Newsletter December 2008
Convener’s Letter
Welcome to the latest issue of Friends newsletter. Much has happened since our last issue including some very interesting talks, details of which are within. The AGM was held in October. I gave a resume of the year’s activities, Will presented the accounts and your council was re-elected, there being no other nominations. The meeting concluded with David Anderson’s most interesting story of the history of the building which we know as The John Muir Birthplace from the time it was built to the present day. At the AGM, I had the honour of presenting David with a life membership of Friends as a thank you for re-writing ‘John Muir’s Dunbar – A Town Trail’. This little volume not only takes one on a guided tour of the places known to Muir but also gives an insight into Victorian Dunbar.
However, the most wonderful news was the decision of the John Muir Association in the United States to give the 2008 John Muir Conservation Award for a Non-profit Organisation to the Birthplace. The Birthplace had been nominated by Will Collin, supported by myself and Stephen Bunyan, Friends member and Chairman of Dunbar Community Council. Manager. Jo Moulin went over to California to accept the award on 15th November. Councillor David Berry, leader of East Lothian Council happened to be in California on a private visit and took the opportunity to support Jo at the award ceremony.
Finally, if you are looking for that little special something to put in a Christmas stocking, do not forget the gifts available from the Birthplace shop, particularly the Friends four books.
A Happy Christmas to you and yours, and a peaceful and Prosperous 2009.
Jim Thompson
John Muir Association Conservation Awards
Martinez, CA, 15th November 2008
In September, Friends and Dunbar Community Council nominated the John Muir’s Birthplace team for a John Muir Association, Martinez, Conservation Award. The team were successful and with less than three weeks notice managed to secure funding, book flights and accommodation to enable Jo Moulin (Manager, John Muir’s Birthplace) to attend the award ceremony. Arrangements were also made to make the most of the opportunity to promote the work of John Muir’s Birthplace and the events planned for Homecoming 2009.
Campbell Theatre, Martinez, offered a cabaret style venue for the evening with sponsorship from Muir-Hanna Vineyards and Shell Oil’s Martinez Refinery. The programme included feature speaker John Muir Laws (no relation) on Finding Connection in Natureand gave Jo a chance to meet with Muir descendents Bill Hanna and Michael Muir. Awards were presented under 4 categories: Business Conservation, Nonprofit Conservation (the category won byJohn Muir’s Birthplace), Environmental Education Conservation and Conservationist of the Year.
Jo delivered a brief presentation about the variety of education resources, activities, events and exhibitions developed and delivered by the team at John Muir’s Birthplace. She also and everyone to visit Dunbar in 2009 as part of the Homecoming Scotland celebrations www.homecomingeastlothian.org. There was a lot of interest in the work of the team and positive responses to the plans for Homecoming Scotland with some definite “we want to come next year” responses including a complete stranger that Jo got talking to while out for a saunter on Mount Wanda. Messages of friendship were also read out from John Muir Birthplace Trust, Dunbar Community Council and East Lothian Council whose leader David Berry was on a private visit to the area and attended the event.
While in California Jo spent a day in San Francisco visiting the Exploratorium (a hands on science museum) and the Golden Gate National Parks habitat restoration efforts at Crissy Fields. Out in Martinez the 20oC plus temperatures provided perfect weather for exploring the John Muir National Historic Site and neighbouring Mount Wanda (named after one of Muir’s daughters) on ground that use to be part of the Muir fruit ranch.
The John Muir Association generously took Jo out to dinner the night before the awards as an opportunity for some networking with board members and NPS Ranger Cherl Abel and husband Alan who visited Dunbar in 2007. Jo also caught up with Yosemite Valley School contacts Laurie Smith and her family at their home in Martinez prior to attending the award ceremony. Laurie and her daughter Rachel have taken part in three of the four Yosemite Valley School visits to Scotland and son Zach in one.
After the award ceremony Martha Lee, Superintendent for John Muir National Historic site and three other near by National Park sites, hosted Jo for 24 hours. They joined a regional National Parks meeting on a site visit to Alcatraz led by Golden Gate National Parks (GGNP) Superintendent Brian O’Neill then visited other GGNP sites at Bay Area Discovery Museum (a fantastic hands on museum for children www.badm.org), Fort Baker, Marin Headlands and passed through Lands End and Ocean Beach on the way to the Airport.
John Muir Birthplace Trust AGM
In her 2008 report at the Birthplace Trust AGM on 3 November, chairman Liz McLean outlined another busy year of activity which saw the Birthplace firmly established as a major resource for education, exhibition and events as well as a visitor centre, open to the public and free of charge.
The trustees were delighted to welcome HRH Prince Edward to the Birthplace in February and several groups who were doing John Muir Awards – from Dunbar Primary School, from Dunbar Grammar School, and from Tynebank Resource Centre in Haddington – had a chance to speak with the Prince and tell him about their projects. In June, another successful visit of Yosemite Valley School took place and parents, staff and children were guided around Muir’s homecoming journey of Scotland. Their visit coincided with Civic Week and they also participated in activities at the Primary School.
For schools, the Birthplace is now firmly established as a valuable resource with regular school talks and visits. The assessors for the Green Tourism Business Scheme noted ‘the very strong educational materials and interpretation on and off site’ and congratulations are due to the Birthplace team for achieving the Gold Award.
Fundraising continues to be an important activity for the Trust to enable it to continue to develop the activities and refresh the exhibition, ensuring that it is kept up to date and reaching as many people as possible. Thanks are due to a number of grant donors and the funds will be used to enable the Birthplace to keep abreast of the fast changing developments in environmental issues. The Trust is particularly grateful to East Lothian Council for its Community Services Revenue grant of £10,000 specifically for building maintenance, etc. Redecoration, draught proofing, renewal of the external signage and building insurance are just some of the areas in which this will be used.
Liz thanked all those who had supported the Birthplace over the year, particularly donors and volunteers, and gave a special mention to Friends and our secretary Susan Panton. She finished by congratulating the staff for their ongoing work which had won the Birthplace the Non-proftmaking Organisation Conservation Award presented by the John Muir Association in Martinez. (See separate report.) [The full version of Liz’s report to the Birthplace Trust AGM will be posted on the Birthplace website www.jmbt.org.uk]
‘John Muir’s Dunbar’ – Another New Book Launch
David Anderson receives Honorary Life Membership Certificate from Jim Thompson, Convener
‘John Muir’s Dunbar’ has been a steady seller since it was published in 1998. Indeed there were less than 200 copies left when Friends’ council took the decision to prepare a new edition a little over a year ago. And who better to ask to write it than David Anderson, who was heavily involved in the preparation of the last one.
David has been responsible for considerable research into John Muir’s family in Dunbar and elsewhere, and Dunbar history in general. So much new information was available. Nonetheless it was still a major undertaking and therefore a considerable commitment. However, fortunately, David agreed and set to work.
There was the question of funding to be resolved and Friends’ council was delighted when Honorary Member Winifred Sillitto offered to fund the printing costs, by far the major outlay. With grants totalling 50% of the design costs coming from East Lothian Leader + and Dunbar Community Council, it was’ all systems go’.
It was clear that David’s text would far exceed the 24 pages of the old edition and a limit of 56 pages was agreed. Even then, some reluctant trimming had to be done. A search for suitable photographs was conducted. Emma Westwater of Source Graphic design was again approached to provide the technical input and ensure the ‘in house’ style was maintained.
The result was revealed at a small launch party in the Birthplace on 22 October. The unanimous opinion was that the new ‘John Muir’s Dunbar’ was an excellent addition to Friends’ small but growing book list and convener Jim Thompson thanked all those involved, particularly David and Winifred.
John Muir’s Dunbar is available from the Birthplace price £3.50. UK members wishing to obtain copies by mail should send cheques for £3.50 per copy to Will Collin, 2 Rosebery Place, Dunbar EH42 1AQ. Friends will bear the cost of postage until 31 December.
Victor Lough
On the subject of awards, Dunbar Community Council annual present their Community Council Award to the person who is considered to have made a significant difference to the town. This usually is for a contribution over an extended period but few if any can have given a period of service as long as this year’s recipient.
Victor Lough began as a Countryside Ranger, the county’s second, in 1975, having already been a woodsman for the Duke of Roxburgh and a blacksmith with Blue Circle. He was a pioneer in his new profession for his appointment came the year after the John Muir Country Park was established and Victor was one of less than 30 Rangers throughout Scotland.
However, he has made an indelible mark with his dedicated and unique approach. He is a born storyteller and no one who has listened to him - describing the wonders of a rock pool, explaining the types of fossils at Barns Ness or telling of the history of the natural world to groups young or old – can forget his enthusiasm and special brand of humour.
Friends congratulate Victor on receiving the Community Council Award – it is well deserved – and wish him a long and happy retirement.
Whose house is it anyway!
David Anderson gave Friends a most interesting talk about the history of the house that is now John Muir’s Birthplace at 126 High Street, Dunbar. Having just finished researching and revising the new John Muir’s Dunbar, the information was close at hand!
David swept through over 200 years of owners, tenants, businesses, changes and restoration. The house was originally built to provide rental income for an 18th century heiress and was probably divided into three individual flats from the start. Its ownership descended to Charles Whiteman, the Muir’s landlord, who sold it in 1846. Since then the ground floor shop has had many uses including Dunbar Post Office, a watchmaker’s, a draper’s, a grocer’s … a dry cleaner’s and more recently a photographer’s studio. Many will remember the small museum dedicated to John Muir on the top floor following restoration in the late 1970’s. David finished with an image of the building today, which opened in Aug 2003 as John Muir’s Birthplace.
David was thanked for the research he carried out to enable revision of John Muir’s Dunbar and providing us with more remarkable background information on the town of Dunbar as John Muir knew it, and was presented with honorary life membership for his contribution to the work and ideals of Friends of John Muir’s Birthplace.
Yosemite Artists and Photographers
John Muir and Yosemite Valley are closely linked in many people’s minds. A visit to the exhibition of Ansel Adams’ stunning photographs at Edinburgh’s City Arts Centre in February prompted Will Collin to delve into the history of Yosemite art and he presented the result to Friends at their November meeting.
One may be forgiven for thinking that the white man’s involvement with Yosemite Valley began around the time of Muir’s first visit in 1868 but the first artist to visit, Thomas Ayres, made the first drawing in 1855; the first photographs were taken by Charles Weed in 1859; and the first major painting by Albert Bierstadt in 1863. Since then, scarcely a year has passed without leading US landscape painters and photographers visiting the Valley.
Will’s talk focussed on a few of the earliest – painters Thomas Hill and William Keith as well as Bierstadt; photographers Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and George Fiske. Time allowed no more. The images which were the key part of the presentation showed El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and the rest in all their glory.
If you missed Will’s presentation and can visit the Birthplace, ask to see ‘Yosemite: Art of an American Icon’ by Amy Scott. It was presented to Jim Thompson by the Yosemite School at the end of their visit in June and is available from the front desk.