A ‘CARNEGIE LECTURE’ entitled ‘Serious Minds: Andrew Carnegie and his Trustees’ will take place on February 15 in the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum delivered by Lord Bruce.

Charles Bruce pursues interests in conservation, multi-culturalism, the fine arts and Scottish heritage overseas. He also manages the Broomhall family estate as a sustainable rural business, now an international destination for heritage and fine arts travel. He is involved in urban regeneration in India where he chairs the Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust, conserving a 200-year-old Scottish cemetery, and was presented with the 'Wallace Award' by the Scottish American Foundation in 2022.

Charles will be speaking about some of the Carnegie trustees who were active in the early days of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust and our first image shows one of them, Dr John Ross. He can be seen in the centre of the photograph with the bowler hat behind the gentleman with the cloth cap and moustache. The occasion was the judging of the annual bulb show that took place each spring with submissions from children in Dunfermline primary schools.

Dr John Ross was head of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, established in 1903 for the betterment of social conditions in Andrew Carnegie’s home town. He was also in charge of the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust, established in 1908, for recognition of heroic acts performed in peaceful walks of life in Great Britain and Ireland.

Our next photograph shows some of the Carnegie trustees mingling with other invited guests at the opening of the hothouses in Pittencrieff Park in the early 1970s.

Lynn Dunlop remembers the hothouses well: “My husband and I were married there. The staff were fantastic. Usually, people only went there for photographs but we had the whole ceremony there.”

Rachel McCord also recalls them: “I remember them so well when I was small – so many happy memories of the Glen, the paddling pool, the bandstand and the Gala days.”

Trish Thomas remembers the tropical fruit that was grown inside them: “Many memories of visiting as a child when dropping off or collecting my grandad from the naval dockyard. Always fascinated by the bananas!”

The final image shows the original hothouses that preceded the new ones, and those are the ones that Betty McCaig remembers best: “That’s how I remember them. The new ones were never the same. I remember being taken to see bananas growing there. I had never seen one before. I believe they were given to a hospital or home for sick children.”

More images like these can be seen in the local studies department in Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries.

Tickets for the ‘Carnegie Lecture’ are available online at Bit.ly/ACBMEvent. Although the Birthplace Museum is currently closed until March, tickets, priced £5, can be reserved by phoning them on 01383 724302. Doors open at 6.45pm for a 7.30pm start.