Events

https://www.aberlady.org/aberlady-bay-nature-reserve/

A team of enthusiasts at Strutter Aviation, based at Congalton near Aberlady, have built the only flying WWI aircraft in Scotland – a Sopwith Strutter they affectionately call ‘Sophie’ – and they’re not stopping there. Come hear their remarkable story!

https://www.strutteraviation.com/

In 1547-48, during the period of the ‘Rough Wooing’, English forces took Haddington and fortified it with a view to advancing on Edinburgh. Jon will give an account of the Scots and French siege of Haddington and the role played by the forts at Luffness and Aberlady in preventing a relieving English Fleet from landing.

Ailsa is a published author and historian and lives in North Berwick. Her main area of interest is 18^th & 19^th century social and political history. She has written material for BBC Scotland Education and produced an archive on the Union Canal. She is the author of several British history books, including Challenge and Transformation, published by Oxford University Press.  Her book Par for the Ladies, set in North Berwick, documents the history of the rising popularity of ladies’ golf. For almost 20 years Ailsa wrote for the county magazine, East Lothian Life on a wide range of local history topics, but particularly on houses and their inhabitants

While researching for an article on Gosford House, Ailsa came across a large bundle of unpublished letters written by Anne Anson, who became the wife of the 9th Earl of Wemyss in 1843. The letters started before her marriage and continued almost to the time of her death in 1896.  As well as giving fascinating detail of the social life of an aristocratic lady in the Victorian era, they tell a powerful story of love, torment, and personal tragedy.

https://www.mcsuk.org/ocean-emergency/marine-protected-areas/recovery-projects/uk-projects/restoration-forth/

Ian will give his personal observations on our village customs, past and present, and will pose the question: ‘Are our long standing customs being eroded and, if so, what should we do about it?’

https://senchus.wordpress.com/about/

In addition to his veterinary duties, Glen is, in his own words, an avid walker, enthusiastic golfer and a worryingly experimental amateur chef. He lives in nearby Gullane with Bridget, his pet-artist wife, their splendid Jack Russell ‘Patrick’ and sometimes their daughters who are drawn home because of the dog, not the cooking.

The exact focus of Ailsa’s ‘Aberlady’ presentation has yet to be finally agreed but a clue might lie in her research interests at the NMS.  These are Scotland’s social histories; working and rural life collections c.1750 to the present; and craft production in rural Scotland.  We can’t wait!