Biggar Museum Trust (BMT) is an independent charity based in and around the town of Biggar in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The late Brian Lambie began a remarkable collection of artefacts from the area over some 40 years, and with a number of others created BMT, which became responsible for a number of museums. It became apparent to the Trustees that the buildings were not able to meet modern requirements, were difficult to access, and expensive to maintain and develop.
In 2010 an opportunity arose to acquire a large site in the centre of the town, and a project to create a new museum to bring the collections together and meet current requirements and visitor aspirations. The cost of the project was £2.2 million, of which more than half was raised from within the town and scattered rural community of the area. Together with funding from the Clyde Wind Farm Community Fund, South Lanarkshire LEADER, Museums Galleries Scotland, and a number of private trusts.[ citation needed ]
Biggar & Upper Clydesdale Museum opened to visitors on 28 July 2015. It has a historical gallery illustrating the history of the area from early times up to the 20th century, a street of shops recreated from the town and furnished from the collection, and a special exhibition room which can house items loaned from national collections.
BMT is also responsible for
Biggar also contains The Puppet Theatre and the Corn Exchange Theatre and Art Gallery. Biggar has strong connections with William Wallace, with a small bridge in the town being associated with him, although his connection to Lanark is better known.
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as well as many rural towns and villages. It also shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian. It includes most of the historic county of Lanarkshire.
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark, is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no longer used for local government purposes, but gives its name to the two modern council areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.
Lanark is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9,050.
Biggar is a town, parish and former burgh in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, in the Southern Uplands near the River Clyde on the A702. The closest neighbouring towns are Lanark, Peebles and Carluke.
New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers. Dale built the mills there in a brief partnership with the English inventor and entrepreneur Richard Arkwright to take advantage of the water power provided by the only waterfalls on the River Clyde. Under the ownership of a partnership that included Dale's son-in-law, Robert Owen, a Welsh utopian socialist and philanthropist, New Lanark became a successful business and an early example of a planned settlement and so an important milestone in the historical development of urban planning.
Clydesdale was a local government district in the Strathclyde region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. The district was initially called Lanark when created in 1975, but changed its name to Clydesdale in 1980. Clydesdale was an old name for the county of Lanarkshire, one of the historic counties of Scotland. Both the names Clydesdale and Strathclyde reference the area's position in the valley of the River Clyde.
The David Livingstone Birthplace Museum is a biographical museum in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, dedicated to the life and work of the explorer and missionary David Livingstone. The museum is operated by the David Livingstone Trust and is housed in a category A listed building often referred to as Shuttle Row. The museum rests on the grounds of the David Livingstone Birthplace, which contains historic grounds as well as the museum.
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the UK House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting. It is currently represented in Westminster by the former Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, a Conservative, who has been the MP since 2005.
A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
Broughton is a village in Tweeddale in the historical county of Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders council area, in the south of Scotland, in the civil parish of Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho and Upper Tweed Community Council. Broughton is on the Biggar Water, near where it flows into the River Tweed. It is about 7 km east of Biggar, and 15 km west of Peebles.
The National Museum of Rural Life, previously known as the Museum of Scottish Country Life, is based at Wester Kittochside farm, lying between East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire and Carmunnock in Glasgow. It is run by National Museums Scotland.
The city of Aberdeen in Scotland has amenities that cover a wide range of cultural activities, including a selection of museums and galleries. There are festivals and theatrical events throughout the year.
Roberton is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
The West Highland Museum tells the story of the Scottish Highlands and the Islands. It aims to cover every aspect of West Highland history, including that of Fort William, where it is located in a listed building in the centre of the town. It also hosts other exhibits for archaeology and wildlife. The museum, which has always been independent, is a member of Museums Galleries Scotland.
York Museums Trust (YMT) is the charity responsible for operating some key museums and galleries in York, England. The trust was founded in 2002 to run York's museums on behalf of the City of York Council. It has seen an increase in annual footfall of 254,000 to the venues since its foundation. In both 2016 and 2017, it saw its annual visitors numbers reach 500,000 people.
The Low Parks Museum is located in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland and traces the local history of South Lanarkshire through numerous exhibits on provincial industries and events of local historical importance.
John Pairman (1788–1843) was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter operational in the 19th century. His style is derivative of his contemporary, David Wilkie.
Màiri Louise McAllan is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy since 2024. She previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition from 2023 to 2024 and Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Clydesdale since 2021. McAllan is a former corporate solicitor, who also served as a special advisor to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon prior to her election to the Scottish Parliament.
Biggar Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the High Street, Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The structure, which is now used as a theatre, is a Category B listed building.