14 September 2010

Final season of the dig at Birnie, near Elgin, where an impressive iron and Pictish settlement site has been the subject of assessment and excavation since 1998, led by Fraser Hunter of the National Museums of Scotland. The site was a local power centre which has produced a rich range of buildings and finds.

Volunteers are welcome, as long as they commit to a miniumum of 3 days. The excavations take place Sunday through Friday, with no work on Saturdays. Spaces are limited and must be booked in advance to allow planning. Please contact Fraser on 0131 247 4053 (and leave a message) or e-mail f.hunter@nms.ac.uk.

14 September 2010

Pathways into the Past: Reporting on the Past

Tuesdays, 31st August - 5th October, 10am-12:30pm
Muir Matters office, Old Tarradale School, Muir of Ord

Description:
Previous Pathways into the Past courses looked at how to research and record historic routeways, both indoors and in the field. Working with others, the next step is to learn to pull it all together into a display and a report. New members welcome!

Cost: £2.50 / 1.50 optional senior rate / free to those on benefits.

All welcome! Help with childcare costs is available.

Please book using the link on this page or e-mail info@archhighland.org.uk or phone 01349 868230.

14 September 2010

Pathways into the Past: Stepping into History.

Cornerstone Cafe, Evanton

Tuesdays, 31st August-28th September

7-9.30pm

Taking ancient routeways as a theme, these sessions offer an introduction to landscape archaeology for all those who want to research and record their local archaeology.

In addition to the indoor sessions, there will be an opportunity to follow part of the routeway on the ground, identifying and recording features along the way.

Cost: £2.50 / 1.50 optional senior rate / free to those on benefits.

All welcome! Help with childcare costs is available.

Please book using the link on this page or e-mail info@archhighland.org.uk or phone 01349 868230.
 

14 September 2010

The National Library of Scotland is having a roadshow to Inverness, bringing with them maps, plans and other materials, as well as a shop. Inverness Library, Farraline Park, Inverness. There will also be films and workshops on offer. Details of the programme can be found on the NLS website www.nls.uk/news/roadshow/index.html

Mapping the Highlands from the earliest times to the present day
A fully-illustrated talk exploring maps of the Highlands over five centuries. Ranges from the pioneering work of Timothy Pont in the 1580s and 1590s through to present-day Ordnance Survey and Google maps.

To book an event, please speak to a member of staff at Inverness Library or phone 01463 236463.

14 September 2010

The National Library of Scotland is having a roadshow to Inverness, bringing with them maps, plans and other materials, as well as a shop. Inverness Library, Farraline Park, Inverness. There will also be films and workshops on offer. Details of the programme can be found on the NLS website www.nls.uk/news/roadshow/index.html

Scottish Screen Archive film show
Showcasing the film collections held at the Scottish Screen Archive, this event will feature:

• Early films from the 1890s
• Footage of St Kilda
• The launch of the Queen Mary
• The Empire Exhibition of 1938
• Wartime Scotland
• Footage of Inverness over the years.

To book an event, please speak to a member of staff at Inverness Library or phone 01463 236463.
 

14 September 2010

Material held at NLS will be on display at Inverness Library from 13-15 September.

If you visit the roadshow, you can find out how to access the national collection without having to travel to Edinburgh. You can also:

Read recent books ´in the flesh´
Hear what NLS has to offer students, businesses, family historians, and film enthusiasts
Speak to our specialist staff
Attend a talk or film show.
They´re even bringing the shop. You will be able to buy copies of a selection of rare items and of maps.

Rare items on show:
´A plan of the Battle of Culloden´ (from around 1748)
Drawn about 2 years after the battle took place, and written entirely in French, this plan of the Battle of Culloden gives us important detail about the battle. It also poses questions about the reasons behind the creation of the map itself. Who drew it? And why does it depict the battle the way it does?
´The Battle of Culloden, near Inverness in Scotland, 16th April 1746. London: Printed for & sold by Carington Bowles´ (1797?)

An 18th-century engraving showing a scene from the Battle of Culloden, coloured in watercolour.
´The wonder of wonders´ (Edinburgh?, around 1760)
An 18th-century broadside, with two woodcut illustrations, documenting a strange encounter on the cliffs of Cromarty, near Inverness, between a stranded merchant, Lauchland Mackintosh, and a mermaid.

´Staffa, Iona, Inverness, Cromarty, Invergordon, Burghead, & Oban, Tobermory, Stontian, &c. Regular and more speedy conveyance to the above ports´ (Glasgow, 1835)

A 19th-century broadside from the early years of steamships serving the west coast of Scotland. This provides information on the order of sailings and cabin fares for three steamers, ´The Staffa´, ´The Maid of Morven´ and ´The Highlander´.

Modern collections
The NLS will be bringing some of their more recent acquisitions to Inverness and filling some of the bookcases with them. Although you won´t be able to borrow these items, you will be able to get a flavour of the extent of the 15 million printed items in our collections. They´re your books – come and read them.

Details of the programme can be found on the NLS website www.nls.uk/news/roadshow/index.html

To book an event, please speak to a member of staff at Inverness Library or phone 01463 236463.