Monthly Roundup 15th July to 18th August 2024

Cookery, coffee, coach groups and 100 years since the auction of H.M. Factory Gretna! There’s quite a range of things that have been happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum. You can find out about what’s been happening recently in our Monthly Roundup 15th July to 18th August 2024 below.

Tuesday 16th July

Fantastic to welcome another group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Wednesday 17th July

Our free Summer holiday programme for young people continued today with a Cookery Workshop. They made tasty chocolate biscuits from a World War Two rationing recipe. Thank you those who helped to make this happen and everyone who came to join in the workshop.

Below are some photos of this.

Saturday 20th July

Our free gardening club for young people was on again today. We had some delicious looking raspberries in our Dig For Victory Garden this week. Below is a photo of this. Read more about gardening club by clicking here>

Monday 22nd July

100 years ago, on the 22nd July 1924, H.M. Factory Gretna and the “townships of Gretna and Eastriggs and the Mossband, Longtown and Dornock areas” were put up for public auction.

The auction had 607 “lots of Stone, Brick, and Steel-constructed Factories, Ether and Glycerine Distilleries and Valuable Plant, Steam Laundry and Bakery and Plant. Also Public Institutes, Picture Houses, Post Offices, Banks, Offices, Hostels (adapted for conversion into Houses), Shops, Hospital, Fire Brigade Stations, Garages, and about 300 Dwelling-Houses (Detached, Semi-detached and Terraces).

One lot for sale in Gretna was “Lot 153. The Cinema.” This is described as “a Superior and Most Attractive Well-Equipped Picture House” in the auction book. Some other items included in the Gretna Township Section of the auction were the Fire Brigade Station, Telephone Exchange and Post Office. From Dornock and Eastriggs Section of the auction, these lots included items like The Public Institutes, Police Station, Tennis Courts and Pavilion, while one of the factory lots was The Glycerine Distillery. The Mossband and Longtown section of the auction included Mossband Offices and the Ether Distillery.

Prior to this in August 1919, an auction of 300 huts was held over three days to dispose of some of the smaller buildings, like garages and stores.

You can learn more about H.M. Factory Gretna and see the 100 year old auction books on display by visiting The Devil’s Porridge Museum. An open evening for the local community held at The Devil’s Porridge Museum on 31st July 2024 to celebrate this anniversary. Keep reading to find out more about this!

Friday 26th July

Brilliant to have a group visit from some Scouts today. It was lovely to have them visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum.

Saturday 27th July

Saturday means gardening club is on! Below are some photos of this. Learn more about this by clicking here>

Monday 29th July

A free origami jewellery workshop took place at The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Brilliant to see all the beautiful jewellery created by the young people who came to this!

Photos of this activity can now be seen below.

Wednesday 31st July

Today we enjoyed celebrating the 100th anniversary of the auction of H.M. Factory Gretna and the townships of Eastriggs and Gretna with the local residents of Eastriggs. The official anniversary may have been on 22nd July, but today we had a 100 years of Eastriggs now and then display on from 6 to 9pm and free craft activity. There was also a buffet with tea and coffee for all those who came along. They were also welcome to look around The Devil’s Porridge Museum. Entry was free to all the residents of Eastriggs.

Thanks to all the people who helped out with this event and all those who came along to join us! Below are some photos of this event.

Thursday 1st August

Our first Summer programme activity in August was an Upcycling Workshop. Brilliant to see how creative all the young people came along were!

There are now some photos of this activity below!

Saturday 3rd August

A poster for Grimwood Museum Adventure with four of the books from the series and Kids in Museum's logo.

Today marked the start of Kid’s in Museums and Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, Grimwood Museum Adventure at The Devil’s Porridge Museum. Young visitors can complete the trail around the museum. There is also a competition to enter! Admission into The Devil’s Porridge Museum is required for this activity and it will be happening up to the 26th August 2024. Find out more about this by clicking here>

Gardening club was on again today. If you would like to learn more about this click here>

The Devil’s Porridge Museum also took part in Eastriggs Parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the auction of H.M. Factory Gretna today too. Below are some photos of this.

Tuesday 6th August

Another two groups came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. It was brilliant to have them! Please remember that it is essential to book group visits in advance. You can find out how to do this by clicking here>

From today, we are delighted to be serving Organic Rijo coffee in The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Café. Remember you don’t have to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum to enjoy our Café, so why not come along and treat yourself to a coffee? Check out our Café opening hours by clicking here>

Wednesday 7th August

Today we were making mocktails at a free workshop as part of our Summer programme. You can now find some photos of this mocktail making workshop below.

Friday 9th August

Our Summer Programme came to the end with our Podcast workshop today. The first episode of our podcast is all about climate change and how it affects young people. A huge thank you to those who joined us for this. Below are some photos from this activity.

We would like to say a huge thank you for everyone who has helped out with our Summer programme workshops this year and all the young people who have joined us! Another huge thank you to our funders Dumfries and Galloway Council through the Amazing Summer programme and The Holywood Trust.

Sunday 11th August

We were delighted to have the Scotia Crafters back at The Devil’s Porridge Museum again this year. They were setting up at The Devil’s Porridge Museum today and will be selling a selection of local handmade gifts, food and more until 1st September 2024. Entrance into the Scotia Crafters exhibition is free (admission prices do still apply to anyone who wants to look around The Devil’s Porridge Museum), so we would highly recommend having a look while they are at the museum.

Below is a photo from their time at The Devil’s Porridge Museum in the past.

Saturday 17th August

Our gardening club was back on again today. Click here to learn more about gardening club>

That may be the end of this month’s Monthly Roundup, but the Scotia Crafters will still be at The Devil’s Porridge Museum until 1st September 2024, so you’ve still got time to treat yourself to some homemade gifts or crafts!

Our next Monthly Roundup will be out next month. In the meantime you can find what happened in our previous Monthly Roundup by clicking here>