Thursday 17 November 2016

Pupils WW1 Railway Station Project

Please click the link for news on the wonderful WW1 project at Kilmarnock Railway Station
WW1 Exhibition News

Monday 31 October 2016

Remember, remember the 1st of November - new venue....

Please remember that we are having the first meeting in our new home at the Hill Street campus of Ayrshire College this Tuesday.
The lecture room is on the ground floor behind the main reception area. Committee members will be on hand to guide you.

Tuesday 4 October 2016

Important Notice - Change of Venue on Tuesday 18 October.

Please note that our second meeting of the session will NOT now take place in the Holehouse Road Campus of Ayrshire College.  Because of the "flitting" to the new Campus on Hill Street, we have had to relocate for one week to the Dean Suite of the Park Hotel at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock.
The meeting will begin at our usual time of 7.30pm.

Please contact us if you require any further information.

Opening Night Has Arrived

Tonight is the first talk of the 2016-2017 session.  It will take place in the Lecture Theatre of Kilmarnock Campus, Ayrshire College and begins at 7.30pm.

Membership fees can be paid at the College from around 7pm.

Our first speaker is Ian Matheson who has spoken to us on many occasions.  Ian consistently produces a very interesting and informative talk.  Tonight his topic is "19th. Century Nationalism"

EAC History & Heritage WW1 Project update

Please click Here for an update on the project.

Monday 3 October 2016

New lecture season begins Tuesday 4th October 2016

A quick reminder that the new lecture season begins on Tuesday 4th October. We will be meeting at the old college this week as the new campus is being given its final touches.
The first talk is by Ian Mathieson and called '19th Century Nationalism'.

Subscriptions will be collected before the first few meetings as usual. It would be extremely useful if members could have their enrolment forms completed before arrival.  The form can be found by clicking HERE

Wednesday 21 September 2016

EAC History & Heritage WW1 Project with local primary schools.

It was great to drop in to see the local pupils from Kilmaurs, Annanhill, Crosshouse and Gargieston Primary Schools working on the WW1 project in the Creative Spaces room at Kilmarnock Station today.
The level of research the children have undertaken and the quality of work they are producing is quite fantastic. Well done to all - we are looking forward to seeing the finished project, including the poppy display, in November.

You can keep an eye on the project's progress HERE

Tuesday 13 September 2016

Thursday 3 March 2016

AGM - 15 March 2016

Members please note that the AGM will take place at 7.30 on Tuesday 15th March prior to our final talk of the session.

Tuesday 1 March 2016

The Story of Shanks & Co - Thursday 10th March

As part of Scottish Local History Week there will be an exhibition telling the story of Shanks & Co at Barrhead Foundry 1pm - 7.30pm on 10th March.
This is of interest locally given the Shanks factory at Longpark in Kilmarnock.
The exhibition includes a photographic display, films from 1970s and 80s, memorabilia and pupil displays.

More information can be obtained from East Renfrewshire Heritage Service on 0141 577 3872 or  localstudies@recultureandleisure.org

Barrhead Foundry is on Main Street Barrhead (G78 1SW) - probably a 5-10 minute walk from the Station - more details can be found at  www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/barrheadfoundry
It has been built partly on the site of the Tubal works of the original factory complex of Shanks & Co.


1 March 2016 - Old Ayrshire Farming

Tonight's talk is Old Ayrshire Farming - delivered by John Stevenson.
7.30pm in the Lecture Hall at Ayrshire College, Kilmarnock Campus

Friday 29 January 2016

Ayrshire College - New Kilmarnock Campus

KDHG office bearers Stuart, Graham and Gary recently toured the new Kilmarnock Campus of Ayrshire College.
Although very much a building site, the building is nearing completion and will be ready to welcome student in September this year.
It is hard to believe that the building is not significantly different in size from the existing campus as it is a truly imposing modern structure.
It remains to be seen if our lectures will be held in the new college from 2016-17 onwards as we need to determine if the proposed lecture space is fit for our needs. This will become clearer after June when the Ayrshire College are handed the building. Members will be kept advised in good time.


Tuesday 19 January 2016

Quintinshill Disaster - 1915

Our speaker on Tuesday 19 February 2016 is Robin Nelson, a native of Falkirk now resident in Troon.

Robin is well qualified to speak to us about this terrible railway disaster, having spent a career in the employ of British Railways and more specifically in the Signal and Telecommunications Engineering Department.
In 1993 he was President of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers.


He has also been kind enough to recommend a few books relevant to the Quintinshill disaste, for those who want to study the incident further.
JAB Hamilton : "Britain's Greatest Railway Disaster : The Quintinshill Blaze of 1915" 
LTC Rolt : "Red for Danger" Newed.
John Thomas : "Gretna Britain's Worst Railway Disaster" 
Adrian Searle and Jack Richards : "The Quintinshill Conspiracy"
The roll call of the survivors of 1/7th Royal Scots after the accident

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Battle of the Somme - Note Change of Venue

The Battle of the Somme took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on either side of the River Somme in northern France. It was one of the  largest confrontations of World War I, in which more than 1,000,000 men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

The first day on the Somme is described by some as the worst day in the history of the British Army, which had around 57,470 casualties, mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line. The British Army on the Somme at that time was a mixture of the remains of the pre-war regular army, the Territorial Force and the Kitchener Army, which was partly composed of "Pals Battalions" recruited from the same cities, towns or occupations.
The battle is also remembered for the importance of air power and the first use of the "tank" in warfare.

Our speaker tonight is former Principal Teacher of History, Bill Fitzpatrick who visited this battlefield area on many occasions when he organised visits for his pupils to the Commonwealth War Cemeteries.
We look forward to what will be a most interesting and informative talk.

Important - Change of Venue Tuesday 5 January 2016

The Kilmarnock Campus of Ayrshire College will be closed this evening (5 January 2016). Consequently tonight's meeting of Kilmarnock and District History Group has been relocated to New Laigh Kirk Hall in John Finnie Street.
Please pass on this message to any members you know who may not have IT links.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.