The conference is on Saturday 10th March 2012 at Elgin Museum. For more information go to www.elginmuseum.org.uk

Hi, my name is Lindsay and I am one of the volunteers at GWL. After taking part in a course run by the Prince’s Trust, which involved doing some work in a college library, I wanted to continue to volunteer in a library. My occupational therapist helped me to contact various libraries and because I have a degree and some research skills some people suggested that we contact GWL. When I came to visit and to find out some more about the library I was a little nervous but Sue made me feel welcome and I had my first of many offers of tea or coffee (which I don’t drink but no one seems to remember that!)

I have been doing various tasks and it has been interesting to see the different types of work that each member of staff does. I hope to build up skills that will eventually help me to get a job, preferably in the area of psychology. I think that to do this it is important that I improve my confidence and self esteem and working with GWL is already helping me in these areas.

We are now proud to feature the latest exciting development – a podcast of the walk, available to download for free. The group were keen to make the walk as accessible to as many people as possible, so decided a podcast would be the next step. The podcast was written and recorded by the walk group and other local community members with the help of funding awarded from the Galloway Association.

Kriss Nichol from Wigtown women’s walk group has written a blog post about the experience.

Wigtown walk group members and local residents at the walk's launch in March 2010

Download: Wigtown Women’s Heritage Walk Podcast

Download: Wigtown Women’s Walk Leaflet (PDF)

Inverness GWL/Women at Work conference oral history workshop

My great grandmother the runaway bride

Dundee Bring and Tell oral history session

Sheila Campbell talks about her mother working in the Jute Mills and other memories

Transcription of Sheila and other participants at Dundee Herstory workshop

Sheila with a picture of her mother in the Dundee jute mills

M: How long did you mum work in the jute mills for?

P2: Not long. She had to leave because of the noise. She hated the noise and because she hated the dust. And then she wouldn’t do any work when we were there. Well, so she tells me. She was a full-time mum and when the war came. She went into munitions. A lot of women went to work in munitions. And she hated that as well because of the noise. And as you were saying, she was a devoted mum, we are all devoted mums. But I remember my granny, my adopted granny said to my mum. My mums name is Christina, which is a nice name. But she was actually called Tin, which is not very nice. And my adopted granny said to my mum, my mum always looked nice, did as much as she could do. But my granny said, ‘I thought you were buying yourself a new coat Tin’, and she said, ‘I’d rather put it on the bairns’. You know because the money was short. It was war time. And then we used to have the Anderson Shelter, do you remember them? You won’t remember them, nobody here will remember them. Under the ground. And I was only a wee girl then, I remember I had a wee pink suit, I must have been only 3 or 4. And I had my wee suit at night and my mum and dad would go down to the shelter. And my dad would carry me on the, you know, the lights, I can’t remember what you call them. Search lights. If they put them on, my dad would always carry me on his shoulders. Another thing I just remembered about the jute mills. At lunch time there was a bummer, you know a bummer, Clarkson sort of style. *Bssssshhhhd*. And then it was time to go for your lunch.

M: So they did half a day at school and half a day at the jute mills?

P2: Half a day at school and half a day at the jute mills.

M: So how many hours would they work there? 4 to 5 hours?

P2: Yeah, 4 to 5 hours, I suppose so.

P3: And did they get the worst jobs or?

P2: Well my mum would, she was a spinner. I don’t know if you saw that, did you see that picture? That’s the spinning. That’s my mum there. And there were spinners and weavers. The weavers were more like a trade. And the spinners, this is what they did. And they worked, sort of, we would call it bonus.

N: Well it must have been quite dangerous.

P2: Yeah, dangerous. The machines were all going, you know, and you had to pull things down – what I’ve seen on the films.

M: The noise must have been unbelievable with all the machines going.

P2: And then on a Saturday when you went into town it must have been such a laugh. Because going down the Wellgate which is nothing like the Wellgate is now. All the streets were there. And the women with their hair and all the colours, they always said the jute was hanging, you could smell the jute out of their hair. And they used roller thinners or curlers or whatever. For Saturday night.

P3: Did they get paid? Did the children get paid, is that why they did it?

P2: Very little. That was in the 1930s, when was the depression. 1929 I think.

Heather Middleton is a Glasgow based illustrator and zine-maker with an interest in the history of girls’ comics. Her zines include Honeypears and Period (an “irregular monthly”) and she contributes to regular Glasgow anthology Team Girl Comic. Her work recently featured in the show Telling Stories at Glasgow’s Market Gallery alongside work by David Shrigley, Frank Quitely and other artists influenced by comics.

This event will take place at 2pm on Friday 30th September at Wigtown Library.

Tamara Drewe image

This event will take place from 2.30pm-3.30pm, Monday 26th September, setting off from Reading Lasses Bookshop.

Wigtown Women's History Walk

This event will take place from 2-2.30pm on Monday 26th September at the Reading Lasses Bookshop.

Wigtown Walk Launch, March 2010

Would you like to find out more about women in the Blitz; the suffragettes in Clydebank; the Singer factory strikers; and women who worked in the shipyards?
Or maybe there is a local woman from Clydebank’s past you would like to know more about? Maybe you have a story of a local woman you would like to tell?

Come along and find out about the Clydebank women’s history group. At this taster you can meet some of the group, find out about how you can learn the skills to become a women’s history detective.
See some fascinating photos and objects from our archive and listen to the voices and stories of some great Scottish women, past and present.
Free of charge. Booking essential.
To book a place or for more information phone: 0141 248 9969 or Email info@womenslibrary.org.uk

11.30 – 2.30pm – meet at Old Ferry ticket office. Prior booking essential. For more information contact Morag smith on 0141 248 9969.