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PROGRAMME
OF EVENTS FOR 2015
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Third Thursday
of every month from 7pm - 9pm
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Castlehill Spinning Group
 Returning
spinners and new spinners most welcome.
Come along and have
a try. Demo wheel available. Come and be inspinnerised!!
To find out more
and register interest, click HERE
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Monday evenings
7 - 9pm
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Castlehill
Artists
 Our
very popular painting workshop with Helen Moore.
Sessions run from
7-9pm on Monday evenings at a cost of £8 per evening plus materials.
Juniors and OAPs £5. Beginners are especially welcome
To find out more
and register interest, click HERE
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Every Wed,
Sat & Sun afternoon
2pm - 4pm
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Winter Exhibition - Getting the message
across
 Our
Winter Exhibition depicts communications in the parish through the ages,
from word of mouth and the written word, through dispatch riders, beacons
on hills, postal system, newspapers, telephone and fax, to radio, television,
and the internet
To find out more
and register interest, click HERE
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Tue 10 Feb
7.30pm
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Iceland
- A Caithness Saga
 It
was an in-house production tonight, when the speaker at the latest in
our programmed winter talks was CHS vice chairman Neil Buchan. Neil gave
an illustrated talk on his stay in Iceland in May 2014 through the  Cultural
Heritage Interpretation and Sustainable Tourism (CHIST) programme promoted
by the ARCH Network and funded by the Leonardo da Vinci programme of the
European Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture. The
aim of the programme was to demonstrate to participants, Iceland's commitment
to sustainable heritage tourism. This topic is very dear to CHS. Neil
joined a small group of hand-picked delegates including archaeologists
and conservationists. They were given hands on experience in the conservation
and reconstruction of traditional turf- built houses, an iconic feature
of the Icelandic landscape.
  Being
an accomplished photographer Neil treated the delighted audience to images
of the breath-taking snow covered mountains, the ice-blue lakes and the
formidable waterfalls for which the country is famous. The impressive
man-made cathedral and public buildings in its capital did not fail to
amaze. Particularly interesting for members of Castletown Heritage Society
were examples of how Iceland portrays its social past through its heritage
centres and museums.
 Lastly
Neil gave proof of the Caithness - Iceland connection and its continued
importance to the Icelanders through the story of queen Aud or Audrunn,
who features in the Icelandic sagas. Aud left Caithness with a large retinue
by ship in the 9th century. After settling a large area of western Iceland,
Aud set up stone crosses which are still visible today in honour of her
conversion to Christianity. CHS hopes to interpret the epic story of Aud,
incorporating it into a music and art project involving local schools.
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Thu 22 Jan
7.30pm
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The
men who went far, far away
A
capacity audience filled Castlehill Heritage Centre to hear Ian Leith
talk about the fascinating social history surrounding the Caithness
people who left these shores in the late 19th and early 20th century for
a life in Patagonia. Why Patagonia? Patagonia is an awful long way from
Caithness, yet in the late 19th century a number of Caithness people took
on this challenge not knowing what to expect.
By drawing on his
extensive research which included a recent trip to Patagonia, Ian delivered
a thoroughly enjoyable and informative talk on the lives and experiences
of those who originally made the journey and their decendants living there
today. This proved to be of particular interest to a number of individuals
in the appreciative audience who were related in some way to the original
Patagonia pioneers.
The excellent talk
was followed by a lively question and answer session, during which Ian
revealed that he hoped to capture all the information he had gathered
in a new book. To find out more about Ian's research and the Patagonia
project, click here.
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Tue 17 Mar
7.30pm
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Highland
Graveyards - Grave Misteaks
 Seldom
has the very title of an evening talk piqued so much curiosity. For weeks
in advance we received several queries - what will be so amusing about
Highland Graveyards? Well, almost as soon as the talk started everyone
in the audience had a smile on their face as guest speaker Nick Lindsay
from Clyne Heritage Society (Brora) revealed some of the 'typographical'
errors perpetrated by the monumental masons of yesteryear.
Nick kicked off by
talking about the voluntary project the Clyne Heritage Society undertook
a number of years ago to clear the grounds of the Clynekirkton Graveyard
at Brora in Sutherland. kirkyard, which was disappearing under 'Russian
Ivy' and other predatory shrubs. The transformation was truly amazing.
During their work
they discovered much about the physical and social history of the kirkyard,
including a number of unusual gravestones - and quite a few 'howlers'
in the engraving department. This inspired Nick to explore many other
graveyards throughout the Highlands and elsewhere in the UK, resulting
in a fascinating compendium of historical typos, each with a story to
tell. He also revealed some examples from overseas.
Nick fielded a broad
range of enthusiastic questions throughout the talk, and was somewhat
taken aback when one of the audience pointed out that a photograph of
a particularly striking wooden cross memorial he found in one of the local
cemetries belonged to her mother's grave! As Nick put it "That's
never happened to me before!"
To find out more
about the activities of Clyne Heritage Society click
here.
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Open every Wed, Sat and
Sun afternoon
from 2pm to 4pm
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Exhibition -
Domestic artefacts over time
A fascinating display
of artefacts, tools and domestic equipment from a bygone era and how these
have evolved over time. Are the modern 'labour saving' gadgets we take
for granted an improvement over what used to be used? Or are we just fooled
into thinking so at the hand of advertising pressure? Decide for yourself!
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2015
Thu 22 Jan
7.30pm
Tue 10 Feb
7.30pm
Tue 17 Mar
7.30pm
Wed 15 Apr
7.30pm
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2015 Evening
talks programme
 Following
on from the success of the highly popular series of winter evening talks
held earlier this year, a full programme of talks has been arranged as
follows:
Thursday 22nd
January 2015. The speaker will be Ian Leith and the title of
the talk is "The Men Who Went Far Away". It is about Caithness
men and women who went to Patagonia in the late 19th, early 20th Centuries.
Tuesday 10th February
2015. The speaker will be Neil Buchan and the title of the
talk is "Iceland - a Caithness Saga". It is an illustrated talk
about an intrepid Caithness explorer and his experiences of the fascinating
cultural and archaeological heritage of Iceland and the Icelandic mission
to develop tourism.
Tuesday 17th March
2015. The speaker will be Nick Lindsay of Clyne Heritage Society
and the title of the talk is "Highland Graveyards". This talk will
not just be a straight talk listing graveyards but will contain some amusing
information.
Wednesday 15th
April 2015. The speaker will again be Neil Buchan and the title
of the talk is " Traditional Icelandic Turf Buildings". This is
an illustrated talk about Neil's hands-on experiences at the Fornverkaskolinn
Heritage Craft School in northern Iceland and its activities promoting
the preservation of traditional Icelandic building skills and methods.
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE
All talks will take
place in Castlehill Heritage Centre and will start at 7.30pm prompt.
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Wed 29 April
7.30pm
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Castletown Heritage
Society AGM
 The
Annual General Meeting of the Castletown Heritage Society will be held
in the Castlehill Heritage Centre on Wednesday 29 April at 7.30pm.
Guest speaker for
the evening will be Muriel Murray, who will introduce the latest book
to be published by Castletown Heritage Society - "Boyhood Memories
of Ham Farm" by David Finlayson.
Tea/coffee and biscuits
will be served thereafter. All members and friends welcome.
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Friday 15
May
7pm
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Painting With
Light
Neil Buchan will
talk about how the optics and electronics in modern photographic equipment
can be used by photographers to capture light in a way that produces stunning
images. The evening will also include the chance for hands on use of a
variety of optical instruments.
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Thursday
4 June
7.30 pm
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A Window on the
Bronze Age Landscape of Caithness
 Launch
event for our exciting new archaeology project
which will use LiDAR data to explore a previously undiscovered Bronze
Age landscape in Caithness.
The project will
feature opportunities for volunteers of all ages to get involved in archaeologycal
survey and excavations, craft workshops, living history demonstrations,
archaeological skills training and cartography.
Click on poster
for further details. To find out more click HERE
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Sat 20 June
11am - 3pm
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Castlehill Food
Fayre
 Featuring
an amazing selection of high quality and delicious chocolates, baking,
cheeses, pork, breads, summer fruits, sweets, biscuits, eggs and other
products, all produced by local suppliers.
Raffle, Teas, Coffees
and Home Bakes.
To find out more
click HERE
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Jun - Oct
15
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Full Programme
of Summer events
 Come
and join us throughout
the summer and autumn of 2015 in an exciting programme of archaeology,
arts and crafts events and workshops. Click on the poster for a list of
the scheduled events.
To find out more
click HERE.
To register to take part click HERE.
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Mon 22 to
Sat 27 June
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Summer School
Week 1: LiDAR & the Landscapes of Caithness
The first week of
the summer school will introduce participants to LiDAR as a survey technology,
exploring how it can be used to study archaeological landscapes. Fieldwork
will see participants analysing and mapping archaeology using LiDAR data,
introducing techniques of archaeological survey and recording, and the
skills of field observation using digital data as a guide.
For full details
of the Summer School
click HERE
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Thu 25 June
7.30pm
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Evening Talk
- The Bronze Age in Caithness
Stratford Halliday
will present the archaeological evidence of the Bronze Age in Caithness.
Strat started out as a later prehistorian with a particular interest in
the Border Counties, but has developed a much wider interest in the Scottish
landscape and its monuments, spanning from early prehistory to the present
day. He spent over thirty years undertaking archaeological survey at RCAHMS,
and is now Research Assistant at Edinburgh University for the Hillforts
Atlas project. All welcome!
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Mon 13 to
Sat 18 July
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Summer School
Week 2: Mapping the Bronze Age
In the second week
of the field school, participants will learn how to create detailed and
accurate records of the sites we find in the field, creating detailed
survey plans and maps. Training will be given in a range of survey types,
from manual taped offset and plane table survey up to hi-tech methods
such as total station and GPS survey. AOC will also introduce participants
to ground-based laser scanning.
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Sun 26 July,
2 Aug, 9 Aug
2pm to 4pm
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Cream Teas at
Castlehill
 On
the last Sunday in July, and the first two Sundays in August we will be
serving afternoon cream teas at Castlehill.
Locally produced
home baking.
Guaranteed to get the taste buds dancing!
A perfect way to
complement a Sunday afternoon stroll round the Flagstone trail or a meander
round the Heritage Garden.
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Sat 25 July
10am - 4pm
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Prehistoric Pottery
Workshop
Potter and experimental
archaeologist Graham Taylor of Potted History will deliver a workshop
during which participants will make their own replica Bronze Age vessels,
focusing on the technologies and techniques of prehistoric pottery. This
workshop is recommended for adults and children aged 12 and over (accompanied
by an adult). This is sure to be a fun and creative day, but it may get
messy – old clothes recommended! You may like to bring a packed lunch.
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Friday 14
August
8pm till
late
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Turning to the
Dark Side
Dave Jones of the
RSPB will kick off the evening with a talk about wildlife that becomes
active and thrives after dark. Followed by a guide to the sights visible
in the local dark skies by Caithness Astronomy Group. The evening will
be rounded off by a short session spotting Perseid meteors and possibly
some of the critters that appear as darkness falls.
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Sat 15 &
Sun 16 Aug
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Weekend Bronze
Age Foodie Event!
 Come
along to learn about the foods that would have been foraged and hunted
and how they would have been prepared and cooked in Bronze Age Caithness.
Delivered by the
School of Ancient Crafts. Click on the poster for further details.
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Tue 1 Sept
7.30pm
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Evening talk
- How do we find archaeology?
 Come
along to hear about the techniques archaeologists use to detect the traces
of past human activity, and how we’ll be using these to look for the Bronze
Age in Caithness.
Delivered by the
team from AOC Archaeology Group. Click on the poster for further details.
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Wed 2 Sept
7pm
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2020 Vision:
The Future of Astronomical Telescopes
This talk by Prof
Martin Hendry will look at the enormous scientific potential of the next
generation of telescopes, and preview some of the biggest questions that
astronomers might be tackling in 2020 & beyond.
To find out more
click HERE
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Sat 26 &
Sun 27 Sept
10am - 12.30pm
Afternoon
drop in sessions
1pm - 4pm
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Learn
how to make woven wattle hurdles
 Wattle
& Daub Workshops Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th September, 10am-12.30pm
Learn to create woven
hurdles, prepare uprights and weavers, and thread weavers to create sturdy
panels - and try your hand at some experimental daubing! See poster for
more details.
Open to those aged
16 and over. Please register by emailing Charlotte: charlotte.douglas@aocarchaeology.com
Drop-in Sessions
1pm-4pm both days. These informal afternoon sessions are open to all ages,
and there is no need to register in advance. Just come along and have
a go!
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Friday 2
October
7pm
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The Light of
Other Worlds - Exoplanets and the Search for ET
Dr Duncan Forgan
of the University of St Andrews will describe how astronomers, physicists,
chemists, geologists and biologists are teaming up to search for life
on other planets, and to look for signs of intelligent life. Followed
by an observing session if the weather permits.
Watch this space
for further details. To find out more click HERE
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Friday 27
November
7.30pm
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International
Year of Light Quiz
Come along and join
the fun at a Light themed quiz night
Watch this space
for further details. To find out more click HERE
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Thursday
26 Dec 15
2pm to 4pm
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Boxing Day Mulled
Wine & Mince Pies
 Join
us at Castlehill Heritage Centre for mulled wine, mince-meat pies and
a good going chinwag on our traditional festive Boxing Day opening.
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