President’s Report
Once upon a time, long ago, I was a young Territorial Officer in charge of leading a military excursion into the Vale of St Andrew at Pluscarden. I knew the Monks well as I looked after their accounts and so I went to Father Abbot and explained what I was about to do. “We will greet your soldiers with tranquillity” he said. And so they did.
Why do I relate the comment? The answer is because every time I visit Elgin Museum I find tranquillity and much happiness. I do not expect every volunteer will know who the grey haired person is but I listen while they welcome our visitors. And they do it well. Very well indeed.
This explains why Elgin Museum is now among “six of the best”. I realise I do not need to tell you that. Our outstanding PR makes sure that the world knows and both The Northern Scot and the P & J have reported our success in the Daily Telegraph Family Friendly Awards. We are the only Scottish Museum on the shortlist. How can I express my thanks to Di Hannan and Heather Townsend for this amazing achievement?
The press have also reported The Dandaleith Stone which is a staggering find and will eventually come to Elgin Museum to be cared for and looked after and above all for the public to admire.
But we still have to deal with important matters that ensure our status. Dr Janet Trythall has just asked me to sign a huge number of papers as part of our submission to continue as an accredited museum. This has been a massive piece of work which she has masterminded with the support of our team. You may wish to call it “red tape” but it is essential for us if we are to be creditable with Moray Council and the museum authorities. Anyway my remarkable Vice President has delivered it. On time and we are most grateful.
We have welcomed four new Board members. Group Captain Phil Dacre, Mrs Angela Monro, Mrs Rebecca Russell and Mrs Marion Yool have joined us. Phil brings an enthusiasm for military/RAF. Angela has a wealth of knowledge about museums and their politics, Rebecca (nee Dunbar) continues a long Pitgaveny connection with us, and Marion left the Board speechless by suggesting some of our stonework from the museum was out at Croy!
Life is never dull as Hon President! Please do visit the museum and bring your friends and guests.
Grenville Johnston
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Elgin Museum presents
Moray Geology: Past, Present, Future
Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March 2015
Alexander Graham Bell Conference Centre,
UHI Moray, Elgin
A conference having a new look at the history of Elgin Museum, its fossil collection and the geology of the Moray area.
Registration: £5; Field Trip: £5
Speakers to be advised – details on the Museum website as soon as available.
For further details or to register,
contact Dr Sue Beardmore at
Dandaleith Pictish Stone
As Grenville has mentioned, we are delighted to be able to announce that Elgin Museum has been allocated from Treasure Trove,a rare treasure, the Dandaleith Stone, which was uncovered by a farmer in a field at Dandaleith, near Craigellachie.
The Class I Pictish symbol stone was found in May 2013 during ploughing at Dandaleith Farm, near Craigellachie. The stone, a solid pink granite boulder, measures 0.5 x 1.68 x 0.36m and weighs c.670kg. It has incised decoration on two adjoining faces; the other two faces show no obvious signs of carving. Face 1 is incised with a large eagle, with crescent and V-rod below. Face 2 is incised with a mirror case symbol, with notch rectangle and Z-rod below. The stone may be unique in having two pairs of symbols carved on the same orientation on two adjoining faces. It is currently awaiting conservation before going on display at theMuseum, hopefully in time for opening next year.
The stone will be a wonderful addition to our existing collection of carved stone and thestone will beput into place as soon as we have overcome the problem of raising necessary funding and solving the logistical problems of transporting it to Elgin and getting it insitu in the Museum.
Bill Dalgarno
Sunday Telegraph Shortlist
Once again, I am delighted to tell you that Elgin Museum has progressed further in the Telegraph Family Friendly Award. We have now reached the shortlist of six from the long listed twenty and from 800+ originally nominated museums.
The six final museums are The Lightbox in Surrey, The Royal Gunpowder Mills in Essex, Beamish Museum in County Durham, The National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Experience Barnsley Museum and Discovery Centre and, of course, Elgin Museum.
In the Sunday Telegraph of 27th July, Elgin Museum is described as "a perfectly formed gem, free to enter and the oldest independent museum in Scotland. Here the ebullient staff like nothing more than for kids to handle their extraordinary trove of riches, from dinosaur fossils to artefacts, mediaeval, Victorian and world war related."
The six shortlistedmuseums will now be road tested anonymously by families and the winning museum will be announced in the Life section of the Sunday Telegraph on Sunday 28th September.
We have received congratulations from our many friends throughout the UK and, having made it to theshort list, we are proud and delighted that the work we have done to make ourselves more family friendly has been recognised. Our decisions to stop charging for entry and to employ Di Hannan to work on outreach and on making the Museum more accessible has proved to be absolutely right.
In the August copy of ‘Connect’, the Museums Galleries Scotland newsletter, their piece about the award states that “Elgin is an excellent role model for other museums, demonstrating the positive impact local museums and heritage organisations can have in their communities and what a small, committed and driven team can achieve in their pursuit of bringing the past to life for the next generation.”
We must also not forget our sponsors, Baxters, Walkers and Johnstons who have helped us financially to give us the confidence to trial free membership and we are grateful to them for their continuing help.
Huge congratulations to all staff and volunteers in the Museum who have contributed to the Museum receiving this accolade and I am glad to say that Di and Heather will represent us at a ceremony in London on Friday 26th September when the winning museum will be announced.
Bill Dalgarno,
Museum Convenor
Local Quines – making an exhibition of themselves
Five local retired teachers who discovered they shared an interest in various crafts - painting, quilting, photography, knitting – are to exhibit some of their work in the Museum from 15th September to closing of the Museum on Saturday 1st November.
Activities Committee
Noted below is the Activities Committee programme for the coming Autumn/Winter season. Some of the detail, however, has still to be fixed.
Fri. 25 Sept. WW1 – the surviving evidence in the North
Allan Kilpatrick, RCAHMS 7.30pm
Fri. 10 Oct. Planned Villages in NE Scotland (referring to Incorporated Trades papers gifted to the Museum)
Douglas Lockhart, Scottish Local History Forum 2.00pm
Fri. 31 Oct. Auctions, Antiques and Hidden Treasures
Talk by Colin Fraser of Lyon & Turnbull 7.30pm
Sat. 1 Nov. NOT the Antiques Roadshow (see separate advert)
Lyon & Turnbull 11-3
Fri. 21 Nov Findhorn Shipwrecks since 1750
Tim Negus, Chairman, Findhorn Heritage 7.30pm
22nd Jan. My Year in Elgin Museum
Dr Sue Beardmore, Recognition Fund Curatorial Asst. 2.00pm
27th Feb. Cooking in Moray through the Ages
Mary Shand 2.00pm
21/22 Mar Geology of Moray: Past, Present, Future
UHI Moray College See separate item in Newsletter
24th Apr. The Dandaleith Stone (after AGM) 7.30pm
TBC
It is expected that a visit to the Biblical Garden will be arranged for March with Gill Berkeley, UHI (Moray College, Elgin)
Doors Open Days - get into buildings
Lossiemouth: Saturday 6th September 2014
Taking over the mantle from our Civic Committee this year, Lossiemouth Heritage Association is hosting this year's Doors Open Days festival for Moray. Enjoy exploring the rich history and heritage of Lossiemouth by visiting some of the 14 properties and events during our Doors Open Day. All of course are free!
1. Lossiemouth House (gardens only)
11 am – 4 pm
2. Lossiemouth Library
Library history, old maps and plans 10 am – 2.30 pm
3. Lossiemouth Town Hall
Old Lossiemouth photos and exhibition of David West paintings 10 am – 4 pm
4. Lossiemouth Baptist Church
With coffee morning 10 am – 12 noon
5. St. James Church
With Soup and Sweet 12 noon – 2 pm
6. St. Gerardine's High Church
10 am – 4 pm
7. Lossiemouth Community and Fisheries Museum
11.30 am – 4 pm
8. Lossiemouth Golf Club
Family activities at Marine Park: 11 am – 4 pm
9. St. Margaret's Episcopal Church
10 am – 4 pm
10. Windswept Brewing Co.
Tours only. Call 01343 814310 to book
11. The Hillocks
Home of Ramsay MacDonald: 10 am – 4 pm
12. Covesea Lighthouse
Tours only access. Call 01343 810664 to book
13. Lossiemouth Waste Water Treatment Works
Tours only. Call 01343 815672/815055 to book (from 22 August)
14. Lossiemouth Heritage Walks
Meet at Lossiemouth Library: 11 am and 2.30 pm
For full details visit www.doorsopendays.org.uk
or call 01343 813076
Doors Open Days is coordinated nationally by the Scottish Civic Trust. It runs throughout Scotland every September as part of European Heritage Days. For more information see their websites:
www.doorsopendays.org.uk: www.scottishcivictrust.org.uk
Bel Canto Concert
27th September 7pm to 9.15pm
We are holding a fund raising concert with Bel Canto, the young persons’ classical singing group. Evening dress is a must and cheese and wine will be served in the Museum hall in the interval.
Tickets are £10 and we think they will sell out quickly. On sale from 18th August in the Museum.
Accreditation
As mentioned in Grenville’s report, the last year and a half has been taken up with working towards submission of our application for Accreditation for Elgin Museum. Janet Trythall has worked tirelessly to assemble the application which involves jumping through a myriad of hoops and all this while Arts Council England and Museums Galleries Scotland have kept moving the goalposts. Without the work that Janet has done, we would not have been able to submit our application in time. Huge thanks to Janet for all that she has done for the museum – a long holiday has most certainly been earned.
Bill Dalgarno
Date for your diary!
Following last year’s successful quiz night, we will be having a follow up this year so get your teams organised a fun and enjoyable evening – and start swotting!!
Get ready for the event in the Museum on Friday 28th November. Teams will be of up to 6 people or come along and join a team on the night.
Details in the next Newsletter
Moray Society Prize Draw
The Prize Draw has now been running for eleven years and during that time has diverted thousands of pounds into the Moray Society current account. This total includes donations submitted through the Prize Draw fund but does not take into account any further income accrued from Gift Aid generated by eligible donations.
This has been of considerable benefit to our daily running expenses and continues to be so, given the huge inflationary price rises on all our utility bills
The price of the tickets remains unchanged and at present there are 93 tickets in circulation at £10 each. These are all eligible for the 12 prizes during their lifetime (1 year/4 draws with 3 prizes each).
If you are not attracted by those odds then remember that you can still help the Society by purchasing one or more tickets in the sure knowledge that the only winner can be the Society itself.
All income generated by the draw goes directly into Moray Society funds apart from the prize money paid to the lucky winners.
Please address any questions or applications to me at the Museum (or email , or tel 01309 673597)
Moray Society Prize Draw
Please allocate me ...... tickets in the Moray Society Prize Draw @ £10.00 each.
*I enclose my payment of £......
*Please forward me a standing order mandate
Name......
Address…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Post Code...... *please delete if inappropriate
Please address any questions or applications to me at the Museum (or tel 01309 673597).
Ritchie Mabon
Prize Draw Co-Ordinator
Coffee Morning
Another successful coffee morning was held in Austins Tearooms (Elgin Bridge Centre) on Saturday 31st May. Final financialdetails have still to be worked out but all who took part and those who attended are to be thanked for their contribution to the day which gives us money toallow the museum to continue to expand its activities and become better known throughout Moray.
ANTIQUES WEEKEND
Friday 31st October
Auctions, Antiques and Hidden Treasures
A talk by Colin Fraser of Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh
(ex Elgin Museum Discovery Club)
7 for 7.30 in the Museum Hall
Saturday 1st November 11am to 3pm
NOT the Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Valuation Day
How much are you worth?
What would you sell?.....your granny’s china?
A team of experts from Edinburgh based auction house, Lyon and Turnbull will value your silver, paintings, ceramics, jewellery, coins, medals and curiosities. Bring them along on the day and for the low fee of £3 per item – proceeds to the Museum – you can get a valuation. Open to members and the general public.
Not just Accreditation
In case anyone got the wrong impression, I would record that it has not just been templates, tick boxes and tearing hair out assembling the needful for Accreditation. Apart from drinking many mugs of tea and coffee (decaff. please in my Roma mug, gift from an Italian fossil footprint student) in very congenial, often jovial, company, there have been encounters with a variety of visitors, real and virtual.