Transects……. News From The John Rae Society……From C.A.A.T……..
by Bernie Bell - 07:06 on 08 September 2025
Transects……..
This looks interesting…..
https://archaeologyorkney.com/2025/09/06/transects-artists/
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News From The John Rae Society……
Forthcoming Events
Doors Open: Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September at Hall of Clestrain
- Guided tours of the Hall at 10.00,11.00, 12.00 and. 2.00.
- Opportunities to view the inside using a VR camera
- Plans for restoration on view
- Refreshments
‘Rae and Baikie Orkney's Medical Explorers: How Edinburgh Doctors Led the British Imperial Century’.
Talk by Professor Wenedell McConnaha, author of Losing Sight of the Shore
Tuesday, 16th September. King Street Hall, Kirkwall. 7.00 p.m.
For booking online tickets: https://tinyurl.com/wendellJRS For attending in person £5.
Franklin, Rae and the North West Passage : the Historical Background
Monday 29th September 7.00 p.m. EMEC Stromness. For booking online tickets:
https://tinyurl.com/Rosalind1st
Franklin & Rae - The Last Link - A Tale of Tragedy and Heroism
Tuesday September 30th 7.00 p.m. King Street Hall. Kirkwall. For booking online tickets: https://tinyurl.com/Rosalind2nd
Both talks by Dr Rosalind Rawnsley, a Franklin descendant. Tickets for attending each talk in person £5.
Dr. Rawnsley will also give the graveside address at the memorial service in St Magnus Cathedral kirkyard at 12 noon on September 30th.
News in brief:
Oral History Pilot
This was carried out by Dr Colin Elder very successfully. He conducted a number of interviews, which were recorded. They focused on people in Orkney’s connections with Canada, especially the Hudson’s Bay Company. (See clip on our Facebook page.) As well as giving us a full report, transcripts and video footage, he has suggested further activities which could last for years!
Engaging local schoolchildren
Our Engagement and Learning Co-ordinator, Katie MacLeod, has given some exciting lessons on map-making in schools as well as arranging a visit to Stromness Museum and to the Hall of Clestrain. This has certainly roused the interest of the younger generation in John Rae.
All the above activities were delivered through the Fit for the Future project, funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Scotland Slowly
In June Andrew Appleby and Fiona Gould joined Adventure Canada’s Slowly Scotland
Cruise from Aberdeen to Glasgow as guest speakers. Both gave talks about Hall of Clestrain, Fiona speaking about John Rae’s childhood there and how it prepared him for life in the Arctic, and Andrew talking about the history and archaeology at the Hall.
Dounby Show
We had a stand at the Dounby Show in August. This is always very much a local affair but gives us the opportunity to engage with the Orkney public and to provide updates on progress. Again, the weather was rather unkind and we had to take the marquee down early because of high winds!
LDN Architects
We have appointed LDN Architects to carry out an options appraisal and feasibility assessment relating to Hall of Clestrain, and from the results to produce an architectural concept and business plan.
This work is also part of the Fit for the Future Project and funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
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My musings re. John Rae….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2017/07/31/the-two-johns-a-personal-perspective/
https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/02/18/andrew-applebys-the-two-johns/
https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/10/20/kristyn-clestrain-and-the-inuksuk/
Last year's Open Day....
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=17013
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From C.A.A.T…..
It’s an exceptionally busy time at CAAT with protests starting against Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI), a campaign victory and the publication of our revised briefing on UK arms exports to Israel.
At the time of writing, we’ve been witnessing tanks and lorryloads of weapons driving into the ExCeL Centre, as arms dealers start setting up shop for the DSEI arms fair. And Stop the Arms Fair (STAF) is there to stop them! STAF is running a full programme of protests and workshops between now and 12th September, including the Festival of Resistance on Sunday, 7th September at East Gate, a No Faith in War day on Tuesday, 9th September and a No Pride in Genocide day on Wednesday, 10th September.
Meanwhile, CAAT’s Kick Israel Out of DSEI campaign achieved a significant, albeit partial, victory at the end of last week with the news that the UK government wouldn’t be inviting an official Israeli government delegation. As a result, Israel announced it would no longer host its country pavilion. These were two of our key campaign demands when we launched our campaign back in April - and a massive thank you to all our supporters who’ve signed and shared our petition and other campaign resources and helped make this happen.
While this is obviously welcome news, it is perhaps only a symbolic victory while DSEI is welcoming 51 Israeli arms companies to DSEI. This includes allowing Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defence company, which makes 85% of the drones used by the Israeli Defence Force, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries to market their genocide-tested weapons to a global audience.
This is the government pretending to take action while safeguarding the profits of arms dealers. At the same time it’s banning an official Israeli delegation, it is on the cusp of awarding a £2bn contract to Elbit Systems. These are not the actions of a government committed to taking action against Israel. These are the actions of a government complicit in a genocide.
It is also clear that our government is not committed to taking any action that disrupts the profits of arms dealers. It is therefore down to campaigners across the country coming together to take action to uphold international law on the streets of East London - and this is why CAAT is one of 130 groups supporting The Big One: Shut DSEI Down protest on
Tuesday, 9th September. Protests start at 8am at the West gate, and we hope to see as many of you there as possible! Follow Shut DSEI Down on socials for updates and travel advice as there are tube and DLR strikes the same day. Limited crash space is available - contact shutdowndsei@protonmail.com for more info.
Finally, CAAT has just published its updated version of its UK arms to Israel report. How the UK arms and supports Israel’s genocide in Gaza shows how the UK government is deeply complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The report provides the most comprehensive information available on UK arms sales to Israel and is essential reading for anyone wanting to know more about how deeply complicity the UK government is in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Israel is committing genocide. Israel has created a man-made famine; babies are dying from starvation. Israel is bombing hospitals and killing journalists. Our government is lying to us, telling us it's doing everything it can to stop these atrocities. But the facts speak for themselves. This is a government breaking international law to safeguard arms dealers’ profits.
However, the pressure is slowly working; we must keep this pressure up.
We must do everything we can to stop DSEI, we must keep demanding a full two way arms embargo on Israel and we must keep trying to shut down the arms companies profiting from war crimes.
And your help is needed more than ever to do this work.
If you can’t make it down to DSEI, then get involved in one of our e-actions - demand EventBeds™ and NuBreed Hotels cut ties with DSEI and don't offer any hospitality to arms dealers.
Your financial support is needed so much at this time - please donate to help us Stop DSEI and Keep CAAT Campaigning
Charles Wright
Campaign Against Arms Trade
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