The recording of Catherine Erskine's talk on the Cambo Estate is now available to view.

Previous meetings, 2020–21

The principal ambition of our lecture programme for 2020–21 is to honour aspects of our cultural and social history through stories of art, archaeology, architecture, archaeology and history relevant to Falkland but not necessarily local. We trawl our circles of friendship and acquaintance vigorously for speakers who are active in their chosen fields. This has been true of all our lecturers who have spoken to us since September, but it gave great pleasure that following the talk on 11 November by Nic Boyes the feedback included two very strong messages of approval both of the topic (conserving stone buildings and sculpture) and of a very engaging lecturer who knows how to make his subject-matter attractive and interesting to others.

September 2020

AGM and lecture: Peter Jones, Painter

Peter Jones loves to paint houses, and often does so to commission. He has produced books of paintings of the Picturesque houses of Kirkcudbright, Portobello and Falkland. His exhibition at the Gallery in the Falkland Stables at the end of 2019 was a delight. His paintings are not simply a recording of façades but subtly hint at the history of a house and the vibrant life of its inhabitants.

Peter's talk was preceded by the Annual General Meeting of the Falkland Society.

See the Minutes of the AGM (PDF file).

View the recording of the entire meeting.

October 2020

Vanessa Stephen, freelance landscape architect

Vanessa trained at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Her interest in historic burial landscapes stems from her year out in London within easy reach of the famous Victorian burial grounds, followed by a period in Italy studying the gardens of the Italian Renaissance. In association with Norman Gray & Partners she has prepared the landscape management plan for the famous Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh.

It is hoped at a later date to organise a visit to Edinburgh which will start at the Dean Cemetery, progress through some of the private gardens of the Dean Valley – pausing somewhere for lunch – and end at the Royal Botanic Garden, another special landscape.

View the recording of Vanessa's talk.

November 2020

Nic Boyes, consultant stone conservator

Nic was one of the leaders of the team which rescued the Picturesque ruin of the Temple of Decision on the Falkland Estate from imminent collapse. He has been responsible for any number of major conservation projects, but in addition to the Temple of Decision his talk covered the Temple of Hygea in Stockbridge (Edinburgh) and, above all, about five-year long programme to conserve the external stonework of the Rosslyn Chapel, one of Scotland’s most beloved monuments.

View the recording of Nic's talk.

December 2020

Peter Burman: Venice, Heart City

Peter has twice studied in Italy (in Florence and Rome) but only in recent years has he become an active and engaged visitor to Venice, about which he will speak. He will elucidate some of the challenges which threaten Venice while delighting us with expositions of the beauties of some of his favourite places including the Academia, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and certain special churches.

View the recording of Peter's talk.

13 January 2021

Ross Burgess: Falkland's Historic Buildings

Having initiated the Falkland Listed Buildings Survey in August, Ross has started documenting the results in the Falkland Society’s own Wikipedia-style online encyclopedia (check it out here). He will be talking about some of the interesting questions and issues this has raised. Ross studied French and Philosophy at Oriel College, Oxford, but turned his attention to IT technology at a time when it was new to most of us. Later, ‘for fun’, he did a Maths degree. Since settling into Falkland, he has developed a well-informed passion for the history of Falkland and its people.

View the recording of Ross's talk.

10 February 2021

Marietta Crichton Stuart: Falkland and its People 1901-1913, some stories from the book

Marietta is no stranger to succeeding seasons of Falkland Society lectures. She is a leading local historian and archivist to the Falkland Estate and her branch of the Crichton Stuart family. Consequently, Tom Playfair and Ross Burgess were delighted when she became a consultant to the book published in early December 2020. She read it twice with great care and made many valuable suggestions, and has also contributed a Foreword.

View the recording of Marietta's talk: