Part of the Merchant City Festival 2010 and funded by the MCF Challenge Fund.

- involved in Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp?
- active in the socialist and feminists movements between 1972-1990?
- active in the North-East of Scotland around the same time?

We are currently gathering oral histories to feature as part of an International Women’s Day 2011 event in Aberdeen. The event will also showcase campaign materials, minutes, badges and other artefacts, photographs, personal letters and diaries. This exciting exhibition will become part of a permanent collection in the GWL Archives.

Greenham Common Banner

We will be recording oral histories in the North-East of Scotland from July 2010 onwards, and accepting donations of relevant materials towards the end of 2010 (unfortunately no earlier than this, due to our imminent move to the Mitchell Library).

If you would like to contribute to the essential preservation of this important history, please contact Morag Smith, National Lifelong Learning Development Worker by email: morag.smith@womenslibrary.org.uk or telephone: 0141 552 8345.

All contributions will be subject to the conditions of Glasgow Women’s Library oral history copyright clearance and deposit policy. It will be necessary for all contributors to complete an oral history copyright clearance and deposit form.

This walk is running twice as part of the West End Festival 2010 on:

Sunday 20 June, 2pm or
Sunday 27 June, 2pm
Tickets: £6.50

To purchase your ticket(s) please visit Barretts News Agents on Byres Road (opposite Hillhead Underground Station). We cannot take bookings through the library. The start point of the walk is printed on the ticket.

Saturday 29 May, 10am to 11.30am

Starting at the Read Out! Read In! Feminist Lines of Flight in Art and Politics reading room in the CCA, this walking tour within Garnethill’s confined boundaries will spotlight the women who pioneered European art movements, designed the banners for suffragette processions, created the first (and only) women’s library in Scotland and made Garnethill into the most exciting cultural and multicultural hotspot in Glasgow.

Booking is essential. Please contact us to book your place.

Please note: The walk will include some steep inclines and unfortunately will not be readily accessible to wheelchair users. Walking shoes are recommended.

Summer events are listed below, just click on the title of each to take you direct to the page or check our calendar of events for further details.

Feel free to contact us with any questions and please pass this information on to colleagues, friends and family.

Hope to see you at an event soon,
Laura Dolan
Lifelong Learning Assistant

Pop-up Women’s Library @ CCA

Friday 7 May, Friday 14 May, and Friday 21 May, between 1pm to 3pm
GWL pops-up at the CCA on Sauchiehall Street at various points throughout the Long Loch Exhibition. Why not come in an see us to find out more.

Open Doors at GWL

Friday 28 May, 10am – 3pm
Open Doors Day at Glasgow Women’s Library, pop in to see us at 81 Parnie Street, Glasgow G1 5RH. Library staff will be unveiling remarkable artefacts from our archive, showing how you can become a women’s history detective, revealing our plans for the ultimate auction of pleasures and screening more from the second wave feminist testimonies collection.

Firebrand Women and The F Word

Friday 28 May, 7pm at the CCA, Sauchiehall Street
Screening, for the first time in Glasgow, a sample of filmed testimonies by women involved in the birth of the feminist movement in Scotland. Followed by a screening of the F Word, a film that seeks to answer the questions… What impact has feminism had on young women’s lives? And, what relevance has it for them today?

Garnethill Women’s Heritage Walk

Saturday 29 May, 10am from the CCA in Sauchiehall Street
Back by popular demand, this walking tour within Garnethill’s confined boundaries will spotlight the women who pioneered European art movements, designed the banners for suffragette processions, created the first (and only) women’s library in Scotland and made Garnethill into the most exciting cultural and multicultural hotspot in Glasgow. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Reading into the Future

Saturday 29 May, 2.30pm at the CCA in Sauchiehall Street
Visions of new a home for women, art, feminism and reading in Glasgow. What will the new space look like? What facilities should it contain? And, what reading, making, performing, learning and researching could take place there? And…Swap a Book and Make a Kite!

Women Writers Unite: The Journey

Thursday 17 June, 4pm to 5pm at The Mitchell Library
Women Writers Unite to examine the physical, emotional and spiritual journey which forms a pivotal part of most women’s lives. Authors Louise Welsh, Leela Soma, Joyce Ito and Sarah Ward share their own work, as well as the experiences of others on themes of migration, asylum, and the struggle to live across two very different cultures. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Jackie Kay – Red Dust Road Launch Night

Wednesday 23 June, 7pm
Jackie Kay visits the library to launch one of the most inspirational stories – her own. With music from Suzanne Bonnar. Book early to avoid disappointment. (this is a ticketed event with limited seating available, no admission on the night without a ticket).

West End Women’s Heritage Walks

Sunday 20 June or Sunday 27 June, 2pm
Back by popular demand, this pioneering women’s heritage walk, developed by women historians at GWL, reveals a hidden history of the West End. Part of the West End Festival, tickets are available for £6.50 from Barrett’s News Agents in Byres Road (opposite Hillhead Subway)

Merchant City Festival: Women’s Heritage Walk

Women Make History are planning a Merchant City walk as part of the Merchant City Festival in July, details still to be confirmed but keep an eye on the festival programme and our website for more information.

And, one to watch out for…
In September 2010 GWL brings you, The Auction of Pleasures: What’s Your Pleasure?

Want to know more? We are holding a taster session so you can get more information and see if this is for you:

Taster: Wednesday 31 March, 10am – 12pm
Ten Week Course Starts: Wednesday 21 April, 10am – 12pm

The course runs for 10 weeks and will include visits to a museum and archive. Run by Ronnie Scott* in partnership with DACE at Glasgow University. This course is accredited, so you could receive 4 ACE points.

This course is ILA supported so you need to have this in place to begin. Click here to visit the ILA Scotland website for more information and to register online. If you need assistance just call the library and we can talk you through it, ask for Laura.

For more information or to book your place click here to send us an email or you can call us on 0141 552 8345

*please note this course is run by a male tutor

You might also be interested in attending The Digging Detectives first session on Tuesday 2 March 2010

Anyone can be a Women Make History tour guide. It helps keep you fit and engage with your community, uncovers hidden histories of women, and can be a great way to meet new people. This short film will give you more information on what it means to be a tour guide. Just watch and see how you can get involved.

Morning session in the Jeffrey Room

Over 120 women were inspired to take One Small Step and participate in our one day conference at the Mitchell Library on Tuesday 23rd March 2010. Delegates of all ages and backgrounds came from across Scotland, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Alloa, Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire, Fife and Stirling and participated in our day of talks and workshops aimed at inspiring women to participate in and develop walks in their local area.

During the morning session Adele Patrick and Morag Smith from GWL spoke about how encouraging women to take small steps can lead to giant leaps in health, learning and well-being and Jessica Lindhof of Paths for All talked about the life-changing possibilities for women and women’s groups who decide to take up walking. Lifelong Learning Assistant Laura Dolan launched GWL’s new training DVD (One Small Step) in which two women discover the Women Make History project and start their journeys towards becoming a Tour Guide and a Women’s History Detective. The film, produced by volunteers at GWL, gives an insight into what it means to be a volunteer tour guide. Organisations including Walk Glasgow, Living Steets, Paths for All and Strathclyde Police offered information and advice at the conference marketplace and delegates also had the opportunity to try out GWL’s new Garnethill women’s heritage walk.

Delegates preview GWL's new Garnethill Women's Heritage Walk

The day also featured inspirational workshops, including “Making it Happen” from GP Jenny lim on overcoming the obstacles to walking, Janet Brereton from Seeing Sense on making walks more accessible for women with disabilities and Rosie Wylie, community ranger from Heritage Scotland, on developing themed walks. Women from the Dundee Women’s Trail Group and Wigtown Women’s Walk Group shared their expertise on developing women’s heritage walks and GWL staff also shared their experience and offered advice on developing themed walks, walks for BME women and using walk development as a way of developing women’s literacy skills.

Below are some comments and ideas from delegates:

“I would love to help reconnect women especially pregnant women, with their nature and environment through walking to improve fitness for childbirth…”,

“This workshop has inspired me to not be afraid of change..”

“This workshop has inspired me to talk to my friend…about doing a project with women and literacy and history in South Edinburgh..”

“I liked..meeting new people from different backgrounds and realising we have lots in common..”

“All of this links people to place, to environment, to community, to history and to self. it’s so simple but so revolutionary. Just walk.”

Our sponsors and partners in this event, Paths for All, Mitchell library staff and the many volunteers, facilitators, staff members and delegates all contributed to making this day an inspirational experience for everyone who attended.

GWL’s One Small Step DVD will soon be available for viewing on the Women Make History section of our website. There are also limited copies available for organisations who are working with women’s groups. Workshops on developing walks for women are available across Scotland through GWL’s National Lifelong Learning programme. For more information please contact us.

The inaugural Wigtown Women's Walk

The walk, which celebrates the women of Wigtown past and present has been developed by the group over the last year. One of the original inspirations for it’s development was GWL’s own West End Women’s Heritage Walk and a talk given by volunteers from GWL’s Women Make History group. The launch was a unique event, attended by over 40 women from Wigtown and was based on the recreation of a tea party held in the town 170 years ago to commemorate the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert. 30 “nymphs” from Wigtown who had “survived the frosts of 40 winters” were invited to the original event. The afternoon included displays, and talks from members of the walk group and talks on the GWL archive and GWL’s National Lifelong Learning programme.
GWL will be supporting the group in promoting the walk within the local community by running workshops at the town’s community festival in July. A self-guided booklet version of the walk is being developed by the group and will be available for anyone who wants to explore the walk on their own.