The Battle of Pinkie Cleuch

Future Projects?

2010-04-06T04:09:00.000-07:00

....more to the point: what do we do next?

Here are some possibilites: tell me what you think.....

Pinkie Battlefield Walk(s):
East Lothian Archaeology Service are calling for Events for East Lothian Archaeology & Local History Fortnight --- September 4th to 20th.
I would like to propose that we offer Guided Walks on two days -- Friday, September 10th, the anniversary of the battle, and Saturday or Sunday, September 11th or 12th.
If you would like to help with this (by planning and/or guiding) -- just e-mail me at AndrewCoulson@btinternet.com.
If you would like to go on one of the tours -- comment positively, here or by email; and that brings me on to the second possible project:

Pinkie Website
For the moment, this does not yet exist -- but in the next few days, I will set one up as part of the Musselburgh Conservation Society site. What I will put there is:

Future Events
History resources -- images, documents, maps. I have a number of interesting things for this already, and will be glad to hear of other material suitable for scanning or loading.....
Links to related sites -- map libraries, local history resources, other battle sites, etc
..... whatever else you may suggest.......

Resources for Schools
Are there any teachers in local schools who would like to help in using the battle for a classroom local history project or study?

A great thing about all the projects so far ------ is that they don't need any money. The bigger projects below will need an organisation behind them which can raise funding, so they are not going to take off in the immediate future. But there's no harm in saying now what we'd like to hope for in the next year or two!:

Battlefield Trail, with information boards and a printed or audio guide

Interpretation/exhibition centre

Community History & Archaeology Project

.......again, please let me know what you think -- by commenting here or
by emailing me at Andrew.Coulson@ed.ac.uk

What happens next? -- Part 2:

2010-04-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

The first important question is -- what should become of the 'Pinkie Battlefield Group'?

At present, this is an informal group of individual members of several local heritage societies and community organisations, together with representatives from the relevant services of East Lothian Council, and a number of local councillors.

I proposed, at the 'Pinkie Then & Now' presentation, that we should establish the Pinkie Battlefield Group on a more formal basis.

The Objectives of the Group would be the:

Preservation,
Interpretation &
Presentation

.......of the Battlefield of Pinkie Cleuch

All interested local heritage and community organisations, and East Lothian Council, would be invited to become affiliated members of the group, and to nominate representative members of the Group Committee. The Group would keep contact details for all interested members of the public, and the Committee would also co-opt members from this wider group as appropriate.

Here is the current list of potential affiliated organisations:
Musselburgh Conservation Society
Old Musselburgh Club
Inveresk Village Society
Musselburgh Museum Committee
Cousland Local History Project
Musselburgh & Inveresk Community Council
Wallyford Community Council
Whitecraig Community Council
Prestonpans Community Council
Tranent & Elphinstone Community Council
East Lothian Council:
Councillors
Museums Service
Archaeology Service

I am looking forward to reading your comments on this suggestion -- as before, if you encounter problems in posting to this website, please just email me at
AndrewCoulson@btinternet.com.

I would be glad to hear of any suggested additions to this list -- it would be good if there were an appropriate volunteer to liaise with local schools!

What Happens Next? -- Part 1:

2010-04-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi --

If you've found your way to this website, it's probably because you came to the 'Pinkie Then & Now' presentation in the Brunton Hall on the 25th March.

I hope you enjoyed the storytelling by Nicola Wright and Angie Townsend, and that you found the many-sided talk by Dr Iain Banks interesting and informative; above all, I hope we persuaded you (if you needed persuading) that the communities of Musselburgh, Wallyford, Whitecraig and Inveresk live next to one of the most interesting and important battlefield sites in Scotland.

Properly presented, there is a fascinating tale to be told for visitors and local residents alike. And, as Julian Humphreys (Development Officer for the Battlefields Trust) explained, there is a good chance that modern archaeological survey techniques could reveal much new information about the location of the core of the battle.

As you know, we ran out of time before there could be contributions from the audience about how to take this project on further -- so the main purpose of this blog site is to give you the opportunity to contribute to the discussion.

Please add your comments to this and subsequent blogs -- if you have problems posting comments here, just email them to me (at AndrewCoulson@btinternet.com), and I will add them.....