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CLISH-CLASH the E-Newsletter of the Scottish Local History Forum Scottish Charity SCO15850 ISSUE 44 JANUARY 2021 ISSN 2055-6411

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CLISH-CLASH the E-Newsletter of the Scottish Local History Forum Scottish Charity SCO15850 ISSUE 44 JANUARY 2021 ISSN 2055-6411 CLISH-CLASH The e-newsletter of the Scottish Local History Forum Scottish Charity SCO15850 ISSUE 44 JANUARY 2021 ISSN 2055-6411 A VERY GOOD NEW YEAR 2021 delighted that in a recent week the SLHF Facebook TO EVERYONE page reached over 1100 people. Visit and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/scottishlocalhistoryforum SLHF NEWS ■ SLHF 2021 EVENTS: The Annual SLHF/National Library of Scotland talk 2021 will be given by Tom ■ Welcome to Clish-Clash, the e-newsletter of the Dowds on ‘The 1820 Uprising – The view from the Scottish Local History Forum, giving you information East’, This is likely to take place using Zoom and on what’s happening in various parts of Scotland. please watch the website for further information. Please enrich the picture by sending us local history news and information about events where you are. The Trustees are monitoring the pandemic before Simply go to https://slhf.org/contact-slhf. Use this link deciding on events for 2021 and their format. It is too to give us feedback on Clish-Clash (and thanks to hoped to run a Walk-&-Talk event as well as the those members who have already been in touch). conference on 'Scottish Sports and Pastimes' postponed from 2020. Dates and formats will be ■ The ongoing closure of the National Records of announced later. Scotland is becoming a serious matter for historians and academics, not least the PhD students whose ■ JOURNAL: The next two issues of the Forum’s projects rely on access to the archives and for whom journal will be SLH 108 (late January) and SLH 109 extensions to PhD candidature might not be possible (April). They will both contain the usual balance of (depending on the source of their PhD funding). The Articles, Notes & Queries, News Features and Forum is supporting a campaign to move towards re- Reviews, although from Journal 109 ‘Notes & Queries’ opening the NRS, adding its name to an open letter on will be renamed ‘Short Papers’. This change reflects this matter to the Minister. The new Covid variant will the fact that we are receiving more shorter articles and of course mean that caution will continue to remain few queries. The decision will be kept under review. As paramount. far as the News Features section is concerned, it can be confirmed that Clish-Clash will continue to cover th ■ The Trustees’ agreed at their 7 December meeting most of the day-to-day local history society news. that their meetings will continue to be via Zoom (with However, we also receive substantial material on the exception of one face-to-face meeting in the next ‘national events with a local context’ that seems 12 months). Zoom has proven to be both efficient and appropriate for the journal. A current example is the effective. We also hope that continuing with this way introduction in Scotland of ‘Red Wheel’ plaques of meeting might encourage potential Trustees from marking significant sites of transport history (similar to further afield in Scotland to put themselves forward to the ‘Blue Plaques’ that mark former residences of be Trustees. Please contact us (as above) if you are famous people). The ‘Red Wheel’ series has been interested in becoming a Trustee to help run the Forum.. CONTACT DETAILS ■ New Trustee: Jamie Sutherland, one of the social ‘Clish-clash’ means repeated gossip, so do email your media team, has recently volunteered and been co- local history news & information to opted as a Trustee. There are now two Trustee [email protected] (or via our vacancies (see previous item). website contact form http://slhf.org/contact-slhf) ■ New Advisory Committee Members: Trustees Clish-clash is sent to all members who have provided agreed to co-opt Ian Shearer (Friends of Kinneil), Ian a valid email address. To opt out, choose ‘Newsletter’ Copeland (Cupar Heritage) and Sandra Purves on the website contacts page. Clish-Clash is also (Broughton History Society). This brings the Advisory freely available on our website. Go to https://www.slhf.org/newsletter Committee to its full membership of 12. Scottish Local History Forum ■ Social media is one of the many ways in which we Box 103, 12 South Bridge © SLHF 2021 keep people informed of what’s happening so we are Edinburgh EH1 1DD ISSN 2055-6411 developed elsewhere in the UK over the last decade, communities, as are trade and professional but the first Scottish examples were unveiled as organisations. Academic works and journals are also recently as 2019, as reported in SLH 105 (Spring now being received covering everything from medical 2020). The National Transport Trust as providers of research to the impacts on sport and the economy. the plaques has had difficulty in organising appropriate Much of this is only published in electronic format, ceremonies during lockdown, but has come up with a which we also collect by legal deposit. A major focus satisfactory formula, involving just three people: one to of activity has been to collect websites, twitter feeds ‘present’ the Red Wheel; a local person to receive it; and public-facing Facebook pages. These will be and a photographer to record the occasion. One such especially important for future researchers as much of ceremony, inaugurating a ‘Wheel’ to commemorate our lives and activities have only been visible on these the first railway in Scotland, was held at Cockenzie on platforms and they are truly authentic voices. At time 21 September 2020, and will be reported in Journal of writing, the Library has archived 4096 new Scottish 108. Another of the kind, to commemorate the world’s Covid websites and Covid pages within existing sites. first sea-going train ferry, took place at Burntisland on These cover a vast array of organisations and all will 16 December 2020 and will be covered in Journal 109. be included in a Covid-19 collection in the UK Web Fortunately, the photographer on both occasions, Archive, along with those collected by the other legal John Yellowlees, was happy to submit a photo for deposit libraries. While most of the collecting activity publication in SLH, together with a report of the event. at present is of published works, we are also collecting film and manuscripts. ■ An important milestone for the SLHF website: in November we took our 2000th order via the website (a If you can help or would like more information please new member). Total value taken via the website to contact Jennifer Giles ([email protected]) date is £24,359. Country Life Archive: The National Library has recently taken out a subscription to “Country Life LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS Archive”. This new e-resource is the full text archive ■ At the time of writing (Jan 2 2021), all of the country of issues of Country Life magazine from 1897 – 2005, with the exception of the Scottish Islands is now in Tier in colour and fully searchable. Concentrating on 4. Some archive venues have gradually reopened and country estates and all aspects of rural living, this gives rather than aim to list all those that are or are not, we fascinating contemporary details of country houses, ask you please to contact individual archives. We will lifestyles and leisure pursuits, but in so doing also however continue to update the situation with the gives insight into the ideas and culture of the time. It is National Library of Scotland and the National Records also full of amazing photographs, adverts and of Scotland. In an ever-changing situation the latest biographical information. This wonderful resource is a Scottish Government guidance on travel and opening must for all interested in British and Scottish society of public facilities such as libraries can be found at over the period, especially local historians and https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/ genealogists. However, it is also a joy just to browse, and there is sure to be something of interest to ■ The National Library of Scotland had reopened everyone. Find the resource from this link: their services for library card holders but the latest https://auth.nls.uk/eresources/browse/307. To use news on the National Library of Scotland website is this from your home you will need to register online as that Library buildings are closed to the public until 19 a Library reader and to have a postal address in January at the earliest. Click here for an update on Scotland. This is very straightforward to do and the Library services https://www.nls.uk/service-disruption. information is here: https://auth.nls.uk/join/. Our thanks to Jennifer Giles for the following news from the National Library of Scotland. ■ National Records Scotland NRS on-site services are still closed. They are currently working on plans for ■ Collecting the Pandemic: Since the start of a phased re-opening and are likely to open initially with lockdown the National Library of Scotland has been reduced opening hours and facilities, and visiting will collecting publications that document and record the include a range of new measures to ensure everyone’s pandemic so that future researchers will know what life safety. The latest position can be found here has been like throughout Scotland during this https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/about-us/service- pandemic. This is ongoing but from the start has status The campaign to re-open NRS has been noted included the material published to help us all, such as above. information leaflets and e-resources produced by community groups, campaigns and charities, local ■ The Mitchell Library is closed for at least three councils, health boards, government organisations weeks from December 23. and faith groups.
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