Events

The speaker for this evening will be Mairi Dunn

Mairi gave an illustrated talk on the Island of Iona.

Over 30 friends and members of the museum enjoyed Mairi Dunns talk on her childhood Isle of Iona.

Mairi gave an excellent powerpoint presentation showing not only her photographs of the Island but also some from her fathers collection. Mairi's  talk took us all around the Island and she told us about places that tourists do not get time to see.

Donald Hernderson gave the vote of thanks.

Tea and coffee was then served.

Talk by the Mostly Ghostly Investigation team.

The Speaker for this event was Kathleen Cronie and The Investigations Team

The meeting was started by Tommy Hederson telling the company about what had been happening in the museum over the past few months. He reported that 4000 visitors had come through the door. He also described some of the items that had been handed in lately to the museum.

The treasurer then gave his report.

The Mostly Ghostly Investigators gave a very informative talk to the crowd of 30 at Dalbeattie Museums Afternoon Tea meeting. They explained how the team had came about and gave an excellent powerpoint presentaion to explain things further to the group.

Kathleen had alot of information to give in a short time but she did this excellently. Managing to talk about all their investigations and findings, Haunted Road Tours, Haunted Walks around Dumfries,  future investigations and what they hope to achieve.

After a question and answer session, we had  "Afternoon Tea".

Everyone had really enjoyed this talk and the feed back was very positive.

Our next meeting will be our A.G.M on December 3rd at

Dalbeattie Church Centre

Craignair Street

Dalbeattie   7:30pm

The speaker for this evening  will be Mike Shaw.

His talk is titled The BBC In Scotland: The First 50 Years

This open meeting was very well attended and the chairman, Tommy Henderson opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. He thanked them all for their continuing support and told them about what had been going on at the museum since the last meeting.

Tommy then introduced Mr Mike Shaw. Mr Shaw gave an illustrated talk, not only with pictures but also showing some early footage of Dr Finlays Case Book, the Flannels and the White Heather Dancers. Everyone enjoyed the talk, Tommy Henderson gave the vote of thanks. Refreshments were then served.

Parish Church Hall,

Craignair Street, Dalbeattie

at 7.30pm

The Lost Railways in Galloway

This talk was be given by Mr Angus Rex

Dalbeattie Museum Trust held an open meeting in the Church Centre, Craignair Street, Dalbeattie on Sunday, June 28^th. The meeting was an illustrated talk on “The Lost Railways of Galloway”. It is 50 years since Dr Beeching closed the railway line from Dumfries to Stranraer.  Galloway is often the forgotten corner of Scotland bypassed by travellers heading north from England to the populous central belt or the majestic highlands of Scotland.  The South West of Scotland was once served well by railways with the main services between Scotland, England and Northern Ireland passing through these two counties connecting with the ferry services from Portpatrick and Stranraer.

Little remains of the railway network in Galloway with cars and heavy lorries replacing the passenger and freight trains of the last century.  During the talk we travelled on the “Forgotten Railways of Galloway” including visits to Dalbeattie, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart, Stranraer, Portpatrick and Cairnryan.

The speaker was Angus Rex who was born and brought up in Wigtownshire attending Portpatrick Primary School and Stranraer High School.  He left Portpatrick to study at the University of Glasgow and has lived and worked in the Glasgow area ever since.  He currently lives in East Kilbride.

His main hobby has always been railways ranging from building model railways as a boy to preserving the real thing with The Scottish Railway Preservation Society.  Being so closely associated with Portpatrick, Angus concentrates his interest and talks on the railways of South West Scotland.

The meeting was attended by over 70 members and friends, Angus finished the afternoon by playing a short video of cine film of a train journey on the “Paddy Line” as the audience enjoyed refreshments.

The speaker for this evening was Mrs Isobel Evans

Isobel gave an illustrated talk on her visit last year to the Chelsea Flower Show. As well as her talk she showed the visitors a slide show of what she had seen, such as the flower displays, all the stands and all the ward winning gardens.

Donald Henderson gave the vote of thanks and then the company had refreshments

by Mr J. Hope

Coast Guard past, present and future

After the museum business, Tommy Henderson introduced Mr Hope.

The leacture began with the history of the coastguard and their duties. The duties of the coastguard has gone back as far as smuggling times when it was the duty of the coastguard to apprehend the villains.

Mr Hopes job was to patrol Dumfries and Galloways coastline and the Solway Firth, looking out for illegal activities in the small inlets and harbours. The coastguard are not a rescue service but will co-ordinate with other organizations to assist in a rescue.

Frefreshments were served after the talk.

The First World War and the HM Factory Gretna

The first 2014 open meeting of the Dalbeattie Museum Trust took place on Sunday the 6th of April in the Church Centre, Craignair Street, Dalbeattie. The afternoon took the form of a talk followed by afternoon tea.

The meeting opened with the Chairman Donald Henderson giving a resume of what had happened in the museum over the winter months. He described the new exhibition for 2014 – Dalbeattie at War – this exhibition showing the articles and items the museum owns to do with the First and Second World Wars, these include medals, gas masks, trench art and lots more.

Next the guest speaker for the afternoon was introduced, Mr John Anstey, who gave a fascinating talk on the “Devils Porridge” based in Eastriggs, just outside Dumfries. His talk was on the history of the First World War Ammunitions Factory which was built in secret between Longtown and Dornock, a total of 9 miles wide factory with its own water supply, housing, power station and railway system.

He explained the reasoning behind the building of it and then its demise after the end of World War One, and how it left us with the towns of Eastriggs and Gretna.

The afternoon rounded off with the audience enjoying an afternoon tea of scones, cakes with tea and coffee

The next open meeting is on Sunday September the 14th at 2pm in the same venue, and the speaker then will be Kathleen Cronie from “Mostly Ghostly” Investigations.

Dalbeattie Museum are sorry for the delay for putting Angelas talk on our calendar. 

Angela Haining gave a very interesting talk and powerpoint presentation about her adventures in Peru. Angela went to Peru to work for the Vine Trust. She helped build a house for the boys that live there. Angela hopes to go again this year to another Vine Trust project and is looking for sponsorship. The museum wishes her well in her next adventure.

After the talk, tea and buscuites were available.

by Mr D. Laurence from Colvend

at Parish Church Hall, Craignair Street, Dalbeattie at 7.30pm

Mr Laurence gave a very interesting talk on the Galapagos, which the members and friends enjoyed very much. Refreshments were served after the talk.

Speaker for this evening will be Mr. Hunter.

His subject will be "The History of the Arroll Johnston Motor Car".

70 members and friends attended the A.G.M. Tommy welcomed everyone and a copy of the accounts were made available for the members. The chairman gave his report and the treasurer also gave his report on the finances of the Museum, which showed a slight lose. This is thought to be due to the recent financial climate.

Donald Henderson gave a forward plan for the Museum next year, they included a exhibition in the front shop depicting the loss of the Titanic and its connection with the town. The speaker for this evening was Mr Hunter and Mr Gray they were both experts on the Arroll Johnstone Car. Mr Gray worked on them for many years. They gave us a fascinating account of this wonderful car right through from its beginnings, covering factories both at Dumfries and Kirkcudbright engineering works, Tongland. Many questions were asked at the end of the powerpoint presentation, this reflects the interesting subject. The vote of thanks was given by Tommy Henderson. Refreshments were then served.

Donald Henderson will be our speaker and he is going to give a talk on the subject "Pictures of Local Interest!" Donald changed his talk for this evening deciding to talk about the "Titanic".

The evening started with a short report from the Chairman Mr. Tommy Henderson on all the exciting items that had been handed into the museum lately. He also remarked that 5000 visitors had come through the museum doors over the past season. Donald accompanied his talk with a powerpoint presentation. He began his story about the "White Star Line". His information throughout his talk had been very well researched and he gave a fascinating account of an already a well told story. Giving an excellent insight into our local man, William McMaster Murdoch, who was on the bridge of the Titanic when it hit the iceberg. He also spoke about Mr Hume , from Dumfries, who was a bandsman on the Titanic, mentioning a new book about Mr Hume and his family called "The Band Played On". This book is by Mr Christopher Ward.

The evening finished with refreshments.