ACFA member Kenneth Tomory has carried out research in the Hamilton archives and has produced this booklet of information. He has kindly given permission for it to be freely available here.
Author: Acfa Editor
Annual General Meeting Oct 28 2023
There was a good turn-out of members for the AGM, the business of which went smoothly. We said goodbye to three committee members, Ewen Smith and Ken Tomory who retired, and Margaret Gardiner who had served a full six years but has generously agreed to remain as a co-opted member with an interest in fund-raising. Chairperson Janie Munro expressed the committee’s and her personal thanks to the three for their service and support for the work of the committee.
Libby King, Christine McDiarmid and Iain Ross Wallace were elected as committee members bringing a mix of former experience and fresh blood.
Janie Munro presented the annual report which can be read here Annual-Report-2023-1
The winners of the annual photography competition were announced. Full results and all the entries an be seen here Members’ Photography Competition 2023 . The overall winner was Simon Davies with his aerial view of the Grimsay Wheelhouse.
Fundraising drive for professional analysis of Tiree lithics assemblage
In a new initiative ACFA has launched a fundraising appeal to pay for a professional analysis of the 4000 worked flints and stone tools amassed as a result of our work on the Hebridean island of Tiree. One of these tools could be a rare Skaill knife used for butchering. Lithics expert Ann Clarke visited the island in May 2023 and has expressed her enthusiasm about the assemblage and the light that it might throw on the prehistory of Tiree. Follow the link below to make a donation to our appeal.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/acfa
Lionel Masters Lochill and Slewcairn
Alison Sheridan, eminent Neolithic expert and friend of ACFA, following the death of Lionel Masters undertook to bring his work at the early Neolithic cairns of Lochill and Slewcairn to publication. She and other colleagues have produced this interim account/report of the excavations which you can read here. ACFA is indebted to her, her colleagues and funders, all noted in the paper, for their support in recognising Lionel’s work on these important sites in Dumfries and Galloway.
Meikle Dripps Waulk Mill
Survey Director of the Thorntonhall project, Susan Hunter, and members Ian Marshall, Janie Munro and Christine McDiarmid carried out a drawn survey of a rare site, a waulk mill. The mill on the River Cart was last recorded in use in 1830 but may date from as early as the 17th century. Consisting of a lade and two buildings, the mill and a possible house, the site lies on a flood plain and is in a ruinous condition. Waulk mills used the power of water to operate hammers that pounded cloth or leather to process and soften it. View more pictures in the Gallery.
