Events Programme

2024/25 Programme – starts 14th January 2025

Dates and confirmed speakers: talks start at 7pm

Talks take place in Port Seton Bowling Club.

  • Tuesday 14 January 2025         'Old Picture Houses of East Lothian' (Dr Hanita Ritchie)
  • Tuesday 11th February              'Collegiate Churches of the Lothians' (Bryan Hickman)
  • Tuesday 11th March                  'Cockenzie Harbour' (Ed Bethune 1722 Waggonway Project)
  • Tuesday 8 April                            'The Auld Kirk' - Angela Blakely / Marietta di Ciacca
We need some new committee members.
Some of the tasks include helping to set up the room and help with the refreshments on the night.
If you are interested or want to speak to someone to get more information, then please get in contact with us.
email rosemarypat@aol.com
Thanks
Rosemary Paterson
Cockenzie and Port Seton Local History Society

2023/24 Programme –

Dates and confirmed speakers: talks start at 7pm

Talks will take place in Port Seton Bowling Club.

  • Tuesday 12 September 2023      (no talk)
  • Tuesday 10 October                    'The Remarkable Women of East Lothian: A History in Pictures (Dr Hanita Ritchie)
  • Tuesday 14 November                 'Lighthouse Lives' (Martine Robertson)
  • Tuesday 12 December                 'Tapestries of Scotland and Beyond'  (Andrew Crummy)
  • Tuesday 9 January 2024              'Bricks with a Story.' (Mark Cranston)
  • Tuesday 13 February                    'Powerful Prestongrange: From Monks to Bricks' (Deborah Chalmers & Dr Hanita Ritchie)
  • Tuesday 12 March                        'Travels & Travails of the Scots Herring Girls' (Jill De Fresnes)
  • Tuesday 9th April                          'East Lothian at War' (David Haire)

 

2022/23 Programme –

Dates and confirmed speakers: talks start at 7pm

Talks will take place in Port Seton Bowling Club.

  • 13 September 2022 - 'Norman Churches of the Lothians' (Bryan Hickman)
  • Tuesday 11 October - 'The Salt Industry around Cockenzie, some recent thoughts and discoveries.' (Gareth Jones)
  • Tuesday 8 November - 'In Their Own Words.. Collecting Memories and Recollections' (short films) - (Jill De Fresnes)
  • Tuesday 13 December - The Past is Always With Us - Charlie Horne ‘From fishing boats to minesweepers’ (Martine Robertson)
                      An illustrated video, with extracts from recorded archives of the life of local fisherman and D Day Veteran Charlie Horne.
  • Tuesday 10 January - '1722 Waggonway Trust: Update on latest excavations' (Ed Bethune)
  • Tuesday 14 February- 'The Traprain Treasure – latest research on a remarkable Roman silver hoard' (Dr. Fraser Hunter, National Museums Scotland)
  •  Tuesday 14 March - ' "Go to school or go to help your mother in the shop"'  (Mary Contini)

2021/22 Programme – @Port Seton Centre

Dates and confirmed speakers:

  • 08 March 2022 – Robert Burns’ Links with East Lothian (Gordon Jamieson)

2020/21 Programme

9 August 2020 – Unfortunatley, due to the current coronavirus pandemic, the local history talks are postponed until further notice.

2019/20 Programme

Dates and confirmed speakers:

  • 11 Sept 2019 – 30th Anniversary celebration + AGM
  • 8 Oct 2019    –  From Braegreen to the Dean: Witches and Witchcraft in the 17th century (Joyce Miller)
  • 12 Nov 2019 – “Mary…keep an eye on the shop while I help your Uncle Alex!” (Mary Contini)
  • 11 Dec 2019 – Seasonal Cheer: How Christmas was celebrated during WW1 and WW2 (Ruth Boreham)
  • 14 Jan 2020 –  Aberlady: A sense of place (Ian Malcolm)
  • 11 Feb 2020 – Cockenzie House and Gardens Revealed (Marietta Di Ciacca)
  • 10 Mar 2020 – Coal, seaweed and sand- how East Lothian became the crucible of the Scottish Glass Industry in the 17th and 18th centuries  (Helen Spencer)

Dates and confirmed speakers:

  • 11 Sept 2018 – “Search for Lost Palace of Seton” (Gordon Neil, Billy Campbell & Frank Chambers)   and AGM
  • 9 Oct 2018 –     Seton – A Missing Burgh(Aaron Allen)
  • 13 Nov 2018 – Fisherman to Crime Writer (part 2) (Peter Ritchie)
  • 11 Dec 2018 – Members Christmas Social
  • 8 Jan 2019 –    Great Tapestry of Scotland and other tapestries(Andrew Crummy)
  • 12 Feb 2019 –   Life of Sir Walter Scott (Hamish Reid)
  • 12 Mar 2019 – On the trail of Mary Queen of Scots in East Lothian(Fiona Edwards)
  • Apr 2019 –      Visit to place of local interest TBA

2017/18 Programme

Dates and confirmed speakers:

  • 12 Sept 2017 – AGM and History of Hamilton House (Jim Nisbet)
  • 10 Oct 2017 – The Siege of Haddington 1548-49 (Gerald Urwin)
  • 14 Nov 2017 – From Fisherman to Crime Writer (Peter Ritchie)
  • 12 Dec 2017 – Christmas Social
  • 9 Jan 2018 – Fishwives’ Lives and Their Costumes (Olive Richardson)
  • 13 Feb 2018- 1722 Waggonway – Scotland’s First Railway (Ed Bethune)
  • 13 Mar 2018 – Oyster Fishing in the Forth (Archie Johnston)
  • Apr 2018 – Visit to place of local interest TBA

2016/17 Programme

Dates and confirmed speakers:

  • 13 Sept 2016 – AGM and Preston Lodge High School Films
  • 11 Oct 2016 – WW2: First on Britain: The Raid on the Forth
  • 8 Nov 2016 – History of Wallyford
  • 13 Dec 2016 – Social Evening
  • 10 Jan 2017 – East Lothian: Wartime Backwater?
  • 14 Feb 2017- TBA
  • 14 Mar 2017 – Battle of Pinkie
  • Apr 2017 – Visit to place of local interest TBA

2015-16 Programme

  • AGM & Local History (Sept 2015)
  • Historic Tales – Tim Porteous (Oct 2015)
  • History of East Fortune Aerodrome – talk by Tony Bray (Nov 2015)
  • Social Evening – Dec 15
  • Old St Andrews Church Gullane – talk by Bill Nimmo (Jan 2016)
  • Reminiscing Night – (Feb 2016)
  • Talk on John Muir – talk by Will Collins (Mar 2016)