A Day Trip to Dunoon

March 21, 2016 by Scran | 0 comments

1950s booklet © Argyll & Bute Library Service

Scran paid a visit to Dunoon & it was a grand day out!

The purpsose of our visit was to meet the team of volunteers working with Dunoon Burgh Hall Trust as part of their Pop Up Programme. The Trust is in the midst of an exciting project to reclaim what is one of the town’s most important civic buildings. The 1873 Hall, listed on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland, is currently undergoing a major refurbishment and restoration programme. If you are curious to see the before pictures, there are 99 images available via Historic Environment Scotland on Canmore.

Zoomorphic figure at main entrance © Crown Copyright: HES

Meanwhile the volunteers are not letting the dust settle – they are investigating local heritage and all things relating to the history of this seaside town & the wider Dunoon community. During our visit we were able to show everyone how to access Scran, free of charge using their Argyll & Bute library cards. Together we looked at and discussed a host of collections material, including the day the Waverley ran aground – seen below in 1977. Some of the volunteers remembered it clearly & memories were exchanged. There were other reminiscences too, relating to more controversial events in 1984 when different peace demonstrations took place in Dunoon.

The Waverley 1977 © The Scotsman

Pop Up Scran! 2016 © Dunoon Burgh Hall Trust

Of course the relationship between Dunoon Burgh Hall Trust & Scran pre-dates this visit. The Trust previously contributed film footage from Holy Loch Heritage – the American Presence a project which aimed to bring to life the 30 year period when the American Naval Base was sited at nearby Holy Loch. We are delighted to say our partnership is set to extend into 2016, when we look forward to sharing more Dunoon ephemera surfacing from the restoration works. To see what’s been lurking under their floorboards, watch this space.

Images © Argyll & Bute Library Information Service, Historic Environment Scotland, The Scotsman, Dunoon Burgh Hall Trust | Licensor Scran

Gathering the Voices

January 26, 2016 by Scran | 1 Comment

Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January, is the day for everyone to remember the millions of Jews murdered during the Holocaust, and the millions of people killed Nazi Persecution throughout World War Two.

In recent years, the Gathering the Voices Association has been collecting and recording survivor’s stories – some came on the Kindertransport, meanwhile others survived concentration camps and many made remarkable journeys to get to safety in Scotland.

One such person was Marion Camrass; her story begins in Poland 1932. She was born into a wealthy family in Krakow. As a child during World War Two she fled the fighting by travelling into Soviet Russia and eventually to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In 1946 she joined her aunt in Glasgow, where she completed her school education, went to university and finally settled.

We are delighted to say the Gathering the Voices Association has shared a selection of material with Scran, becoming our newest contributing partner.

Now you can listen to the interviews on Scran, not only the story of Marion Camrass but also that of Gretl Shapiro – hear all about their lives in Scotland after World War Two. Each interview has a full transcript available for reference and fascinating, accompanying images.

There are also supporting materials on topics such as religious discrimination and sectarianism.

Images © Gathering the Voices

The Ian Landles Archive

August 26, 2015 by User deactivated | 1 Comment

A fascinating insight into the lives of Scottish Borders folk in the last century comes to Scran.

This series of interviews and sound recordings collected by local historian, retired teacher and author, Ian Landles, between the 1960s and 2010 was originally started in order to preserve the memories of local men who had fought in World War One and is a great complement to existing material on Scran about the conflict. However, the archive also offers a rich seam of oral testimonies from local women as well as men and covers themes including the Hawick Common Riding, poetry and music, farming life and mill life and the original Border railways. Many of the interviewees speak in the local dialect of Border Scots known as ‘Teri Talk’ which gives the recordings great linguistic significance.

The collection of 150 tapes was donated to the Scottish Borders Council Archives at the Heritage Hub in Hawick by Ian Landles in 2014. Digitisation of the interviews was carried out by Tobar an Dualchais with financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Ian Landles Collection is also being made available through Scran in the form of segmented interviews with full summaries. Some transcripts are also available. Interviewees who talk about their life in the Scottish Borders include:

Jane Stewart (b.1881), a former mill worker
Meg Wilson (b.1893), a former domestic servant and shepherd’s wife
Jimmy Scott (b.1895), a retired police constable
Jock Scott (b.1900), a retired railwayman
Jimmy Gray (b.1928), a retired railwayman

There will be regular new uploads to the site from the collection so do keep your eye out. We’ll keep you posted from our end.

Kite Aerial Photography

August 25, 2015 by Scran | 3 Comments

Recently we’ve been getting to grips with the kite aerial photography kits provided by Dr. John Wells of the Scottish National Aerial Photography Scheme (SNAPS). As you can see we visited Tantallon Castle for a practice flight. We were quite pleased with our results & the potential for learning.

We are planning on piloting this activity with schools over 2015/16, so if you are interested please contact us & lets’s go fly a kite!

We believe exploring the aerial photography collections on Scran, in combination with the active learning involved in kite aerial photography, could lead to all sorts of creative learning.

For example, studying aerial photography can support the following Curriculum for Excellence experiences & outcomes within Social Studies .

describe the major characteristic features of Scotland’s landscape and explain how these were formed (SOC 2-07a)
discuss the environmental impact of human activity (SOC 2-08a)
explain how the physical environment influences the ways in which people use land by comparing the local area with a contrasting area (SOC 2-13a)
use knowledge of a historical period to interpret the evidence and present an informed view (SOC 3-01a)
compare settlement and economic activity in two contrasting landscapes (SOC 3-13a)
explain the impact of processes which form and shape landscapes on selected landscapes in Scotland, Europe and beyond (SOC 3-07a)
evaluate the changes which have taken place in an industry and debate their impact (SOC 4-05b)
discuss the sustainability of key natural resources (SOC 4-08a)
Salisbury Crags Holyrood Park
assess the impact of developments in transport infrastructure in a selected area (SOC 4-09b)
describe and assess the impact of human activity on an area (SOC 4-10a)
explain the development of the main features of an urban area and evaluate the implications for the society involved (SOC 4-10b)

Falkirk’s First World War

August 24, 2015 by User deactivated | 0 comments

World War One memories of Falkirk people now available on Scran.

This three-part collection from Falkirk Archives has been digitised from original cassette tape recordings compiled for Falkirk Museum’s First World War exhibition held back in 1984.

Interviewees talk about life on the Home Front in Falkirk and away on the Western Front during the conflict. Women recall their roles working in local munitions factories and the attitudes of male workers in the factories to women at this time. There are recollections of the Suffragette Movement and when women gained the vote after the war. Men recall their experiences in the trenches during the conflict and remember the impact of The Armistice on those fighting at the Front. An interview with a female munitions worker in Falkirk during World War Two offers an interesting comparison.

Each Falkirk’s First World War interview comes with a summary with timecodes and a complete transcript.

Scran paid a visit to Dunoon & it was a grand day out!

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A fascinating insight into the lives of Scottish Borders folk in the last century comes to Scran.

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World War One memories of Falkirk people now available on Scran.

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