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2024 Orkney Heritage Society AGM at St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall, 14th November 7pm.

Another year has gone by and we are rapidly approaching the AGM, which this year will be held in the St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall at 7.00pm on Thursday 14th November 2024.

2024 has been a particularly busy year for the Society, the highlight of which has been an oral history project on St Magnus Cathedral. Forty-six people have been interviewed for this project giving their memories of this most iconic of buildings as well as describing what the building means to them. The interviews were conducted by Tom Rendall and Annie Thuesen, with the recordings now available in the Orkney Library and Archive. Summaries of the interviews have been made into a small publication, St Magnus Cathedral Memories and Meanings costing £10 which will be launched at the conclusion of the AGM business. Tom Rendall will give a talk on the project.

For those that cannot attend in person, you can join online. This will be via Microsoft Teams, and you will need to register via Eventbrite to attend online. Please follow this link to register:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1061964156379

The link to attend will then be accessible via the Eventbrite event page, and will also appear in your confirmation email.

The 2024 AGM Agenda and other relevant documents can be found on our Resources page.

The AGM provides an opportunity for members to get together to exchange ideas for future activities of the Society. As ever there is an opportunity to get involved and we are always keen to welcome new board members.

Normally, meetings are held every six weeks or so on an evening in Kirkwall and last for up to two hours. During winter and in times of expected bad weather, meetings are held online.

Please email chair@orkneyheritagesociety.org.uk or secretary@orkneyheritagesociety.org.uk if you would like more information.

OHS AGM St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall, 17 November 2022, 7.30pm

Another year has gone by and we are rapidly approaching the OHS AGM, which this year can be held in person in the St Magnus Centre at 7.30pm on Thursday 17th November 2022. 

Following the conclusion of business, Dr Andrew Lind will give a talk entitled,Royalists, Rebels & Clubmen: Orkney and the Carbisdale Campaign, 1649-50.’  This is a much-anticipated talk, which will cover a poorly understood part of Orkney history.

For those that cannot attend in person, you can join online. To receive a link for the meeting via Eventbrite please use this link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/457226957137 

You will then receive an email in which there will be a link to attend the meeting. This allows us to collect e-mail addresses and so confirm which attendees of the meeting are members.

The 2022 AGM Agenda and supporting papers can be accessed on the OHS website here: https://orkneyheritagesociety.org.uk/membership/members-resources/

This year the Society has made a big saving in sending out PDF copies of the Newsletter, but we are concerned that some members may not have received their copy if the email to which it was attached went into their junk or spam folders.  Please do check and get in touch if you still have not received your copy of the 2022 Newsletter (email chair@orkneyheritagesociety.org.uk).

Also, there are still seven unclaimed pre-ordered copies of HMS Hampshire, a Century of Myths and Mysteries Unravelled.  Please get in touch if you have an order form or know of anyone that has one.  Otherwise, the books will go back into stock.

The AGM provides an opportunity for members to get together to exchange ideas for future activities of the Society.   As ever there is an opportunity to get involved and we are always keen to welcome new board members.
Normally, meetings are held every six weeks on an evening in Kirkwall and last for up to two hours.   Please email chair@orkneyheritagesociety.org.uk or secretary@orkneyheritagesociety.org.uk if you would like more information.

 

2020 OHS Newsletter – Still a few copies left!

One of the benefits of membership of Orkney Heritage Society is receiving a free copy of the annual newsletter. There are still a few copies of the 2020 Newsletter left, so if you haven’t already joined OHS, you can join now and receive your copy. Only £10 per year! See our Membership Page for details.

Due to a generous donation our latest newsletter is another 100 plus page book, full of interesting articles and pictures. The editor, Elizabeth Corsie, has managed to procure contributions on a large variety of subjects, the following being a brief resume.

There are the usual Chairman’s and Treasurer’s reports, as well as the list of Fereday Prize commendations. The financial contribution given to the Society has allowed colour printing, which was particularly important to the first article, the overall 2019/20 Fereday Award Prize Winning Investigation by Sebastian Pesci on his grandfather, Jim Baikie. People of a certain generation will remember Jim as a talented musician, playing bass guitar in local bands. He could well have made it big in that industry, but it was through his love of illustrating comic books that he made his living. Sebastian’s fascinating account of his grandfather is laced with many of Jim’s drawings, reproduced in their full glorious colour.

Neil Kermode’s description of the unveiling of the plaque to Murdoch Mackenzie is followed by an account of the mapping methods used by the famous eighteenth century Orkney cartographer in Mackenzie’s own words. Among the islands Mackenzie surveyed was the small uninhabited (at least by humans) island of Eynhallow, to which the Society organises an annual trip. Sadly, due to the current Covid-19 crisis, there is no trip this year. To make up for it, Elizabeth Corsie has written a detailed description of the 2019 trip. It is very much hoped that normal service can be resumed in 2021.

The remarkable story of the attack on Holm and occupation of Lamb Holm by French troops under a Scottish Jacobite is recounted by Sheena Wenham.

The work of Orkney Vintage Club is described by Cathleen Hourie and there is an account by Clive Warboys of arguably the most popular ‘plane to serve the Northern and Western Isles, the Vickers Viscount.

The Society’s stance on the infrastructure needed to service the growing renewable sector is described and there is a warning by Johnny Grimond about the potential ruination of the Orkney landscape. Whether one agrees with his point of view or not (and it is to be doubted few will), his contribution is well worth reading.

The history behind the ceremonial appearance of Halberdiers in Kirkwall is explained by Spencer Rosie and the Society’s President, Sandy Firth, gives another of his memories of the Second World War, this time giving a fascinating account of the RAF’s High Speed Launches based in Shapinsay.

The excavations at the rapidly eroding site at the Knowe of Swandro in Rousay, which includes a Neolithic chambered tomb, a substantial Iron Age roundhouse, Pictish buildings, Viking houses and a Norse Long Hall, are described.

Interspersed among the articles are many photographs and poems, including an old favourite, Bloody Orkney, complete with an extra stanza giving a local riposte.

A review by Tom Muir of  The Henry Sinclair Casebook, a study into the life of Earl Henry Sinclair (1345-1400) by the late Vicki Hild. The Henry Sinclair book is available along with many other OHS publications via our Publications page

Some copies of the 2020 Newsletter are still available and can be obtained by joining the Scociety, annual fee being £10. See Membership page for details.

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