Heritage Lottery : All Our Stories....

The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced a special one-off funding programme, All Our Stories, for community heritage projects with grants ranging from £3,000 -£10,000.

This new programme will give everyone the chance to explore their heritage and share what they learn with others, from researching local historic landmarks,visiting museums, exploring local wild places, uncovering untold stories,learning more about customs and traditions, to delving into archives and finding out the origins of street and place names. 

Applications will be accepted from a wide range of organisations including community groups, heritage organisations and charities. The application process is straightforward,aimed to support first time applicants:  
·        Goto the All Our Stories programme page
·        Enter the details of your organisation
·        Answer a series of simple questions including, what you want to do, how you will do it and how much money you need.

Applications need to be submitted online by 31 July 2012 and you will receive a decision by the end of October 2012.

HLF has developed All Our Stories in support of the BBC’s The Great British Story – A People’s History. Presented by Michael Wood, the new series will be broadcast on BBC Two.

Heritage Lottery Fund development officer Louise Hastie is holding funding workshops on Thursday June 14 at the CVS Inverclyde offices.

The workshops will explore potential local heritage activities and run through a mock application. Louise will be available at the end of the session to answer specific project questions.

Please email Louise to register for the 11am - 1pm or 2pm – 4pm workshops.
Please book by Monday, June 11.

Louise Hastie
Development Officer

t: 0131 240 1583
post: 38 Thistle St, Edinburgh, EH2 1EN
website: www.hlf.org.uk
Follow HLF on Facebook

The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd - Episode 3

In the interest of staying on the right side of whatever licensing may still exist, we are making this film available for educational and entertainment purposes, Magic Torch generate no commercial revenue from this blog or our youtube channel.

We will of course remove it if requested. aulddunrod@gmail.com

Free Captain Kidd Campaign

In 2001, 300 years after Kidd's execution on May 23rd 1701, Magic Torch attempted the unlikely...seeking a posthumous pardon for his crimes. We wrote letters, printed badges, restaged the sham trial...it was more of a symbolic act than a fight for justice. It was certainly more successful as a symbolic act.

Three years ago, another group, led by American researchers and with the support of MSP Bill Kidd (seriously...no relation) tried, perhaps just a little more seriously than we did to get him pardoned as well....getting as far as a parliamentary motion.

Today for the first time, we are making documents and correspondence from the campaign available from our archive.

Documents From the Free Captain Kidd Campaign 2001


You may also enjoy this photo of one of our very popular campaign teeshirts.

Captain Kidd Comics (3)

Another classic Kidd cover image...though at first glance I thought he maybe had two peg legs.

We conclude our Captain Kidd youtube comic today.

In the interest of staying on the right side of whatever licensing may still exist, we are making this issue available for educational and entertainment purposes, Magic Torch generate no commercial revenue from this blog.

We will of course remove it if requested. aulddunrod@gmail.com

Shinbone Al

It is of course the anniversary of Kidd's execution this week, and what better way to celebrate than by joining Inverclyde's premier pirate based folk band Shinbone Al as they sing a few shanties, bawdy ballads and commemorate Kidd himself at Monteiths in Gourock on Monday 21st May.

You can check out some of their performances at the Inverclyde Acoustic Club fb page, but here's the footstomping version of Celebration Ode they kindly provided for our Sugar Sheds campaign.

The Cabin Boy

I swab the blood from the deck, the dirty brown water slops out of the same bucket the Captain struck Moore with. No one is watching, they have all returned to the dice. Which is what makes it easy to sneak over to Captains quarters.

Our visitor is still in there with him - that’s what started the fighting among the crew - very superstitious lot and they don’t like women on board. They like the Sea Witch even less.

Everyone’s been wondering what Captain’s brought her on board for, but I’m the only one as bothered to listen hard enough to find out. She’s casting him curses. Which is all well and good, she’s a witch after all. But what’s she cursing and why. That’s what I’ve been finding out. Captain has buried treasure on an island, he’s got a map the crew don’t know about. Maybe Moore had found out about it...but he’s not going to talk about it now. Through the cabin window, I can see there’s blood, bones and feathers all over the room; there’s magic at work. The Sea Witch is cursing the trees, caves and hidden places on the island, and Kidd, his back to me, is marking it all off on his map.

Back home, my mother knew a witch - she would go to her for potions to help Lil when she got sick. She never said much about her, but one night when she’d drank too much, she started crying and all she said over and over was “never owe favours to witches”. Kidd owes the Sea Witch. I can tell. And as I’m thinking it, she turns, and her one eye glares straight at me. She doesn’t tell Captain though, she looks at the map on the desk behind her, and then back towards me. She smiles and nods, as if we have an understanding. And suddenly I owe the Sea Witch too.

Six years a cabin boy now, and you don’t live that long by not paying attention and knowing when to lay low. But I’m old enough now to know if I want to live much longer at sea, I need to get off the Adventure. And that map could buy my future. I’ll pay whatever price.

It’s taken long enough, but the crew have noticed I’m not still swabbing.
“Flint! Get over here boy and get this deck clear.”

It can wait. That buried treasure isn’t going anywhere, but Kidd...he’s been doomed from the moment he took up with the Sea Witch. She’s going to hang him out to dry.

Wednesday 16 May is National Flash Fiction Day, over on Stramashed, there's a Flashpoint, (a story written and left in a place) from The Dutch Gable House. Why not try it yourself. 

There are many other places to enjoy flash fiction, today and every day, but in particular check out 1000 words, flashflood, and the incredible and ambitious 3hundredand65 twitter graphic novel, created in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd - Episode 2

More Saturday Morning Pirate Serial action...

In the interest of staying on the right side of whatever licensing may still exist, we are making this film available for educational and entertainment purposes, Magic Torch generate no commercial revenue from this blog or our youtube channel.

We will of course remove it if requested. aulddunrod@gmail.com

Captain Kidd Comics (2)

Sadly, we don't have the issue above, looks like Kidd gets into a bit of a rammy with Anne Bonney, trailblazing lady pirate.

We are however continuing to make "Captain Kidd on the Spanish Main" available.

In the interest of staying on the right side of whatever licensing may still exist, we are making this issue available for educational and entertainment purposes, Magic Torch generate no commercial revenue from this blog.

We will of course remove it if requested. aulddunrod@gmail.com

You can read the full issue here. Or you can enjoy it in installments via the magic of youtube...

Kidd's Play

Not content with terrifying Abbot and Costello or inspiring Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor, Kidd has also crossed over into the most modern form of interactive storytelling...console games. Here he is defeating Rasputin on "World Heroes" for NeoGeo. Boof.



He is also one of the baddies in the classic Sid Meier's Pirates...



Even more exciting than this retro beat-em-up is the news that, here in the 21st Century, Assassins Creed III will feature the opportunity to explore a mayan ruin to find Captain Kidd's sword. I'm not fussed about the historical accuracy of a Templar assassin exploring Civil War era America and finding a legendary sword Kidd never possessed in an area he probably never visited...I just know it's cool.


In other Kidd news, hear me blether incoherently about Kidd montha and all sorts of heritage on Monday 7th May on Dunoon Community Radio at 4.30pm. 97.4fm if you're in West Inverclyde and at www.dcr974.info to hear on line.


You can also now follow the progress of The Dutch Gable House project on facebook.

The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd - Episode 1

The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd serial is a genuinely good Saturday morning serial, it will celebrate its 70th birthday next year. Hopefully by then we will have found the time to hilariously redub it with a West of Scotland Captain Kidd...or maybe found a way to smuggle in some of the tunes from Tall Ships Tales. We'll be showing an episode every Saturday morning over the next few months.

In the interest of staying on the right side of whatever licensing may still exist, we are making this film available for educational and entertainment purposes, Magic Torch generate no commercial revenue from this blog or our youtube channel.

We will of course remove it if requested. aulddunrod@gmail.com

Captain Kidd Comics (1)

We have a few Captain Kidd "Thriller Picture Library" comics that we've collected over the years, and this year, we have decided to make one available for people to enjoy again; they can be quite tricky to track down.

In the interest of staying on the right side of whatever licensing may still exist, we are making this issue available for educational and entertainment purposes, Magic Torch generate no commercial revenue from our blog, scribd shelf or youtube channel.

We will of course remove it if requested. aulddunrod@gmail.com

That being said, you can read the full issue here. Or you can enjoy it in installments via the magic of youtube...



But if you like your Captain Kidd comic action more in yer face and up to date, then you must check out "Dead Men Tell No Tales". Captain Kidd finds a cursed templar treasure map, pointing the way to the lost relics of Christ and is pursued by Blackbeard and Black Bart Roberts. "For this ultimate prize, every pirate in the world will wage a bloody war! Each side will face storms, navies, and a legion of zombies in order to lay their hands on the world's greatest plunder!"

If that blurb doesn't interest you...you might be on the wrong blog...

Captain Kidd Month 2012

Captain Kidd's popular seafood restaurant, Redondo Beach

It's May, so once again it's time for a celebration of everyone's favourite questionable local hero...Captain William Kidd. You may wish to familiarise yourself with last years revelations before embarking on this years voyage. 


We're pleased to confirm that the good Captain will have a presence within new projects at The Dutch Gable House in Greenock. (yes, even though it was built  fifty years after he was executed...)

Over the next few weeks, we've a classic Captain Kidd comic, new Kidd fiction featuring special guest pirates, possibly some pirate science...and we'll be kicking off a Saturday morning serial...The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd...here's the trailer to get you all excited