Opening Night Tuesday 6 October 2015

Robert G Ingersoll

The first talk of the session will take place in the Lecture Theatre of the Kilmarnock Campus of Ayrshire College, starting at 7.30pm
The membership fee for this year remains fixed at £15, which can be paid on the night.  The Treasurer should be in attendance from around 7.00pm to receive your fees.
The first lecture is entitled "Burns and Ingersoll" and will be given by one of our own members, Robin Wood.  This sounds as if it will be an intriguing and informative talk and I include the following quote from Ingersoll on our National Bard.





"

    ......... to-night we are going to talk of a poet -- one who poured
out his soul in song. How does a country become great? By producing
great poets. Why is it that Scotland, when the roll of nations is
called, can stand up and proudly answer "here"? Because Robert
Burns has lived. It is Robert Burns that put Scotland in the front
rank."

Kilmarnock Station Community Village - now open

Kilmarnock Station Railway Heritage Trust have now opened the first phase of their Kilmarnock Station Heritage Village. Facilities include;


First Class - a gift shop supplied by local crafters, pupils from local schools and students from Ayrshire College. Opening hours are Mon - Thurs 10am -4pm; Fri 10am -6pm and Sat 10am - 1pm.


Storm In a Tea Cup - serving coffees, Suki teas and a selection of cookies !


The Killie Browser - a book shop with a difference. Sit and browse through the large selection of books, or buy one for £1 and take it home. Donations of books always welcome. Proceeds, as with First Class, go towards funding the ongoing development of the facilities.


The Tower Room - a self contained office space for hire. Killie Browser is also available for hire. rates are excellent at £5 per hour for charities; £ 6 per hour for societies and £12 per hour for businesses.


See www.kilmarnockstation.co.uk for more details.


This is a fantastic community asset which is well worth visiting and supporting.


As well as seeking donations of books, the Trust are looking for volunteers to help in First Class and Storm In A Tea Cup. If you can offer some time please contact Allan Brown via the 'contact us' page on their web site or let KDHG know and we'll put Allan in touch with you.

Heritage Walk Around Kilmarnock

Heritage Walk

Fancy a walk around Kilmarnock town centre, visit a few pubs, have a few drinks and learn lots of things about the town while you do so?

Well, local Historians Gary Torbett, Graham Boyd and Stuart Wilson are here to help you out by leading a heritage walk in and around Kilmarnock town centre on the evening of Thursday 27th August with any proceeds being handed over to the Killie Trust.

In Gary’s own words:

“The walk will be over a fairly short walking distance, will take in a few town centre bars AND you will learn a wee bit about the town’s history….I hope.

A sort of educational pub crawl.

The plan is to start at Fanny By Gaslight at 5.30 / 6pm for a beer (you buy your own BTW) and then head down The Strand, through The Cross, down Sandbed, along St Marnock Street, up Bank Street and along College Wynd to John Finnie Street.

The walk will visit 6 bars along the way so you will have a varied view of the pubs in Killie!! However the point is to get folk out walking, learning and spending a few quid in the town.
The walk is free of charge – like I say, bring your beer money – but I will collect discretionary donations at the end which I will pass to The Killie Trust.”

Lecture Programme for Session 2015 - 2016

The lecture programme for Session 2015 - 2016 has just been finalised by Graham Boyd.  As always, Graham has put a lot of effort into arranging a really varied and interesting series of talks
All the lectures will take place in the Lecture Theatre of Ayrshire College (Kilmarnock Campus) in Holehouse Road, Kilmarnock, starting at 7.30pm.
The membership fee for this session has been held at £15.  Excellent value for 12 lectures.
Come along and enjoy.

Kilmarnock & District History Group Syllabus 2015 / 16

2015

6 October                    Robin Wood               ‘Burns and Ingersol’

20 October                  Cate Devine                ‘Culinary Memories’

3 November                Andrea Thomson        ‘The History of Working Class

Marriage’

17 November              John Moore                 ‘History of the Maps of Glasgow’

1 December                 Donald Lees Reid       ‘The Last Mines of the Doon Valley’                        

15 December               Tom Barclay                “It is a terrible place”.  Ayrshire 

                                                                         Experiences of Gallipoli’                  

2016

5 January                     Bill Fitzpatrick            ‘The Battle of The Somme’

19 January                   Robin Nelson              ‘The Quintinshill Rail Disaster’

2 February                   Alexander Hall            ‘The Victoria Cross’   

16 February                 Valerie Reilly             ‘Coats & Clarks – The Binding Thread

of Paisley’s History’

1 March                       John Stevenson           ‘Old Ayrshire Farming’

                                                         

15 March                     Forbes Gibb                ‘History of Brewing in Scotland’