Events hosted by the Trust in the past:
Thursday 16 May 2024, 7.00 pm Talk by Jim McGeorge and Rose Jenkins Since its foundation as University College Dundee in 1881, the University has played an important role in shaping the civic and urban heritage of the City of Dundee. Continuous investment across the University’s City Campus has developed the landscape of the estate […]
Thursday 18 April 2024, 7.30 pm Talk by Bruce Keith Author Bruce Keith will return to speak to the Trust about Scottish Milestones based on his book ‘Are We Nearly There Yet?’ – but this is not just a story of distance markers. This talk will also provide an insight into early methods of measurement […]
Thursday 21 March 2024, 7.00 pm Talk by Beth Bate and Jacquie Roberts DCA Director Beth Bate and DCA Chair Jacquie Roberts reflect on 25 years of one of the UK’s most popular and successful arts centres and look ahead to the future of the organisation. Established in 1999, DCA seeks to enrich lives through […]
Thursday 15 February 2024, 7.00 pm Talk by Roderick Stewart “The Hecklie”, as Wm R Stewart & Sons (Hacklemakers) Ltd was known, was an unorthodox Dundee company founded in 1874 which expanded from making hackles for jute machinery to become the world leader in supplying pinned products to a wide range of industries with its […]
Thursday 18 January 2024, 7.00 pm Talk by Fionn Stevenson Ever wondered what really drives the development of good housing? The Dundee Civic Trust, in collaboration with Dundee Institute of Architects, has developed new Housing Recommendations for all house builders to use. This talk will explore the history of housing standards, showcase exemplar new housing […]
Thursday 7 December 2023, 7.00 pm Talk by Ken Peebles When the Ballachulish bridge opened in 1975, replacing the old ferry across the Narrows, the travel geography of the west coast was altered for ever. The ‘new’ bridge is now approaching its 50th anniversary and Trust member Dr Ken Peebles will give us a layman’s […]
Thursday 16 November 2023, 7.00 pm Talk by Leonie Bell Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, will tell us about the design museum’s journey up to its recent fifth anniversary and look towards the next five years as the V&A continues to inspire through design, to deepen its civic impact and inspire new audiences. Leonie […]
As part of Dundee Civic Trust’s 50th anniversary year, we are delighted to announce this lecture to be given by Professor Ric Russell on Thursday 13 July 2023 at the Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee. Ric is a popular figure who studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, School of Architecture. He won several […]
20 April 2023: Bruce Keith, “Bridgescapes” Author Bruce Keith will discuss his book ‘Bridgescapes’, which is a personal journey through history, celebrating Scotland’s bridge building heritage. Amply illustrated by a young Scottish photographer, Lewis Matheson, this will prove to be a thought-provoking, enlightening and engaging evening. This talk has been several times delayed by Covid […]
16 March 2023, 7.30 following our AGM Kirsty Maguire, “Passivhaus; Design in a Climate Emergency” Kirsty Maguire is an architect who combines building performance, industry training and the creation of creative and beautiful spaces. She leads her eponymous architecture practice, an award winning micro business based near Dundee. The practice blends design led work and […]
16 February 2023: Caishlan Sweeney, “Meanwhile at Eden Project, Dundee” This will be our annual joint meeting with the Friends of Dundee Heritage Trust. It is the DHT turn to host, so the talk will take place at Discovery Point at the usual time of 7 pm, when Caishlan Sweeney will update us on progress […]
19 January 2023: Iain Flett, “Garden to Eden” Former city archivist Iain Flett, speaking on a wide range of subjects, is a great favourite of Trust members. His January talk will look at how Dundee was one of the first Scottish burghs to embrace lighting by coal gas to improve the safety of its inhabitants […]
15 December 2022: John Gray, “Forty Years of Public Art in Dundee” Planning Officer John Gray will describe the development of Dundee’s wide-ranging public art, starting with the Blackness Public Art Programme which he came to Dundee to join in 1982. Since then, Dundee has become well known for its extensive and varied public art […]
17 November 2022: David Powell, D C Thomson Archive Manager “A Menace in the Archives: The Collections of DC Thomson.” The archives of DC Thomson have accumulated over the past 250 years as both the titles and business have evolved. As well as being a valuable business asset they have a wider value to the […]
Thursday 20 October 2022: Kevin Frediani, “Over the Garden Wall” Winter evening talks will restart on Thursday 20 October when Kevin Frediani, Curator of Dundee University Botanic Garden and Grounds will give a talk “Over the Garden Wall: celebrating 50 years of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden.” The talk will explore how a space in […]
Dundee entrepreneur Chris van der Kuyl will join us in May. In addition to his role as chairman of 4J Studios (developers of Minecraft), Chris co-owns Water’s Edge at Camperdown Dock. The transformation of these previously run-down transit sheds to a high-quality commercial development will be at the centre of his talk. Members may remember […]
Our Annual General Meeting will be followed (at 7.40 pm) by a talk by retired City Archivist Iain Flett, who is well known to many of our members. Iain will outline the history of the ancient central burial ground, the Howff, which dates back to the sixteenth century. Note this talk replaces our previously-billed event […]
When the Dundee and Arbroath Railway opened in 1838, few could have imagined it to be anything other than a local transport enterprise. The concept of a national rail network had scarcely formed; but in little more than ten years the ‘D&A’ was to become established as a strategically important main line. Civic Trust member […]
Patricia Keppie, one of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s regional coordinators, will be accompanied by a local Dundee volunteer to outline the important work of the Commission and its educational charity, the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation. This will cover the history of the CWGC and its ongoing work, including its early challenges, and will also […]
The second of Dundee Civic Trust’s popular series of winter evening talks will take place on Thursday 18 November 2021 at our usual venue of the Dundee Art Society gallery, 17 Roseangle. HMS Unicorn is well-known to Dundonians as the old ‘wooden wall’ in Dundee docks but her true international importance is still very little […]
A talk by Dr Husam AlWaer Dundee Art Society Gallery, 17 Roseangle After the loss of the 2020-21 season, we plan to resume our programme of evening talks on Thursday 21 October 2021. Dr Husam AlWaer’s presentation will challenge us to consider the benefits of living locally and will examine the need to redesign how […]
The Dundee Civic Trust joint meeting with the Friends of Dundee Heritage Trust will be hosted this year by the Friends, using Zoom. Our members will have received an invitation to join this event at 2.30 pm on Wednesday 24 February. The speaker, Matthew Jarron, is Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee […]
Philip Long is well-known to Dundonians as the Director of the dramatic new V&A Dundee and has managed this key Dundee project from its very earliest days. It will have been open for a little over a year and Philip will give us an update on the progress of this important and challenging Dundee Waterfront […]
Trustees Peter Webber and Derek Simpson from Dundee Museum of Transport will explain how the transport museum has established itself as one of the city’s most popular attractions and describe their detailed plans for development of the old Maryfield tram sheds.
Scotland had its own native architecture with a critical period 1570 -1620 when architects explored complex spatial and aesthetic principles well ahead of their time. Architect Crichton Wood will show Robert Adam flirting with the style, David Bryce developing the style, both in bad and good ways, and Macintosh & Lorimer continuing and developing the […]
DCT awards for buildings and projects completed between June 2017 and May 2019 that have made a beneficial contribution to the environment of the city.
“The high street has suffered from 50 years of benign – and not so benign-neglect. We can continue to patch and mend or we can start thinking more radically. That is, if we feel there is any value at all in having high streets?” Professor Sparks is Professor of Retail Studies at the University of […]