We started this week with our regular visit from Monday Memories; the group were having a look through our scrapbook albums and sorting our school photograph collection into date order. On Monday we also had a new volunteer, Harrison, join us to take part in some work experience during his final year at high school.
We have had several young people working with us to gain work experience over the last few months, we are always happy to help people gain skills in the heritage sector. If you are interested in volunteering with our organisation, please get in touch to find out more or organise a visit.
Our escape room plans are starting to take shape; the first practice sessions took place this week to ensure that everything runs smoothly before the formal trial sessions can be scheduled to take place later on this year. A big thank you to Museum Galleries Scotland for providing the funding to set these plans in action.
We are continuing to work on our museum accreditation application, our staff and trustees are working hard to complete all required policies, procedures, and documents. This is a very useful process to undertake as it shows us that we are working within the required standards for museums.
On Thursday we had a visit from the Dunkeld and Birnam Climate café, the group now meet within the archive on the 1st Thursday of the month. This week the group were discussing community resilience and steps that can be taken locally to help the area. Updates on meeting times and topics can be found on the group’s Facebook page.
We have our next season of Archaeology and History club talks planned; these talks will be for members only. For information on how to join, get in touch via manager@historicdunkeld.org.uk . The first talk will take place on the 30th of September 2026 at 7:30pm in the room above the Perth Arms Pub. Bob will be leading the discussion of “Palaeolithic to Present Day: Scottish Archaeological time periods”. The next sessions will be;
- 28th of October – 7:30pm – The Auld Alliance
- 25th of November – 7:30pm – Clunie: History of the Parish
- 16th of December – 7:30pm – The Witches of Atholl (and Christmas party)
- 27th of January – 7:30pm – Dendrology Detectives: How trees and their growth can help us to understand a site
- 24th of February – 7:30pm – Souterrains
- 31st of March – 7:30pm – St Jerome’s; What’ve done, and what comes next?
We have planned our next public consultation session, we will have our next in person event on the 14th of October at 7pm in The Duchess Anne, Dunkeld. Everyone is welcome, there will be wine and nibbles alongside the opportunity to share your thoughts and feelings about the future of the archive and museum.