FoJMB Newsletter 2010 12

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Newsletter No. 15, December 2010

Dear Friends,

Well, winter has arrived and even in sunny Dunny we have

had snow. Is this a forecast of the months ahead? We will have to

wait and see. But the celebration of Christmas is almost upon us and

this is something I always look forward to. It will start early with

The Friends evening of sharing our photographs and memories on

8th December and made even more pleasant with some mulled wine

and mince pies..

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 Wee Books. A 10%

discount is available to members of Friends on all purchases.

May I wish all of you and yours a Happy Christmas and a

Peaceful and Prosperous New Year.

Yours Aye,

Jim Thompson

Friends Christmas SocialWednesday 8th December, 7:15 for 7:30pm

Given the success of the 2009 Christmas Social, we are repeating theformat of that event where, in addition to the mince pies and mulled

wine, we hope to have a selection of members favourite photographswith a short story attached. For further details see inside this Newsletter.


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Friends of John Muirs Birthplace AGMConveners Report

Each year I begin my AGM report by stating the aims of the Friends of John

Muir Birthplaces as given in our constitution. These aims are:

To advance the education of the public concerning John Muir, as the Dunbar-

born pioneer of world nature conservation, and his belief in the unique and

irreplaceable value of wild places and wild creatures; to implement John

Muir's philosophy practically by conserving, restoring and enhancing

landscape and wildlife in East Lothian and Scotland and supporting the work

of the staff of John Muirs Birthplace.

Over the past year we have continued to further these objectives by:

Conducting pre-arranged guided walks for both adults and young people,including groups from abroad, around John Muirs Dunbar;

Delivering a programme of talks and other events on John Muir andenvironmental topics, both within and outwith John Muirs Birthplace.

Examples include involvement in practical conservation with the Dunbar

Community Woodland Group at Lochend Woods and another geology walk;

Publishing Walking the John Muir Way, a guide to the trail along the EastLothian coastline, written by one of our members Robert Russel;

Meeting with people of influence in Scotland in general and East Lothian inparticular. Treasurer Will Collin and myself are members of East Lothian

Councils John Muir Strategy Group (JMSG) as are Friends Liz McLean

who represents the Birthplace Trust, Jo Moulin as Birthplace Manager and

Robert Russel who represents the John Muir Trust. JMSG aims to raiseawareness of John Muir, develop educational and other links with the USand promote Muir-linked tourism in East Lothian;

Looking to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the towns twinning withMartinez in April 2011 and have invited local schools and organisation to

participate in this by contacting their opposite numbers. We have arranged

discussion meetings to promote this;

Being involved in local environmental initiatives such as Dunbar WoodlandGroup, Transition Town Sustaining Dunbar, beach tidies and other

environmental projects;


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Providing volunteers on a regular and ad hoc basis to support JMB staff andto promote JMB both locally and further afield;

Issuing on a regular basis our newsletter containing items regarding JohnMuir, environmental issues and the work of JMB, circulated to members and

available at the Birthplace;

The number of visitors to the Birthplace continues to increase, coming from all

corners of the world, particularly North America and England. Most of these

visitors come to Dunbar to visit the Birthplace and no doubt by doing so help

the economy of the town.

As convener, my name appears at the head of Friends matters. However, as

always, the work is done by others and I thank the council for their tireless

work in promoting Friends and the Birthplace. Susan, who works extremely

hard as secretary, Will as treasurer, Birthplace Trustee and the newsletter,

Duncan as membership secretary and the newsletter, Liz as Chair of the

Birthplace Trustees and Jo who represents the Birthplace and its staff on

Friends Council. Finally, and most importantly, I pay tribute to the staff of the

Birthplace. It is their endeavours that have made the Birthplace the success that

it has become, including maintaining their Gold Green Tourism award and

becoming a Scottish Tourist Board five star visitor attraction.

James Thompson, Convener, FJMB

6 October 2010

John Muir Birthplace Trust AGMReport from the Chair

2010 seems to have passed quickly and after a very busy 2009, activity at the

Birthplace during the past year has focused on developing our core activities in

line with our main objectives. It is worth restating JMBTs aims which are to

promote knowledge of John Muirs life and legacy encourage participation in conservation and inspire people to follow in Muirs footsteps


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This year we have been linking with others to look more broadly at John

Muirs relevance to East Lothian and Scotland. Trustees have been working

with East Lothian Council and others to develop a John Muir Strategy that

would provide inspiration for a range of developments in East Lothian and

further afield. These could relate to economic development including tourism,environmental, cultural and educational issues. Members of the Strategy

group are also exploring ideas for celebrating the 30th anniversary of the

Twinning of Dunbar with Martinez in 2011 and for marking the 100th

anniversary of Muirs death in 2014 and the John Muir Trust plan to hold their

annual members gathering in Dunbar in 2014.

Our links with the John Muir Trust have continued to develop during the year.

In March, Jo, Adam and I had a constructive meeting with Stuart Brooks, JMT

Chief Executive and since then, arrangements have been put in place topromote JMT through the Birthplace, with an offer of joint membership. We

were pleased to host a visit of JMT staff to the Birthplace in September and we

gave positive feedback about our links as part of the JMT Strategic Review.

Partnerships are essential to the Birthplace and apart from the Trusts

constituent members, we have active links with among others, the EL Tourism

and Heritage Forums, the John Muir Award, the John Muir National Historic

Site in Martinez and the US National Park Service, the Sierra Club, Yosemite

Valley School, Sustaining Dunbar and Dunbar traders.

We were delighted to be reassessed to Gold Standard in the Green Tourism

Business Scheme in Spring and then to be awarded Visit Scotland 5 star status

as a visitor attraction. Congratulations and thanks to Jo and staff for the work

and commitment needed to achieve these awards. The JMB Environmental

Policy has been updated and the website details how we strive to improve in a

variety of areas. http://www.jmbt.org.uk/content/pages/green-tourism.php

It has been another full year of activity at the Birthplace with regular childrens

workshops, exhibitions, guided walks and events. Staff accommodation has

moved from the Town House to temporary accommodation in the Tourist

Office on the High Street. The refurbished Town House, due for completion

mid 2011, will provide much needed Education facilities which will expand

the Birthplaces range of activities. The Citizenship Project for 2010/11, now a

regular programme, was launched for teachers in September and Jo continues

to contribute to John Muir Award Leader Training courses and JMA events.

Visitor numbers have been steady.


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Other highlights of the year included the launch by the Friends of JMB of

another in the series of wee books, Walking the John Muir Way, written by

JMBT Trustee, Robert Russel. We are grateful to the Friends for their

continuing support and promotion of the Birthplace, their regular volunteers,

events, talks and their ideas for development. This ensures that the centre isembedded in the life of community and the High Street.

The development of new interactive game continues this year and although it

was anticipated that by now, this would be in place, progress is now well

underway with the design for a food themed game. We are grateful to Viridor

for their grant of 9,000 towards the interactive and were pleased to be able to

host a visit from Dr Ian White, Chairman of Viridor Credits and colleagues in

August.

There are still the day-to-day issues involved in running the Birthplace and

seasonal maintenance jobs have been instructed. We are very grateful to East

Lothian Council for their continuing financial grant support that ensures that

the core costs of running and maintaining the building are largely secured.

Maintaining the building and its exhibits to a high standard remains a

challenge and work is underway to resolve a recurrence of the water ingress

during heavy rain.

And always, the Birthplaces greatest asset is its staff, who continue to inspire

the many individuals and groups whom they encounter both at the Birthplace

and farther afield. The comments in the visitor book speak for themselves. I

would like to thank them for another successful year; where it would be easy

for us all to be complacent, it is clear that there is a culture of continually

looking for new and innovative ways to develop the potential of the Birthplace.

Finally, I was very pleased to have the opportunity to attend a recent Charities

seminar hosted by Turcan Connell and Henderson Loggie, titled The Route to

Success how to steer your charity through the accountancy and public

benefit testing minefield. I am confident that the charitable purposes of JMBT

are well aligned with the requirements of OSCR and was particularly

interested in the explicit provision of Section 7 of the 2005 Act which includes

the advancement of citizenship or community development (including rural or

urban regeneration and the promotion of civic responsibility, volunteering, the

voluntary sector or the effectiveness or efficiency of charities.

Liz McLean, Chairman, JMBT


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Dunbar-Martinez Twinning Anniversary, April 2011After the Muir family emigrated to the USA in 1849, Johns mother and older

sisters kept in touch by letter with relatives and friends back in Dunbar.

Following his visit to Scotland in 1893, he also corresponded with a number of

Dunbar folk but his death in 1914 brought an end the last of these links.

Through time Muir was virtually forgotten in Scotland, even here in Dunbar.

In the 1960s, a visit from Muir bibliographers Bill and Maymie Kimes led to a

plaque being placed on the wall of his birthplace. Then in the 1970s East

Lothians head of environment Frank Tindall visited California and discovered

Muir for himself. On his return, he persuaded East Lothian District Council to

take out a lease of the top floor of 126/8 High Street and, with the help of

owner Mrs Daisy Hawryluk, a John Muir museum was created.

It was while a dialogue was being conducted between the John Muir National

Historic Site and East Lothian regarding the setting up of the museum that a

twinning link between Dunbar and Martinez was mooted. John Muir had

married Louie Strentzel, daughter of a Martinez fruit farmer, in 1880 and from

then until his death the town was his home base. His house and part of the

fruit farm became the John Muir National Historic Site (JMNHS) in 1964.

Dunbars John Muir Museum was opened in 1981 and on 18 April of the sameyear Martinez mayor Eric Schaefer publicly proclaimed Martinez and Dunbar

sister cities.

Martinez, with a population of just over 35,000, is the county seat of Contra

Costa County in northern California. It lies on the north of the San Francisco

Bay Area, 30 miles from San Francisco. As befits a seat of county

administration, one of the main sources of employment is local government.

However, its major employer is a Royal Dutch Shell oil refinery. It is also

transport hub and retail centre. Among the leisure pursuits are sailing, golf,

music and walking. The Martinez Bocce Association, with over 1,500

registered players, is the largest in the USA. [Bocce is like boules and a

relation of bowls.]

In the years since 1981, connections between the towns have been fairly

tenuous, largely a trickle of personal visits but recently there has been a

considerable increase. In 2004 Dunbar Grammar School began its biennial

visits to California through which over 100 senior students and 20 adults havespent time in Martinez. In 2007 Birthplace staff member Pauline Smeed spent


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a month at the JMNHS in Martinez and this has led to close links between a

number of organisations in the two towns.

However, the Dunbar-Martinez twinning is a civic link, not simply a John

Muir one. There are benefits for many areas of our two towns and surrounding

districts, for example in education, cultural exchanges and tourism. Friendsare drawing up a list of groups, clubs and the like which have twins 5,000

miles apart. At the Dunbar end, each is being invited to make contact with its

counterpart in Martinez and a positive response will lead to an exchange of

greetings around 21 April 2011. Among those already corresponding are the

two Rotary clubs, Dunbar Community Council and Martinez City Council and

the schools in the two towns and surrounding areas.

If you would like further information or would like to share an idea, contactFriends through Will Collin at [email protected]

Will Collin, FJMB

John Muir and James Geikie A meeting or a near miss?

For a while I have been compiling a list of Scottish geologists that had some

connection, however vague, with John Muir. A note to myself regarding

James Geikie (1839-1915) made me look again at him. (Note the dates many

of you will know that Muirs are 1838-1914!) Geikie was the younger brother

of Sir Archibald Geikie, another noted geologist; James succeeded his brother

as Professor of Geology at Edinburgh University. Among Muirs

correspondence on the Online Archive of California website,

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt7t1nf30b/?&brand=oac, is

a letter from Geikie to Muir dated 1 March 1879. It is likely that there were a

number of exchanges but I have only found this one.

When Muir discovered Glacier Bay in Alaska in 1880 he named one of the

rivers of ice Geikie Glacier. For which brother, or both? An entry in his

journal on 21 April gives the answer, About noon we discovered the first of

the great glaciers, the one I afterward named for James Geikie, the noted

Scotch geologist. Significantly, the younger Geikie was a glaciologist;

Geikie seniors passion was volcanoes!


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The possible encounter(s) were many years previously when John Muir was a

boy in Dunbar. Geikies mother had been born in Dunbar where her parents

were a ships captain and the daughter of a Dunbar shipbuilder. Although

James Geikie had been born in Edinburgh where his father was firstly a

shopkeeper and then a musician, he recalled visiting his grandfather in Dunbaron numerous occasions. Dunbar in the 1840s was not such a big place. It is

likely that Geikies mother Isabella Thom and Muirs mother Ann Gilrye, both

from middle class families, would have known each other, close as they likely

were in age. Did the two boys meet on one, or more than one, of Geikies

visits to Dunbar? I suppose we will never know.

Will Collin, FJMB

Walks and Talks

Friends have invested in seat cushions to make sitting listening to talks or

taking part in discussions more enjoyable! We usually meet on Wednesday

evenings, but following our members survey we are trying to introduce some

afternoon talks for those who prefer to come out during the day.

Christmas Social with Photo Sharing

Wednesday 8th December, 7.30pm at John Muirs BirthplaceFollowing last years very successful event, we plan to do the same again!

Members are encouraged to show and talk about three of their favourite

images. 5 minutes per person! There will also be mulled wine and mince pies.

If you wish to be involved, please send your images to Susan Panton at

[email protected] and I will put them all on a memory stick for ease of

showing. Meet at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start at JMB.

Writing the John Muir WaySunday 6th February, 2.30pm at John Muirs Birthplace

Back by popular demand! An afternoon illustrated talk with Robert Russel,

author of the Walking the John Muir Way. Robert will talk about the writing

of the book and show beautiful images of what you may encounter on the

route. Tea and coffee. Walking the John Muir Waybooklet is available from

JMB for 3.50.


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Merry Christmas from the front line!

12,500 visitors, two major awards, over thirty John Muir and wildlife related

workshops, family drop- in craft sessions and several local artists exhibitions.

Staff at John Muirs Birthplace have had yet another busy year!

Once again we are well underway with our now annual Citizenship project,

working in partnership with both the Arts and Drama Service and the

Countryside Ranger Service. Since August, thirteen classes have already

explored the Birthplace and discovered lots of new facts and stories about John

Muir, his life and legacy. We have also seen an increase in school groups from

outwith East Lothian and welcomed, once again, groups working for their John

Muir Awards through other organisations. Outreach visits are also popular.

The Birthplace has participated in Scotlands Open Doors Day with a lights

out evening of shadow puppets and stories and supported Prestongrange

Museums Family Fun Day, with a craftmaking stall. More recently, we have

taken part in the BBCs Turn Back Time project, with a display of Then and

Now images, both in the Birthplace, and on the BBC flickr site.

Over the winter, we will be reviewing our Green credentials, updating our loan

boxes for schools and continuing with research. Visitors are enjoyingcontributing to our new Nature Diary

so please drop in and record any

interesting sightings and we will share

these on our website!

We can be taken by surprise sometimes

as we were in the early autumn when a

Canadian gentleman who had Scottish

roots revisited the Birthplace and madea generous donation that included a

lovely collection of books. In

September a group of Redcoats called

while re-enacting the landing of Sir

John Cope on his way to the 1745

Battle of Prestonpans! You never know

who or what is going to come through

that door!


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Staff and regular visitors are all

looking forward to our pre-Christmas

showing of the Knitting the Harbour

project, when the now famous large

3D model, including local characters,fishing boats, castle and buildings

will be on show from 11th December.

From mid January you will have

another opportunity to see our

Wherever a Scotsman Goes

exhibition, to celebrate Robert Burns

birthday.

We would like to thank all of ourFriends who support us and our

volunteers, and we wish you all a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New

Year!

JMB staff

FRIENDS CONTACTS

Official address: Friends of John Muirs Birthplace, John Muirs Birthplace,126 High Street, Dunbar EH42 1JJ: tel: 01368 865899

Friends Website: www.muirbirthplacefriends.org.uk

Birthplace Email: [email protected] Website: www.jmbt.org.uk

Convener: Jim Thompson, Secretary: Susan Panton, Membership Sec: Duncan

Smeed, Treasurer: Will Collin. All can be contacted through the Birthplace.


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GIFTS at JOHN MUIRS BIRTHPLACE - 10% Friends discount

Friends Publications (buy 5 of the following books andget the Clifftop Trail free)

John Muirs Dunbar A Town Trail 3.50

John Muir Clifftop Trail 2.50Still Walking the World (Muir quotes) 3.50

John Muir: Close to Natures Beating Heart 3.50

A Scotchman Comes Home 3.50

Walking the John Muir Way 3.50

Handcrafted Gifts

Locally crafted John Muir Mug 12.50

Isle of Skye Soap 2.95

Fairtraded Goods

BeadforLife necklaces and bracelets from 4.95Recycled Goods

Green Glass tumblers and glasses (set of 2) from 7.00

Green Glass bracelets and necklaces from 5.99

Pencils JMB Logo 0.45

Pencil case 3.90

Crayons 3.45

Mouse mats 3.90

Notebooks From 2.99

Coasters 1.70Keyrings 1.30

Pen JMB logo 1.50

Cards and Calendars

JMT Christmas Cards (packs of 10) from 4.00

John Muir Trust 2010 Calendar 11.50

JMT Diary 2010 15.00

Lochend Woods Calendar Dunbar Community Woodland 3.50

Gordon Jenkinson Prints from 8.00Assorted blank cards from 1.30

Other

Natural Soy Candles 3.50

Paper Potter 9.95

Dunbar Calico Bag 3.45

Celtic connection CD Vol 7 6.99

Herber Mooths CDs 6.50

Water Clock 4.99


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BOOKS at JOHN MUIRS BIRTHPLACE - 10% Friends discount

A Passion for Nature 18.99

Cockburnspath 24.95

Collins Nature Guides( SPECIAL OFFER) 2.99Dunbar in Living Memory 2.95

East Lothian 1945-2000 Stat Acc Vol 1 19.95

East Lothian 1945-2000 Dunbar Acc Vo 16.95

East Lothian 1945-2000 Stat Acc Vol 7 11.95

East Lothian Images 19.95

Green Clean (environ friendly cleaning!) 10.99

Historic Dunbar 9.50

JM 8 Wilderness Discovery Books 25.00

JM His Life and Letters 20.00John Muirs Last Journey 11.99

Meditations of Emerson 7.99

Meditations of John Muir 7.99

Natural Stain Remover 4.99

My First Summer in the Sierra 6.99

On the Trail of John Muir 7.99

The Carrifran Wildwood Story 15.00

Scottish Farmers Cookbook 6.99

Son of the Wilderness 13.99The Green Mantle of Romanticism 6.50

The Story of My Boyhood and Youth 6.99

Yearning For the Land 7.50

Wild Muir 22 Greatest Adventures 6.99

Childrens Books

Breaker 5.99

My Life With Nature 6.99

Stickeen 6.99

Call Him Father Nature 9.99The Treasure at North Berwick 5.99

The Sea Dancer at St Abbs 5.99

The Pirate Kings of Eyemouth 5.99

Robert Burns

Rabbies Rhymes 6.99

Robert Burns Complete Poetical Works 9.95

Robert Burns A Life 9.99

Touched by Robert Burns 20.00

Documents

FoJMB Newsletter 2010 12