9 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.
An online meeting,
via Zoom.
14 October 2020
Vanessa Stephens, freelance landcape 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.
At the talk a date will be announced for 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.
An online meeting,
via Zoom.
11 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 he
will speak about the Temple of Hygea in Stockbridge (Edinburgh) and, above all,
about the five-year long programme to conserve the external stonework of
the Rosslyn Chapel, one of Scotland’s most beloved monuments.
An online meeting, via Zoom.
9 December 2020
Peter Burman, art and architectural historian,
Falkland
Peter has twice studied in Italy 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 some of the churches and the
Scuola Grande di San Rocco.
An online meeting,
via Zoom.
13 January 2021
Ross Burgess
Ross will give his perspective on the historic buildings of
Falkland, having been much involved in the Falkland Listed
Buildings Survey starting in August 2020.
Ross studied French and later Philosophy at Oriel College, Oxford,
but turned his attention to IT technology at the time when it was all new to
most of us. Later ‘for fun’ he did a degree in Mathematics with the Open
University.
Since settling into Falkland, Ross has developed a well-informed
passion for the history of Falkland and its people.
10 February 2021
Marietta Crichton Stuart
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. This
lecture will be on John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, her great-grandfather,
third Marquess of Bute, an erudite and fascinating man, who in 1887 became
Rector of the University of St Andrews and purchased the Falkland Estate. He
left a lasting imprint on both Falkland and St Andrews
[To be confirmed, as not wishing to deliver
lecture by Zoom]
10 March 2021
Tom Christian
After working for several years on collaborative programmes at the Royal Botanic Garden
Edinburgh which led to extensive travel to some far-flung parts of the world,
Tom now works freelance as a consultant dendrologist and horticulturalist.
His clients range from private estates, National Trust for Scotland,
to smaller organisations and community groups.
A specialist in unusual trees, Tom’s interests include how our gardens and landscapes
can be made more resilient in the face of climate change and other challenges.
Tom is also Assistant Editor of the website Trees and Shrubs Online
which is set to become the definitive reference work on woody plants grown
in northern temperate gardens.
14 April 2021
Karen Dundas, Scottish Wall Paintings
Conservators
Karen leads this team of outstanding conservators who have worked on
some of the most important schemes of painted decoration and mural paintings in Scotland.
They include Falkland Palace. She lives in Dunfermline, Fife, and has lately become involved
with the painted decoration
which is one of the special features of the House of Falkland.
To be followed by a special visit to the House of Falkland to see the outstanding interiors
of the 1840s and 1890s.
12 May 2021
Fiona Wemyss
Fiona runs the Wemyss School of Needlework at Coaltown of Wemyss
On the one hand it is a collection of exquisite historic needlework from the 16th century onwards.
On the other it is a practical training centre for skills in needlework.
It is likely that instead of a lecture we will have a whole-day visit to Wemyss, with a talk and visit to the School of Needlework in the morning, lunch in the village hall,
and in the afternoon a visit to the garden and garden centre of Wemyss Castle.
[Date and location to be confirmed]
9 June 2021
Speaker to be announced
