GULLANE & DIRLETON HISTORY SOCIETY<\/strong><\/p>\n ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n Scottish Charity Number SCO37547<\/strong><\/p>\n Current Committee Members<\/strong><\/p>\n Chairman vacant<\/p>\n Mr Tom Drysdale (Treasurer)<\/p>\n Mrs Margaret McSorley (Press Officer. Secretary from 28\/1\/2025)<\/p>\n Mrs Anne McCarthy (Consultant Archivist and Publications Officer)<\/p>\n Dr Neil Jones (Sales Officer)<\/p>\n Mrs Carol Tweedie (Meetings Organiser until 28\/1\/2025)<\/p>\n Mr Bill Nimmo<\/p>\n Mr George Simpson<\/p>\n Mr Eric Thomson<\/p>\n Dr Michael Thomson<\/p>\n Contact address:<\/strong> Mrs Margaret McSorley, Lessudden, Main Street, Gullane. EH31 2HD<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Recruitment and appointment of Committee Members<\/strong><\/p>\n The Society\u2019s committee and office-bearers are appointed or re-appointed at the annual general meeting held during the last meeting of the winter season.\u00a0 The committee may co-opt members as necessary during the year. Michael Thomson and Bill Nimmo have stood down from their positions as Chair and Minutes Secretary, and Jonathan Kinna and Carol Tweedie have stepped down from the committee. The Society is grateful for their valuable contributions. The enthusiasm and willingness shown by all the current officers of the Society is acknowledged with gratitude.<\/p>\n Governing document<\/strong><\/p>\n The Society is a charitable unincorporated association and the purposes and arrangements for its administration are set out in its constitution.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Charitable purposes<\/strong><\/p>\n The objectives of the Society, as set out in the constitution, are to encourage the study and to advance the knowledge of the history and heritage of the Gullane and Dirleton locality and the subject of history in general.<\/p>\n Programme<\/strong><\/p>\n Due to the diligence of committee member Carol Tweedie a full and varied programme was arranged for the 2024-2025 lecture season. \u00a0The season of 2023\/24 had concluded with “East Lothian at War” on the 8th of February given by members of the committee,\u00a0illustrated with photographs and film telling the story of how East Lothian\u00a0was affected\u00a0by World War II.\u00a0 Later in the month an intriguing talk about milestones and waymarkers was given by Bruce Keith and the season ended with a talk given by Tessa Spencer titled “The 1921 census, how does it help us discover our past?” in which Tessa offered an overview of the 1921 census.<\/p>\n During the season Hanita Ritchie from the John Gray Centre in Haddington related the stories of the prominent women of East Lothian through history; Bill Lowe explained the history of the East Lothian coastline as seen from a boat; Alex Crawford described a trip to St Kilda to see the remains and hear the history of the isolated community that lived on the island; Lesley Forrest spoke on the history of Archerfield House and its recent restoration; Neil Fraser talked about the value of using the archives of Historic Environment Scotland; Peter Gillies gave a fascinating talk\u00a0illustrating the immense hard\u00a0work undertaken in the restoration of Ballencrieff Castle and Dr Fraser Hunter talked to a packed house on the impact of the Romans on East Lothian, describing the use of cutting edge technology in revealing long hidden information about this period of history.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Once again, the Society is grateful to all these speakers for their willingness to share their knowledge.<\/p>\n A visit to the Coastal Communities Museum in North Berwick proved a popular choice for the Society\u2019s annual outing. Members enjoyed the exhibits and the discussion they provoked. Lunch at the Glen Golf Club clubhouse completed a very successful event.<\/p>\n Research and publications<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks to Neil Jones as Sales Officer the Society\u2019s publications continue to sell. A new book recording the memories of those who were involved in World War II entitled \u2018Voices from the War\u2019 by George Simpson was a welcome addition.<\/p>\n The scanning and recording of the Society\u2019s archive have been largely completed.<\/p>\n Enquiries through the Society\u2019s website have continued to be received and information has been provided where possible. It is anticipated that digitisation should make this activity easier in the future by appropriately providing electronic access to interested researchers.<\/p>\n Publicising the Society\u2019s aims and work<\/strong><\/p>\n The Society is grateful to Jonathan Kinna for continuing to write articles for the Gullane Village Association newsletters, using reminiscences held in the archive.<\/p>\n A historical quiz mounted at the Dirleton Fete and Games in June 2024 proved a useful draw to the Society\u2019s activities in promoting the study of local history.<\/p>\n As part of the Archaeology Fortnight in September organised by East Lothian Heritage department two members of the Society led three walks around local places and structures of historical interest.<\/p>\n Financial outcome and reserves<\/strong><\/p>\n Membership of the Society at the year-end (31 January) was 92, compared with 88 in the previous year and providing subscription income of \u00a31380. Income from the sale of publications was less than in the previous year (down from \u00a3995 to \u00a3699) but Neil Jones, Sales Officer, maintains a good rapport with several local retail outlets, which hold stocks of the books and undertake sales of them on an ongoing basis. Expenditure on reprints was down from \u00a3832 in 2024\/25 to \u00a3184 and insurance costs were marginally down from \u00a3341 to \u00a3323.\u00a0 A significant and non-recurring item of expenditure was the purchase of a new laptop computer, at a cost of \u00a3793. This is needed to provide support including the display of images at the Society\u2019s lectures, the old laptop having reached the end of its useful life.<\/p>\n In the light of all these considerations the surplus for the year was \u00a3866, a marginal increase on the previous year\u2019s surplus of \u00a3843.The value of the Society\u2019s stock of publications held at the year-end was \u00a31615.<\/p>\n Spending of the residual \u00a32530 left over from the St Andrew\u2019s Church ruin restoration work is still intended but it is not possible to advance this in the local authority\u2019s current tight financial climate. Despite this, the Society\u2019s unrestricted funds held at the year-end amounted to \u00a37018.<\/p>\n No remuneration or personal expenses were paid to committee members during the year.<\/p>\n Approved by the Committee and signed on its behalf<\/strong><\/p>\n