Battle of Dunbar Info
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Charles Maurer
Folks I received numerous replies asking for info on my recent Battle of Dunbar tour. To simplify my response, I decided to send this info to the entire group. Of note, I talked to the historian who gave this tour and he is OK with me sharing this info. So here goes, everything you wanted to know about arranging a personalized tour of the Battle of Dunbar sites. Point of contact: Dr Arran Paul Johnston, 07906 349407 Director, Scottish Battlefields Trust Executive Trustee, Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust www.battleofprestonpans1745.org
Other key points about Arran: -he lives with his wife and two young children in Dunbar. -his PHD is in the Scottish diaspora. -he is the author of “Essential Agony’ The Battle of Dunbar 1650 (I purchased and read this book before the tour). -he is a freelance historian. -he has many side gigs/interests to include the Scottish Battlefields Trust, re-enacting and giving battlefield tours. Of note, he has taken other Scottish POW descendants on the Dunbar battlefield tour before to include a larger (13 people) group a few years ago.
Our tour experience: -I found Arran via the Scottish Battlefields Trust website. -We arranged (via email) for a half-day tour with no discussion of compensation other than treating him to lunch -As we were staying in Edinburgh, we took the LNER X-Country commuter train to Dunbar. Dunbar is the first stop, about 25 minutes from the main train (Waverly) station. Cost was a little more than $20 per round trip ticket. -Arran met us at the train station and took us to the following battle sites (in order): Doon Hill; the main battle site at the north west base of Doon Hill and the lone improved battle site (a stone marker and a couple of interpretive panels) just outside of town. -The tour itself was very informative and enjoyable. -Total length of tour was about 2.5 hours. It could have been a bit longer, but my tag-along spousal unit is not of Scottish heritage nor interested in history so I did not drag out the Q & A. -After lunch, we did a quick tour on our own of the small harbor town and then took the train back to Edinburgh. Note: your tickets will allow you to take any non-peak time train which runs about every half-hour (I think). -At the end of the tour we tipped Arran about $50 (in pounds of course), about all of the cash we had with us. Again, while we never discussed compensation, he graciously accepted this tip. Please remember this point if you arrange a future tour with him.
-- Chuck Maurer |
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Andrew Millard
If any of you want to visit Durham then I am happy to repeat my walking tour of the route the prisoners probably took through the city, plus visits to the site of the mass grave, the Castle and the Cathedral. I can then leave you to explore other aspects of the Cathedral and Durham’s heritage attractions, or to visit the reburial site. A group tour of the Cathedral does incur a charge.
Best wishes Andrew -- Dr. Andrew Millard Associate Professor of Archaeology, Durham University, UK Email: A.R.Millard@... Personal page: https://www.dur.ac.uk/directory/profile/?id=160 Scottish Soldiers Project: https://www.dur.ac.uk/scottishsoldiers Dunbar 1650 MOOC: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/battle-of-dunbar-1650
From: ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety@groups.io <ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety@groups.io>
On Behalf Of Charles Maurer via groups.io
Sent: 29 March 2022 11:36 To: ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety@groups.io Subject: Re: [ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety] Battle of Dunbar Info
[EXTERNAL EMAIL] Folks
I received numerous replies asking for info on my recent Battle of Dunbar tour. To simplify my response, I decided to send this info to the entire group. Of note, I talked to the historian who gave this tour and he is OK with me sharing this info.
So here goes, everything you wanted to know about arranging a personalized tour of the Battle of Dunbar sites.
Point of contact: Dr Arran Paul Johnston, 07906 349407 Director, Scottish Battlefields Trust Executive Trustee, Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust www.battleofprestonpans1745.org
Other key points about Arran: -he lives with his wife and two young children in Dunbar. -his PHD is in the Scottish diaspora. -he is the author of “Essential Agony’ The Battle of Dunbar 1650 (I purchased and read this book before the tour). -he is a freelance historian. -he has many side gigs/interests to include the Scottish Battlefields Trust, re-enacting and giving battlefield tours. Of note, he has taken other Scottish POW descendants on the Dunbar battlefield tour before to include a larger (13 people) group a few years ago.
Our tour experience: -I found Arran via the Scottish Battlefields Trust website. -We arranged (via email) for a half-day tour with no discussion of compensation other than treating him to lunch -As we were staying in Edinburgh, we took the LNER X-Country commuter train to Dunbar. Dunbar is the first stop, about 25 minutes from the main train (Waverly) station. Cost was a little more than $20 per round trip ticket. -Arran met us at the train station and took us to the following battle sites (in order): Doon Hill; the main battle site at the north west base of Doon Hill and the lone improved battle site (a stone marker and a couple of interpretive panels) just outside of town. -The tour itself was very informative and enjoyable. -Total length of tour was about 2.5 hours. It could have been a bit longer, but my tag-along spousal unit is not of Scottish heritage nor interested in history so I did not drag out the Q & A. -After lunch, we did a quick tour on our own of the small harbor town and then took the train back to Edinburgh. Note: your tickets will allow you to take any non-peak time train which runs about every half-hour (I think). -At the end of the tour we tipped Arran about $50 (in pounds of course), about all of the cash we had with us. Again, while we never discussed compensation, he graciously accepted this tip. Please remember this point if you arrange a future tour with him.
-- Chuck Maurer |
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S Ray
Also to note, Arran is a member of our Society (he belongs to the Facebook group) and has scheduled a reenactment of the Battle of Dunbar--last September 2019. On Tue, Mar 29, 2022 at 6:55 AM Charles Maurer <vamaurers@...> wrote:
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Doug Cahoon
This is a gracious offer from Andrew and one you should not miss if you are planning a trip to Durham. My wife and I were able to do this walk with him 5 years ago. He is a wealth of information and we had a wonderful time. Thanks Andrew!
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 05:06:23 AM MDT, Andrew Millard <a.r.millard@...> wrote:
If any of you want to visit Durham then I am happy to repeat my walking tour of the route the prisoners probably took through the city, plus visits to the site of the mass grave, the Castle and the Cathedral. I can then leave you to explore other aspects of the Cathedral and Durham’s heritage attractions, or to visit the reburial site. A group tour of the Cathedral does incur a charge.
Best wishes Andrew -- Dr. Andrew Millard Associate Professor of Archaeology, Durham University, UK Email: A.R.Millard@... Personal page: https://www.dur.ac.uk/directory/profile/?id=160 Scottish Soldiers Project: https://www.dur.ac.uk/scottishsoldiers Dunbar 1650 MOOC: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/battle-of-dunbar-1650
From: ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety@groups.io <ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety@groups.io>
On Behalf Of Charles Maurer via groups.io
Sent: 29 March 2022 11:36 To: ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety@groups.io Subject: Re: [ScottishPrisonersofWarSociety] Battle of Dunbar Info
[EXTERNAL EMAIL] Folks
I received numerous replies asking for info on my recent Battle of Dunbar tour. To simplify my response, I decided to send this info to the entire group. Of note, I talked to the historian who gave this tour and he is OK with me sharing this info.
So here goes, everything you wanted to know about arranging a personalized tour of the Battle of Dunbar sites.
Point of contact: Dr Arran Paul Johnston, 07906 349407 Director, Scottish Battlefields Trust Executive Trustee, Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust www.battleofprestonpans1745.org
Other key points about Arran: -he lives with his wife and two young children in Dunbar. -his PHD is in the Scottish diaspora. -he is the author of “Essential Agony’ The Battle of Dunbar 1650 (I purchased and read this book before the tour). -he is a freelance historian. -he has many side gigs/interests to include the Scottish Battlefields Trust, re-enacting and giving battlefield tours. Of note, he has taken other Scottish POW descendants on the Dunbar battlefield tour before to include a larger (13 people) group a few years ago.
Our tour experience: -I found Arran via the Scottish Battlefields Trust website. -We arranged (via email) for a half-day tour with no discussion of compensation other than treating him to lunch -As we were staying in Edinburgh, we took the LNER X-Country commuter train to Dunbar. Dunbar is the first stop, about 25 minutes from the main train (Waverly) station. Cost was a little more than $20 per round trip ticket. -Arran met us at the train station and took us to the following battle sites (in order): Doon Hill; the main battle site at the north west base of Doon Hill and the lone improved battle site (a stone marker and a couple of interpretive panels) just outside of town. -The tour itself was very informative and enjoyable. -Total length of tour was about 2.5 hours. It could have been a bit longer, but my tag-along spousal unit is not of Scottish heritage nor interested in history so I did not drag out the Q & A. -After lunch, we did a quick tour on our own of the small harbor town and then took the train back to Edinburgh. Note: your tickets will allow you to take any non-peak time train which runs about every half-hour (I think). -At the end of the tour we tipped Arran about $50 (in pounds of course), about all of the cash we had with us. Again, while we never discussed compensation, he graciously accepted this tip. Please remember this point if you arrange a future tour with him.
-- Chuck Maurer |
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Arran and Andrew have been part of the SPOWS family for years! They have contributed a lot to our understanding of our SPOW ancestor!
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On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 9:56 AM, Doug Cahoon via groups.io <doug_cahoon@...> wrote:
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Teresa (Hamilton/Pepper) Rust
Descendant of John Hamilton and John MagoonMy husband and children are descendants of Duncan Stewart |
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