BBC Award for Downriver Project
The Heritage Lottery funded Downriver has been given an award by BBC History Magazine. The "Heritage Matters - Pass it On" awards reward and celebrate "local ambassadors" for community history. We're really pleased that the work of all the Magic Torch volunteers has been recognised in this way.
Over the last eighteen months, the downriver project has promoted local heritage through music, displays, events and of course a book. While the Heritage Lottery Fund part of the project is now completed, Magic Torch will be continuing to undertake projects around the "downriver" theme.
2007 is the Year of Highland culture and also the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and we will be looking at Inverclyde's connections to both. We will also be assisting Inverclyde Council with the development of the "Myths and Legends Festival" to be held in November.
Finally, an apology to anyone who was offended by the inappropriate spam material which found its way onto the forum in the last month. All these posts have been deleted and we will continue to monitor the forums to try and ensure this doesn't happen again.
18 December - Yuletide Greetings
Magic Torch would like to wish everyone the compliments of the season. There's very little more enjoyable than a winter festival!
Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the last year and particularly during the downriver project and thanks too, to everyone who has visited us at our stalls in the Greenock Town Hall Charities Fayre and the Christmas Farmers Market.
While you're feeling festive, why not take a look at the roots of some common christmas symbols, explore the history of mithras (another god with a winter birthday), read some yuletide traditions of old scotland, and read two stories Tulyas Ee'n, a family prepare for a typical Scandinavian Christmas and Jolasveinar, a spooky adventure for some Greenock troops stationed in Iceland during the Second World War.
6 November - Romans in the Gloamin'
A GOUROCK computer whizz has used his skills to immortalise Inverclyde's 2,000-year-old Roman heritage. Louie Pastore, a computer animation lecturer at James Watt College, has created a virtual tour of a spot that marked the northern edge of the Roman Empire around the year 142 AD.
Louie, who has previously lent his talents to Channel 4's Time Team Big Roman Dig TV programme, says the people of Inverclyde should be campaigning to have the Roman remains recognised as a World Heritage Site. Louie, 45, said: "The Antonine Wall was recently nominated to become a World Heritage Site. The Roman causeway, roads and fortlets on this side of the Clyde were an integral part of the Antonine system and the people of Inverclyde should seek to have them included as part of the World Heritage Site.
"The Antonine Wall was built by Emperor Antoninus Pius following the successful re-conquest of southern Scotland in 142 AD.
"From then till about 165 AD, the Antonine Wall was the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire, but few people realise the remains of a possible Roman patrol track running across the hills above Loch Thom marks the very edge of the empire."
Louie carried out meticulous research of the area around Knocknairshill Cemetery in the Strone, and found plenty of evidence of Roman occupation. He said: "It took a lot of hard work going through the hills and matching up what I saw with the archeological evidence and going through the history books. It was a labour of love."
Louie's work for Channel 4 focused on the remains of Roman forts and roads. He said: "I have been inundated with requests for more information on this period of local history. To coincide with the world heritage nomination, and to promote our section of the Antonine system, I've made a series of virtual tours which can be accessed on the YouTube website.
"They combine video and 3D animation, leading the viewer from the Antonine Wall at Bearsden, across the Clyde to the forts at Greenock, Bishopton and Largs.
"The tour includes a walk into the middle of the Clyde, across the Roman causeway that spanned the river, and a hike on the Roman road that leads over Corlic Hill and under Loch Thom."
The video clips can be viewed at www.youtube.com/group/clota
31 October - Going Galoshans
One of the most regular requests we get from folk is the origin of our Halloween term "Going Galoshans". Well...all can now be revealed in our heritage section. Go on, gie yerself a wee fright here.
If you'd prefer a ghost story, then you dare not miss the tale of The Ghost Captain of Lunderston Bay!
And for a peek into the old traditions of Inverclyde, you can read a preview chapter from our book Downriver, in which a young couple wander through the narrow streets of Halloween past.
Investigate a medieval mumming play (which used to be performed round houses on Halloween)
And have some traditional fun at your Halloween party with these Victorian Halloween Games
Enjoy your Halloween...
19 October - Buy Online!
Downriver and Tales of the Oak are now both available for purchase online.
buy them now!!
You can still get copies at the venues listed below.
Local schools will be getting a free copy delivered in November.
We've some more events lined up over the next two months before the end of the project, so watch this space. And look out for some exclusive Halloween content next week.
29 September - Downriver on General Release
Thanks for all your enquiries about where to get your hands on the book. Copies are now available from
- 7 1/2 John Wood Street in Port Glasgow
- The Reading Room in West Blackhall Street
- Volunteer Centre Inverclyde (across from Tescos car-park)
From mid October copies will be available online and also in the McClean Museum in Greenock.
Tales of the Oak will be available from late October...just in time for Halloween.
20 September : Take a trip downriver...
After what seems like years, our new book Downriver is finally available!
We celebrated the launch of the book last week with a trip on the Clyde Cruiser joined by friends, volunteers and loads of lucky competition winners from the downriver website. Passengers enjoyed an evening of fun, food and folklore with storytelling from John and Noreen Hamilton and songs from our very own Inverclyde Folk Club. In typical Inverclyde fashion, it was lashing down, but that didn't deter folk from standing on deck to admire the views. We'll be posting photos from the night later this week.
Downriver will be on general release from next week. It costs £10. All profits from the book are put back into promoting heritage across Inverclyde. The book will also be for sale on the website very shortly.
Over the next 2 months, we'll be adding a lot of new content to the site, including chapters which were cut from the book, so keep checking back for more info!
11 August : Downriver Book Launch
The downriver book will be released on September 18, with free copies being distributed to all schools, libraries and community venues in Inverclyde. But if you want to get your hands on a copy a wee bit earlier - why not join us at the downriver book launch on the evening of Thursday September 14.
Magic Torch will be taking a trip downriver on the Clyde Cruiser to enjoy music, storytelling, a light buffet and of course, some wonderful scenery.
To scoop a ticket for you and a friend, email us the answer to this terribly tricky question...
Which piece of Inverclyde's industrial heritage was recently damaged by a mysterious fire?
Answers to magictorch@downriver.org.uk
Hope to see you there!
1 August : Council Leader Demands Answers on Sugar Shed Blaze Mystery
The Greenock Telegraph today reports that council leader Alan Blair is dissatisfied with the open ended results of the Police investigation into the fire at the historic Sugar Sheds. A pile of flammable tyres had been left inside the building prior to the fire in June. Police are unable to confirm whether or not the fire was started deliberately and the council leader is demanding more concrete answers.
"When I called Police, their attitude seemed to be that there was nothing to report. I just can't believe that. Either it's gross negligence or it's been done deliberately. This building is A-Listed and is on the watch list of the world's 100 most endangered sites. Along with the municipal buildings it is the most important historical building in this area and it is a matter of concern that there is a delay in the report being published. Why was combustible material stored in the warehouses? Were there watchmen guarding the building? And if not, why not? We have to know what caused the accident and what Clydeport intends with regard to the reinstatement of the building."
Clydeport responded
"No tyres were stored there with Clydeport's permission. The amount of the building damaged was around 2% - 3%. The situation is the same as it was before the fire. The damage caused by the fire was fairly superficial and does not effect the potential for the building's future use."
The Police enquiey however, is complete.
The James Watt College has been long believed to be a possible tenant of the redeveloped Sugar Houses. However the college is now having its own well documented problems, and is apparently looking at possible facilities elsewhere; quite what Clydeport's ideas for the "future potential" of the building might be remain as mysterious as the fire itself.
Well done to Councillor Blair for keeping the fire on the political agenda.
14 July 2006 - "Pirate Hunter" wants Magic Torch keel-hauled
An American author has attacked the Greenock Telegraph and Magic Torch for suggesting he may have got his facts wrong. In an angry letter to the tele, Richard Zacks attempts to firmly establish that Kidd was from Dundee and not our own wee Greenock.
We were very glad to read the telegraph are backing Greenock’s claim to Captain Kidd in the face of blistering historical broadsides from the aggrieved Mr Zacks. There is nothing quite so terrifying as an angry historian.
We do actually own a copy of Mr Zacks book and are well aware of how he feels about Kidd. We would totally agree with him that the historical Kidd was a fairly average privateer who ended up a political patsy, unfairly tried and unjustly hanged. Indeed, this was the basis of our “Free Captain Kidd” campaign some years ago when we attempted to have Kidd posthumously pardoned for his supposed crimes! Historical Kidd is indeed a very different character from the Kidd of imagination and adventure. But it is this Kidd we are interested in, this Kidd that is distinguished from a thousand other 16th Century ships Captains. The Kidd whose apparent piracy inspired the increasingly gory stories of Daniel Defoe, in turn inspiring Stevenson to create Long John Silver. The Kidd who – rightly or wrongly – is synonymous with adventure, intrigue, buried treasure and carribean pirate havens. In short, an altogether more exciting Kidd than the "real man" may ever have been.
Magic Torch’s primary interest is local folklore and tradition. We maintain that Kidd is a Greenockian, but in terms of celebrating a folk legend associated with this area it simply does not matter whether he did or did not; Robin Hood, King Arthur, even fictional characters like Dracula are all promoted by towns and villages across the UK to promote tourism and to fire the imagination and civic pride of their community. That is why Kidd is important. That is why we’re keeping him.
Mr Zacks book was actually published some years ago and interestingly, when it initially came out, the first thing Dundee did was to incorporate Kidd into their tourism strategy! A lesson there for us all.
What do you think? Is Kidd ours? Do the historical facts matter? Do you believe Mr Zacks claims? Get blethering on the forum.
And read some of Kidd's not at all historical adventures in our forthcoming book - downriver.
13 June 2006 - Historic Sugar House Burns : Quo Bono?
Check out the entry for the Sugar House on the Buildings At Risk register
The following comes from the Prince of Wales Phoenix Trust, an organisation who work to protect listed buildings for the community by giving them a new lease of life. Three years ago, the trust were involved in a study to find new community usage for the sugar house - Magic Torch were a part of this consultation process.
"Sugar Warehouse, Greenock (Inverclyde)
This is a project where the Phoenix Trust has acted as enabler, adviser and facilitator
The Sugar Warehouse in Greenock and its immediate neighbour, the "Titan" cantilever crane dominate the James Watt dock and the approach to Greenock along the A8. Like so many other monuments to Britain's industrial past, however, the Sugar Warehouse long ago ceased to serve the purpose for which it was designed - the bulk storage of sugar shipped from the West Indies to be refined and sold in Britain. Built between 1882 and 1886 to designs by Walter Kinipple, the 700-ft long Warehouse is constructed in four red-brick sections with arches and pilasters in yellow brick. It has been largely abandoned for over 40 years.
The importance and vulnerability of the Sugar Warehouse are widely acknowledged. Distinguished by Category A listing, it has been on the Scottish Civic Trust's register of buildings at risk since 1995 and was included in the World Monuments Fund list of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World in 2001 as one of, if not the, largest surviving cast iron and brick industrial buildings in Scotland.
The Trust's President visited the warehouse in July 2002 and enthusiastically endorsed the involvement of his Phoenix Trust in collaborating with the owners, Clydeport Properties plc, Inverclyde Council and Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire in finding a sustainable future and community use for this stunning building. We drew up a feasibility study brief and in December 2002 John Mc Aslan + Partners were appointed as lead consultants with an expert team of Arup Scotland engineers, Davis Langdon & Everest quantity surveyors, DTZ Pieda Consulting estate agents, valuers and international property advisors, ARP Lorimer and Associates specialist historic building consultants, Bob Webster community consultation expert and GUARD, Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division - archaeology, industrial landscape and historic engineering specialists.
Towards the end of the 3-month period allocated for this initial feasibility study, the Principal of James Watt College, Scotland's largest higher and further education institutions with a high profile in community enterprise based activities, expressed an interest in locating some of the College's activities in the Warehouse. The Trust's team of consultants were engaged by the College specifically to examine the opportunities presented by this exciting prospect and the results of the original study with a separate appendix on the College project were produced in August 2003.
Since then, the owners, now part of Peel Holdings, themselves commissioned a Masterplan for the whole development of their extensive property along the Clyde Corridor, the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment offer in 2002 to undertake this having fallen through. The Masterplan shows massive investment in developing the area around the Warehouse as a marina, residential and leisure complex with the designation of the building left open. Clydeport are undertaking a "holding operation" in the Warehouse at present, minimal temporary repairs to the roof complying with the repairs notice served by the Council. Discussions are in progress still between the College and Clydeport, currently being championed by a dedicated regeneration specialist on secondment from Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire to Inverclyde Council."
Ultimately, in the face of the riverside regeneration plans, the Phoenix Trust bids fell through. This extrenal organisation would have worked better to protect our heritage - and in the case of the Sugar House, this nation's heritage - than we in Inverclyde have done ourselves.
So what next for the Sugar House? Can it survive the extensive damage inflicted upon it? What does it mean for the regeneration of the Waterfront?
Maybe we should just knock it down and build lots more over-priced housing. After all, that is some nice riverside real estate, and that big brick building really was getting in the road.
5 May 2006 - Storytelling Training / Forum Online
We want you to get talking. Our new forum The White Hart Inn is now open for business, so please pop over for a chat. Also, we've arranged some Storytelling Training Sessions which local people can attend for free. Group volunteer Ross Ahlfeld explains;
“There is a real tradition of storytelling – blethering even – in the West of Scotland, and we wanted to try and reawaken some of that locally. From our own point of view, right now we’re writing and researching a book that will be out in Autumn this year. We wanted to make sure we were able to bring those stories to life.”
Jill Bush of The Scottish Storytelling Centre explains.
“The art of live storytelling has ancient roots. It has flourished in Scotland over centuries and is enjoying a contemporary renaissance. Wherever people gather, storytelling can provide entertainment, stimulation and education all at once.”
The sessions are open for local people to attend to develop their own storytelling skills. The team stress that there is no experience necessary…but that we’re probably all experienced without realising!
“Many people would not consider telling stories 'professionally' or even describing themselves as 'storytellers'. Nonetheless within their own settings they pass on a community's sense of itself and its past.” Says Jill.
Four short sessions will run over two Saturdays. The first, Bringing the story to Life, looks at the basic principles of storytelling that apply to any audience, while the second, a Reminiscence Workshop looks at how to help the elderly in our communities to access their own stories giving meaning and value to their memories.
The second week looks at the Local Legends and Traditions which give people and communities a voice and sense of themselves and also at Family Folklore as a way of researching and recording family history.
“We hope people will want to try a something a wee bit different.” says Ross “Storytelling can be used in so many different ways, to bring families together, to celebrate your community, even to plan for the future. But mainly, I’m really looking forward to hearing a whole range of new stories from people.”
The sessions will be running on Saturday 20 & 27 May from 10.30- 3.30 at
7 ½ John Wood Street in Port Glasgow. Spaces are limited. Please call 806760 to book
The Scottish Storytellling Centre
1 May 2006 - Merry Beltane
Thanks to everyone who has been in contact since the launch of the site - our Captain Kidd billboard certainly seems to have done the trick. Keep an eye out for more of our Billboard Heritage across Inverclyde over the next few months.
Very shortly we'll be adding info on the voyage of the SS Hector as well as more downloadable Captain Kidd goodies. For now, enjoy your Beltane Bank Holiday as our forefathers would have preferred, set a fire upon a hill.
Beltane and the Celtic Year
21 April 2006 - Keep Your Heritage Alive
Hello! Welcome to the downriver website, celebrating and promoting Inverclyde rich history and heritage.
The site is still developing, but for now, you can enjoy a potted history of Greenock's very own pirate, Captain Kidd, listen to some old Inverclyde folksongs from the downriver cd, and download a whole range of publications and articles from Magic Torch's archive.
We'll be adding all sorts of content over the next few months, but please drop us a line to let us know the sorts of things you'd like to see.
