Thursday 15th November 2018

Dunfermline Historical Society

Bruce Keith              “Bridgescapes – an Illustrated Talk”

Bruce is a surveyor and environmentalist, having started his professional career working on several Perthshire and Aberdeenshire estates and in Edinburgh with the Department of Agriculture. Bruce moved to England in 1996 as Chief Surveyor with English Nature/Natural England, but kept his Scottish connections, retiring three years ago as Head of Property at SSE. Bruce’s interest in bridges stems from his childhood. His passion for Scottish history, geography and landscape is a recurring theme, captured in his book, “Bridgescapes”.

In addition to completing the book, Bruce has spent his retirement as an ambassador for the sustainable use of water resources globally, and, as President of his professional institution, The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). He has travelled extensively from New Zealand to Finland via Africa. This has left little time for golf, which, he says, is evidenced by his handicap.

As usual, we meet at 7:30 pm in the Abbey Church Hall, Dunfermline. All welcome.

18th October 2018

At the Dunfermline Historical Society’s October meeting, Dr. Donald Adamson will talk about “The Moat Pit of Culross”.

Donald Adamson comes from a Halbeath coal mining family, and that coal mining ancestry stretches back to the late 16th century in Dunfermline. He read Modern History and Economics at New College Oxford, is a Chartered Accountant and a retired KPMG tax partner. Donald suffers from the family curse of being an avid supporter of Dunfermline Athletic, and is currently chairman of Pars United Community Interest Company, the holding company of the football club.

Donald has a PhD in archaeology from the University of Glasgow and is non-executive chairman of Guard Archaeology Ltd. His talk on the Moat Pit and its wider implications for industrial Culross is based on his 2008 MLitt dissertation, elements of which subsequently appeared as articles in the Scottish Archaeological Journal and ‘History Scotland‘ magazine.

The first meeting of our new season will be held on Thursday 20th September 2018, at 7:30 pm, in the Abbey Church Halls.

Jess Smith will present “The Story of the Travelling Folk”.

We look forward to hearing Jess and getting the season started.

The 2018 – 2019 talks programme is now available. We have an exciting and varied set of speakers covering Scottish history from bridges and coal pits to cattle dealers and witches.

The final talk, next May, has now been confirmed as “Dunfermline Town Planning” presented by Sam Foster.

We hope members and visitors will enjoy the season.