PROGRAMME FOR 2025-2026

2025

Monday 6th October
Archaeology of the Glasgow Garden Festival
The 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival was hugely popular, but very few traces survive today. This lecture will shed light on what remains both visibly and underground in Festival Park. It will also summarise the findings of the ‘After the Garden Festival' project which is trying to track down where all the Festival structures, vehicles and gardens have gone, and report on research into the Antonine Gardens, a Festival display provided by Bearsden and Milngavie District Council.
Kenny Brophy


Monday 3rd November
The Romans in Scotland: their impact and legacy
Historians and archaeologists have revealed rich information about the Roman invasions of Scotland. John will examine the impact. He suggests that, in the light of recent world events, we may need to adjust some of our views of what the Imperial juggernaut really meant to the indigenous people of Scotland.
John Reid


Monday 1st December
The emergence of Bearsden
Drawing on a book about Bearsden soon to be published, Malcolm will highlight key developments since the building of two Roman fort complexes in this area on the Antonine Wall until the early 20th Century. For most of this time, the majority of inhabitants worked in agriculture or as servants. The final part will describe how the name and nature of urbanised Bearsden emerged from rural New Kilpatrick.
Malcolm Hill


2026

Monday 5th January
Smugglers of the Ayrshire Coast
Maura is the author of the recently published Smugglers’ Midnight Escape. She will talk about Ayrshire’s smuggling past from the 1760s. Focusing on the Isle of Cumbrae, with links to Culzean Castle and the Mains Estate in Milngavie, she will consider the items smuggled, hiding places and the tactics employed by King George III’s custom's officers. Also what happened when smugglers were caught?
Maura McRobbie


Monday 2nd February
The history of coal mining in Scotland
This talk will briefly describe how coal fuelled Scotland’s industrialisation. A major change came in the mid-1700s when the Scottish iron industry started to use coke-fire furnaces to smelt iron, then use of coal for domestic heating increased rapidly. Mining was labour-intensive and conditions in the mines were always harsh. An Act of 1842 forbade women and girls from working underground, but boys as young as 10 continued to be employed . To exemplify how technology transformed coal mining, equipment developed in Scotland to mechanise winding, pumping, coal cutting will be outlined, along with the resulting controversy.
Justin Parkes


Tuesday 2nd March
A.J. Cronin's The Citadel
Dr A. J. Cronin practised medicine and also became a highly successful novelist. Perhaps best known as the author of “Dr Finlay’s Casebook”, he also wrote “The Citadel”. This has an absorbing storyline about a young doctor, but also highlights deficiencies in health care. Cronin spent three years in the South Wales town of Tredegar which had an impressive Medical Aid Society. Aneurin Bevan, who was to become the architect of the NHS, lived at that time in Tredegar and was involved with the Society. “The Citadel” was a catalyst for the foundation of the NHS, one of the key societal events of the 20th century.
Frank Dunn


Monday 6th April
The other John Knox: painting from the Tron to the Trossachs
This talk explores the work of the Glasgow based artist John Knox (1778-1845): no relation to the sixteenth century reformer!. Knox’s astonishing panoramic presentations and detailed paintings capture the city’s street life and spectacular surrounding scenery in the early nineteenth century. Their scope reflects contemporary changes and attitudes. They inspired later well known artists.
Ailsa Bhattacharya


27th April
AGM and Members' Night
Short talks to be arranged.