Newbattle Abbey College

Newbattle Abbey College’s grotto bridge fended off competition from all over the UK to win a coveted accolade from the 2010 Wood Awards. The college’s bridge, which was designed by Forestry Civil Engineering and constructed by JKF, was deemed the Best Use of British Timber this year at the recent Wood Awards annual ceremony.

Newbattle Abbey College and Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) entered into a Concordat agreement in 2009 to replace the 16^th century building’s existing grotto bridge, which was installed in the 1940s by the Army when they occupied Newbattle Abbey and was found to be too costly to repair in recent years. 

The new bridge was built from air-dried, pressure-treated Scottish Larch to give maximum durability and sustainability and was praised by the Wood Awards’ judges for its structural innovation. The bridge links the college, which is the only adult residential college in Scotland, with the neighbouring and historic Lord Ancrum’s Wood.

Ann Southwood, Principal of Newbattle Abbey College, commented: “We were delighted with the support we received from Forestry Commission Scotland to secure funding, architects and construction partners for the bridge. It perfectly complements the college’s building and our surrounding grounds and we are sure it will retain its charm for many years to come.

“Rebuilding the grotto bridge was an essential element of our estates strategy, as it connects the college to Lord Ancrum’s Wood. This will benefit both the college and our local community by giving them access to a safe and diverse woodland which is rich in both biodiversity and history.”

Dr Geoff Freedman, Forestry Commission Civil Engineer said: “We are all thrilled to bits to win this award against some amazing competition. It really shows that the Commission’s engineers are at the cutting edge of timber design and innovation.

“The bridge is a shining example of just how fantastic and versatile home grown timber is and how it can be used to blend in with its surroundings.”

The bridge represents a huge achievement in terms of the innovation used in its design. The vertically laminated structure was a glued and screwed timber arch supporting a flat deck designed for rural crowd loading or light vehicles. The design was based on the research work done by the designer as part of a PhD study on stress laminated arch bridges. This form of construction allows 100 to 1 span to depth ratio which is efficient in material terms. This is possible because timber is good in bending and compression. The timber was air dried; pressure treated Scottish Larch to give maximum durability and sustainability.

This set of music by Scottish traditional group Battlefield Band, was recorded on September 18th 2010, at their inaugural Music Tryst Festival at Newbattle Abbey in Scotland. The line up for this show was:

Fiddle – Alasdair White & Ewen Henderson
Bagpipes – Mike Katz
Guitar – Sean O’Donnell
Keyboards: Alan Reid

This set primarily features the fiddle talents of Alasdair White & young multi-instrumentalist Ewen Henderson, the latter having only joined the band in 2010. The band will remain as a five piece group for a US & Canadian tour in Nov 2010 before Ewen picks up the baton from founder member Alan Reid, who leaves the band at the end of the year.

Open Invitation to our Enrolment Social Event on

Monday 27th September 7–9pm

Not sure which one of our new short courses would suit you? Come along to our enrolment social event in our atmospheric Crypt to meet the tutors and find out more about the courses. Have a glass of wine with us and enjoy live music, song and stories. You might want to try Irish dancing!

Newbattle Abbey’s Celtic Festival will celebrate celtic culture and woodland heritage with a programme to suit all tastes and ages. The festival also marks the International Year of Biodiversity with a variety of outdoor activities.

The festival will be held in Newbattle’s beautiful building and 125 acre estate, which includes extensive ancient woodlands. The activities and displays on offer will be run by a range of partners and will feature hands-on experiences in music, dance, gardening and crafts.

Please join us for a healthy day out for the family in our beautiful surroundings. All activities are free.

Celtic Tent

A programme of traditional music, song and dance will be running from 11am – 6pm and will include local groups and performers of all ages. The tent is floored for Ceilidh dancing and also has a bar.

Traditional Dance Workshops

Traditional celtic dance workshops will be on offer in the college Crypt throughout the day. People of all ages can learn about Scottish, Irish and Breton dance and join in our informal workshops.

Local History Workshops

Sessions will be offered on:

• ‘Ossian: Highland Myths and Lowland “Misunderstandings”
• Rosslyn Chapel

Introduction to Archaeology

This workshop will introduce the basic principles of archaeology and will be followed by a simulated dig in our community garden area.

Storytelling Workshop

Learn about the techniques of contemporary storytelling in a workshop led by a tutor from The Scottish Storytelling Centre.

Craft Tent

Our Craft Tent, which also has a bar, includes a rang of stalls:

• Jewellery
• Silverware
• Organic food and drink
• Natural soap
• Wood craft
• Tartan craft
• Plant sales
• Wool craft
• Crafts
• candles

Woodland Activities

Several activities will be led by the staff from Forestry Commission Scotland and Midlothian’s Biodiversity Team and Ranger Service. These include:

• Woodland trails
• Learning about Celtic trees
• Wood craft
• Woodland storytelling
• Learn Gaelic through Bushcraft

Activities for all ages in the College Grounds

• Stream Dipping with the Esk Valley Trust
• Butterfly and Insect World – giant millipedes, hissing cockroaches, snakes and tarantulas
• Biodiversity Games
• Treasure Hunt
• Family Sports
• Beekeeping Display

Food and Refreshments

We have food and refreshments for all tastes:

• Hog Roast
• Lamb Roast
• Bars –wine, beer, soft drinks
• Crisp Hut
• Café
• Ice Cream Van

Newbattle Abbey College is delighted to welcome Battlefield Band to our historic surroundings for a weekend of superb traditional music. Newbattle has a rich tradition of celebrating Scottish culture in its heritage site. Writers, poets and historians have worked and studied in our beautiful building. More details of Newbattle Abbey and its 125 acre site are available at www.newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk. We are proud to host this celebration of traditional music in our unique surroundings. We hope that people of all ages will enjoy a weekend of traditional music, workshops and informal sessions, led by the internationally acclaimed Battlefield Band.

In the meantime more details about our Music Tryst can be found at www.musictryst.com and you can find out more about Battlefield Band at http://www.battlefieldband.co.uk/

   Book your tickets now (and find out about our special offers)       

Battlefield Band event flyer

Battlefield Band flyer 

On Friday, 27 November, Newbattle Abbey College held a St Andrew’s Day Ceilidh, welcoming over 80 guests to the historic building for an evening of traditional music, dance, song and, of course, haggis.

Students, staff and stakeholders danced to the music of a community ceilidh band, organised by Depute Principal, Marian Docherty. The 12-piece band includes Newbattle students and staff, Midlothian Council staff, Edinburgh primary schools and friends of the college. Guests also enjoyed performances by Newbattle Abbey College’s ‘Rough and Ready Choir’, again involving the college and community partners, readings by two local poets, and solo singing talents of vocalists both young and old.

  
Newbattle Abbey College Domestic Assistant, Craig Robertson, donned a full tartan outfit on the evening, gifted to the College by a local film company as a thank you for allowing them to use the College’s grounds for filming. The tartan is that of the Kerr family and the full outfit will be on display within the College.

Principal of Newbattle Abbey College, Ann Southwood, said: “The ceilidh was an excellent opportunity for staff, students and friends of the college to come together for a night of celebration. The evening was an astounding success and I would like to thank everyone who took part and helped to organise the event. In particular I would like to acknowledge the work of Marian Docherty, who organised the ceilidh band and poetic readings. Marian also set up the Rough and Ready Choir who were excellent on the evening.”

The ceilidh also launched Newbattle’s Pan Celtic Programme, which builds on the College’s rich tradition of promoting Scottish culture within a heritage site. The programme is designed to promote traditional music, local history, story telling, creative writing, Celtic crafts, woodland education and genealogy for people of all ages. Several events are planned for 2010, including a Pan Celtic Festival on Saturday May 29, a celebration of Midlothian Gala Days, and a short course programme in a range of Celtic themes. Full details of the Pan Celtic Programme will be available early in 2010.

Scotland’s Colleges have had their Annual Award ceremony for 2009 during which they presented Newbattle Abbey College with one of their prestigious awards. The College received the Award for Professional Learning and Ehancement.

16 November 2009

 Newbattle  Abbey College Launches Open Learning  

Newbattle Abbey College in Dalkeith has launched their SQA-validated Arts and Humanities Award on a part-time Open Learning basis for the first time. The course, which was previously only available to study over a one-year full-time basis, began at the end of October and last weekend the College welcomed their first cohort of Open Learning students.

The Open Learning course incorporates face-to-face classroom learning with online distance learning on a part-time basis over two years. Ten students have signed up for the new course, which was made possible after the College received a grant from the Scottish Funding Council and support from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) Regional Support Centre (RSC) Scotland North and East.

Last weekend the Open Learning students attended an introductory week at Newbattle Abbey College. This gave individuals the opportunity to meet fellow class-mates, College staff and learn how to use the on-line teaching software. One student taking part in the Open Learning course is 52 year old Catherine Morgan from Tranent, East Lothian.

Catherine left school at the age of 16 taking up full-time employment as a clerical assistant. After having her two daughters, now 14 and 19, Catherine reduced her hours to part-time and began working in retail. Catherine said: “I enjoyed working part-time when my girls were growing up but when my eldest daughter enrolled at university last year, I started to think about returning to education myself. With my husband working full-time and my younger daughter in school, I was getting fed up of rattling around the house on my own and was keen to further my own education.

“I saw an advert for Newbattle Abbey College in the paper and was instantly attracted to the idea of an Open Learning course combining face-to-face learning with online learning. I liked the sound of the subjects we would study including history, literature and communication, and the fact it was giving adults a second chance at education. The flexibility of the course also appealed to me as it would allow me to continue working part-time.

“Since beginning the course at the end of October, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have met some lovely people and received a lot of support from my study skills teacher. I also greatly enjoyed the recent residential weekend at Newbattle, the college is beautiful and the staff are so enthusiastic. It’s like being part of a big family!”

For further information on studying at the College, either on a full-time or Open Learning basis, please call 0131 663 1921 or e-mail office@newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk

Article taken from the Midlothian Advertiser

24 September 2009

Newbattle Abbey College has appointed former St David’s High School head teacher Marian Docherty its new depute principal.

Ms Docherty, pictured, has worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in the further education/community education team and had national responsibility for adult education, adult guidance and flexible learning.

She then became head teacher at St Thomas of Aquin’s High School in Edinburgh before taking up her most recent post as head teacher at St David’s in Dalkeith.

Ms Docherty, who studied English and Italian at the University of Edinburgh before training to be a teacher at Craiglockhart College said “I have always admired Newbattle Abbey College and valued its history and achievements.

“St David’s High School’s recent partnership with the college renewed that interest.

“Together we set up an online language course for Polish parents to learn English. I am delighted to have been appointed to this post and look forward to developing further productive links with a range of partners.”

College principal Ann Southwood, said: “We look forward to working with Marian, whose wealth of experience will be of great benefit to the college. On behalf of the Newbattle Team, I extend a warm welcome to our new colleague.”

Other relevant press releases:

New Depute Principal for Newbattle Abbey Colleg (Edinburgh Evening News 14/09/09)

Newbattle Abbey College appoint new Depute Principal (TESS 25/09/09)

Anna Hepburn as Mary, Queen of Scots

On 29 August visitors, both local and as far away as the Island of Iona, experienced the past coming to life at the Newbattle Abbey Storytelling Festival.  Scottish and local culture and history were celebrated through the art of storytelling in an exciting programme of events.  Newbattle Abbey has long played a pivotal, if little known, role in Scottish history and the Festival started with an introductory tour of Newbattle Abbey house.  Resident storyteller Rae McGhee, dressed as Lady Victoria Kerr, took everyone on a journey of nine centuries of exciting history in one hour. 

Donald Smith and Alette Willis led visitors on a storywalk around the Abbey grounds where they listened to many stories about the 18^th century ice-house, medieval mining, the ancient woodland and discovery of mass graves. 

Donald Smith enchants visitors on the Storywalk

Newbattle is not only associated with stories but also storytellers.  Catrina McGillivary recounted to a very avid audience the College’s connections with writers, poets and dramatists such as Edwin Muir, George Mackay Brown, W S Graham, Tom Scott and Bill Findlay.  Anna Hepburn delivered a resounding performance on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots in the Chapel.  Bea Ferguson hosted an inspiring workshop on an Introduction to Live Storytelling and Storytelling Skills.  One visitor lamented that one hour with Bea just simply was not long enough!!  Dr Neil Hargraves finished the day off with a tour de force lecture on Royal and significant events at Newbattle down the centuries such as the drafting of the Declaration of Arbroath and the story of the Solemn League and Covenant. 

In the evening, visitors gathered around the fireplace in the medieval Crypt and shared their own stories far into the night. The Festival was an ideal opportunity for people to sample the College’s part-time Contemporary Storytelling Course. For further information on the course contact Newbattle Abbey on 0131 663 1921; e-mail:

office@newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk; www.newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk.