17th May 2018

Our next meeting is the last of this current session. We meet, as usual, in the Abbey Church Halls at 7:30pm where Andy Paterson will present his highly recommended talk “Stars of the Silver Screen”. As this is the last meeting of the year, refreshments will be provided.

April 19th   7:30 pm,      Abbey Church Hall

Derek Larkman – “Frederick Maitland, an Ordinary, Extraordinary Man “

Lieutenant Commander Larkman served in the Royal Navy, in frigates, carriers and Polaris submarines as well as a in a variety of shore appointments. After retiring, in 1992, he went into local government, becoming East Lothian Council’s Emergency Planning Officer. He has an active interest in maritime and naval history.

Those who remember Derek’s excellent talk on “Jute, Jack and Journeying” last season,  will be looking forward to this talk, which will tell the story of a senior Naval Officer of the Napoleonic Wars who had a direct connection with Bonaparte himself.

The March meeting will take place at 7:30 pm on Thursday, 15th March in the Abbey Church Hall as usual.

Professor Gordon Findlater will talk on ‘Burke and Hare’.

Professor Findlater has taught Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh since 1984. He was awarded a Personal Chair and appointed Professor of Translational Anatomy in 2013 and made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2014.  In March 2016 he retired from full time employment and now works for the University on a part-time basis.

His main research interest is the development of innovative ways of teaching anatomy and as such, has been involved with the development of a holographic atlas of anatomy and the use of virtual reality in the teaching of anatomy. He has always been interested in spreading knowledge of anatomy beyond those studying Medicine and so I’m sure he will provide us with a talk on the infamous Burke and Hare from an unusual, and very well informed, viewpoint.

14th March 2018

Inverkeithing Local History Society           7:30 pm                       The Townhouse

“In Search of the Highlands”             Eric Simpson

Kincardine Local History Group                2pm                               Community Centre

“The Carron Line”                                Geoff Bailey

15th March 2018

Dunfermline Historical Society                   7:30 pm                      Abbey Church Halls

“Burke and Hare”                               Gordon Findlater

Thursday 18th January

“Pictish Settlement, East Lomond Hill”                            Oliver O’Grady and Joe Fitzpatrick

Anyone who watched “Digging for Britain” will have seen a little of this archaeological dig  in the 6th December episode. We are delighted to have the leaders of the project visit us for our first meeting of 2018, where we will see and hear much more detail about this little understood period, and at a very nearby location. If you missed the programme, it is worth trying to catch it on the BBC iplayer.

Oliver is an archaeologist who specialises in landscape research and community heritage projects. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Glasgow. He has worked for the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, and has directed archaeological excavations at Iron Age and medieval sites throughout Scotland, most notably in 2008-09 at Scone Palace, the Scottish royal coronation site.

Joe is a Director and Trustee of the Falkland Stewardship Trust which is responsible for many aspects of the Falkland Estate. Since his retirement as a Head of Service in Education and then Communities Services with Fife Council, he devotes much of his time to history, archaeology and community involvement. He is the Project Director for the Trust’s ‘Connecting Communities to their Ancient Landscape’ project, which commissioned the 2017 excavations on East Lomond. Joe lives in Fife and is married with two grown up sons.