25 - 27 June 2021
The Old Moffat Churchard, Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway
A small contribution of £20 pp day visit (lunch included)

For this working party, we will be based in the Old Churchyard in the town of Moffat focusing on the sole surviving gable of the pre-reformation C15th Parish Church. We plan to carry out removal of cement pointing and vegetation, consolidation and re-pointing of the gable, and of the whinstone rubble boundary wall of the surrounding Churchyard.

The medieval Church gable, a historic monument, is currently pointed in cement but the earth mortared core is causing the structure to continually move. As a result, the cement joints have opened and plant growth has taken hold, compromising the ancient monument’s structure and viability. Furthermore, the cement render has reduced the evaporation surface, causing any water to leach through the fine stone carvings on both sides of the gable. We plan on carrying out the works to save this important monument, securing its future as a key illustration of the town’s development and reducing any further damage to the carvings. We will also be carrying out boundary wall repairs, including localised rebuilding and repointing.

Saturday 26 June 2021

£15 (full day) / Free (AGM only)

The day will consist of a walking tour led by Peter Burman, a light lunch, followed by our AGM held in the Category B listed Moffat Town Hall, which re-opened in 2013 following repairs carried out by the Moffat Town Hall Redevelopment Trust. In the afternoon, we will hear from Archie McConnel, secretary of Dumfries Archival Mapping Project (DAMP), titled "Mapping Moffat from the Clay of the Commonty to Imported Lime", which will reveal some of the treasures unearthed during the recent digitisation project, including the discovery of many 18th Century hand-drawn cartography maps of the area. Having set the context, this will be followed by a talk from Professor Peter Burman, MBE FSA who will give a lecture titled "Moffat - a precious historic environment on the threshold of climate change". The talk will place the special heritage assets and qualities of Moffat in the context of the global climate crisis, demonstrating how we as building professionals and enthusiasts can play a role in tackling the climate challenge.

22nd September

Lighthouses are such striking buildings, but the practicalities of looking after listed, very remote buildings is a great challenge. Mike Bullock of the NLB will tell us more.

6th October

World class artefacts, category A buildings and a cutting edge musuem, all on the tiny island of Hoy in Orkney. LDN Architects will explain their ambitous new project. 

20th October

We all love the hills, but where do you stay when out in the wilds?  A bothy - but who looks after them, and how? Find out with Neil Reid of the MBA. 

3rd November

Our 4th lecture has yet to be confirmed, but we hope to end on a very high note (pun intended.....can you guess what it will be?