Angus Heritage Week events

An announcement on Angus Heritage Week:

Let’s Hear It For Our Heritage!

Angus Heritage Week, which runs from 4-11 September 2015, highlights the unique people, places and customs of the county, past and present, with a packed programme of special events, talks, tours and exhibitions.

“Angus Heritage Week is a tremendous opportunity to find out so much about the county we live in and the people who lived here before us,” said the Provost of Angus, Cllr Helen Oswald. “The more I discover about the heritage of Angus, the more I realise what a very special county we live in – and Angus Heritage Week is a highly effective way of spreading this message with local people and visitors alike.”

Kirriemuir Festival of Music & Song, which is from 4-6 September, is one of the week’s key events. This weekend of superb traditional music features ceilidhs, competitions for musicians, singers and bands, impromptu gigs, sing-along evenings and street entertainment throughout the town of Kirriemuir, which has an excellent reputation for top quality live music. And the festival finishes on a high note on Sunday evening with a concert in Kirriemuir Town Hall by The Peatbog Faeries, one of Scotland’s best-known contemporary folk bands.

On Sunday, 6 September, it’s Steam Sunday at the Caledonian Railway in Brechin, when steam trains will make their way to and from the stations at Brechin and Bridge of Dun. Steam Sundays take place on the first Sunday of the month throughout the summer months so if you’ve been promising yourself a trip, make a note in your diary for 6 September as this will be the last Steam Sunday of 2015.

In celebration of the strong tradition of needlework in the Angus area, Glenesk Folk Museum is holding a handiwork workshop at The Retreat, Glenesk, on Sunday, 6 September. Needlework experts and novices – and everyone in between - are invited to bring along examples of their handiwork and share ideas, skills and tips with other knitters, sewers, crocheters and embroiderers. In addition, from 11am until 12.30pm and from 1.30pm until the event closes at 3pm, acclaimed spinner Kay Anderson will be spinning yarn and sharing her knowledge of this fascinating skill.

Several talks are being held during Angus Heritage Week, including two at Kirriemuir’s Gateway to the Glens Museum on 9 September. At 1pm that day, local historian David Orr will give a talk about the Castles of Angus, from the famous ones such as Glamis Castle to the historic gems hidden away at Inverquharity and Cortachy (pictured above). In the evening, another highly-respected local historian, David Ketts, will discuss The Tay Bridge Disaster and share his thoughts on why the bridge crumbled into the River Tay on December 28, 1879, taking a train and its passengers with it.

And for those who like to go further back in time, on 10 September, a 16th century Benedictine Monk will take visitors to Arbroath Abbey on very special guided tours around the medieval monastery.

For the full programme of events happening during Angus Heritage Week 2015, visit www.angusheritage.com or pick up a copy of the Angus Heritage Week Event Programme at leisure centres, ACCESS offices, libraries, museums and tourist attractions across Angus, Dundee, Perthshire, Aberdeenshire and Fife.

(With thanks to Wendy Glass)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.