Explore West Dunbartonshire | LECTURE & EVENTS PROGRAMME 2025

LECTURE & EVENTS PROGRAMME 2025 - 2026

Watch this space for the latest programme beginning in September.

All the 2nd Wednesday evening of the month. Meet for coffee and a chat at 7.00pm. Talks start at 7:30pm.

Wednesday the 10th September.

Florence Boyle.

From Foe to Friend-the story of Hardgate POW camp

The fascinating story of a local German POW camp in Hardgate (Clydebank) and enjoy this small insight into forgiveness, shared humanity and the overwhelming desire of people for normality.

The scars of World War II remain across West Dunbartonshire even though they have faded under redevelopment and the mists of time that new generations have little perception of.

But what of the people involved? Much has been written and discussed of the the impact on local communities. Florence flips the coin and delves into the conditions of the German Prisoners of War encamped in Hardgate.

Wednesday the 8th October.

David Bruce

Greatrex the Photographer and Forger

John Henry Greatrex (1827-76), thief, convict, actor, grocer, photographer, bankrupt, preacher, adulterer, absconder and counterfeiter, had a colourfully disreputable life, despite his entirely respectable Victorian family background.

His dubious career took him from England to Australia, Scotland and America – only for him to be arrested by an extraordinarily clever Glasgow detective, for printing his own money. This is his story and though hard to believe, it is entirely true.

Wednesday the 12th November

Jennifer Lightbody

EXPLORING ARCHIVES - SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL AND THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
Jennifer has been Archives and Collections Assistant at The Glasgow School of Art since 2018 and Archivist at West Dunbartonshire Council since 2022. This talk will cover information-rich sources from both WDC and GSA archives, and how to access them. It will also cover links between the two repositories, highlighting West Dunbartonshire artists and their works held at GSA, buildings in the local area with GSA connections, and local students recognised on GSA’s Roll of Honour and Home Front Memorial.

Wednesday the 10th December

Anne Balfour

Strathblane and the Shadow of Slavery

The practice of slavery across Scotland was much wider than many are aware of. Most of this was at a distance through investments and property ownership in the West Indies or indirectly through supporting the trades that sold the products imported from there.

Anne Balfour uncovers Strathblane's links with the horrors of slavery in the Caribbean and Guyana.

NEW YEAR 2026

Wednesday the 14th January

Nina Baker

Women in shipbuilding, ropemaking and other maritime fields

Dr Nina Baker had a varied career, starting in 1972 by becoming BP Shipping's first female deck cadet, training to become a merchant navy deck officer. She remained at sea, with BP, Bibby Brothers and finally Cable and Wireless until 1979. In 1984 she decided to do an engineering degree followed by a PhD. Since 1989 she worked in various colleges and universities in and around Glasgow, mainly in research administration but also occasionally as a lecturer and research assistant. She retired from that work in 2014.

Since 2007 she have also been a Scottish Green Party councillor on Glasgow City Council, representing the Anderston/City Ward.

Wednesday the 11th of February

William Henderson

ELIZABETH GRAHAM HARTLEY: “THE POETESS OF THE LENNOX"
William Henderson is the Lead Officer for Local History & Archives with West Dunbartonshire Council.This talk covers the life and work of one of Dumbarton’s most prolific, yet little known poets. Born in 1844, Elizabeth Hartley came from modest means and went on to document many of the defining moments of the local area during the later 19th and early 20th centuries in her verse and song

Wednesday the 11th of March

Gwen Jones Edwards

The Early Lennox: how did the Lennox arise from the ashes of the the kingdom of Alt Clut

The Lennox clan has a great significance in Scotland’s early history. The Earldom of Lennox covered a vast area around Dunbartonshire. We do not know for sure who the Lennox family were nor anything about when and where they came from. However, we are able to piece together information from archaeology and medieval charters which tells us of the mix of people who eventually became the ‘Lennoxians’, for instance the influential Galbraith family. This is knowledge which gives us a glimpse into the events which followed the siege of Alt Clut, and which led to the formation of the new political unit of the Lennox.

Wednesday the 8th April

Elspeth Crocket

INTO THE CAULDRON : MARY’S SCOTTISH REIGN 1561 - 1568

This talk takes you through these years and examines why repeated disasters forced Mary's fateful decision.In 1561 the 18-year-old widowed Mary Queen of Scots returns to Scotland, reluctantly, after the death of her French husband. After seven tumultuous years she flees to England, never to return. This talk takes you through these years and examines why repeated disasters forced Mary's fateful decision.
►►►This talk will be preceded by the AGM.