’ for UK green energy? Is it true the energy will either be exported south of the border OR stuck because of grid constraints with consumers paying developers NOT to produce? It’s a mad situation and the recent announcement that Ed Miliband has rejected zonal pricing means its won’t get any better.
Is this OK? How do politicians of EVERY party explain why Highlanders are paying some of the highest energy bills in Europe AND coping with turbines, pylons, battery plants, convertor stations, cables, construction traffic and hardware in every glen?
Our speaker, Lesley Riddoch, really needs no introduction. She is probably one of the best known and respected journalists and broadcasters in Scotland. She is one of Scottish independence’s strongest and most articulate advocates.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available for donation.
Entry is free but seats are limited so please book a place via Eventbrite: The Highland Wind Farm Revolt
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