Cumnock Evaluation Report Final

NORTHLIGHT HERITAGE Cumnock's Raising the Bar
Evaluation Report Cumnock, East Ayshire

PROJECT ID: 4345161
Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014
Northlight Heritage
Studio 406 | South Block | 64 Osborne Street | Glasgow | G1 5QH
web: www.northlight-heritage.co.uk | tel: 0845 901 1142
email: northlight@yorkat.co.uk
Cumnock's Raising the Bar

NGR: NS 5676 2020
Evaluation Report
on behalf of
East Ayrshire Council
Cover Plate: Screen print of an archive photo of the Tupp Inn, made during a workshop held at Fayre in the Square.
Report by: Ingrid Shearer, Katy Firth & Olivia Lelong
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction
Aims of the Project
Project Management
Activities & Outcomes
Review
29
Summary of Lessons Learnt
30
Acknowledgements and Thanks
30
Site location.
Article from the Cumnock Chronicle, August 14th 2013.
Volunteer Katherine receives training in plan drawing.
11
Pie chart showing volunteer tasks.
Volunteer Donna gathering some ideas from members of the public

during Cumnock's Highland Games.
13
Sean using the total station, while Volunteer Brian talks to a member of
the public.
14
Volunteer Craig working on the Couthy Bench.
14
Making signage for the heras fencing.
15
A school pupil carves her name.
15
10
Katy supervises some trowelling
16
11
A word cloud generated from school feedback forms.
17
12
A graph showing feedback from primary schoolchildren.
18
13
Greenmill Primary pupils curating their own exhibition of the finds from
the excavation.
20
14
An S1 pupil is delighted with the results of his screenprinting.
21
ILLUSTRATIONS
15
Senior pupils from Cumnock Academy learn how to sculpt wood with Neil
21
Finlayson.
16
The Cumnock History Group's website.
24
17
Cumnock History Group are promoted in the Cumnock Chronicle on

electing their board members.
25
18
Heritage Trail Blazers in action in Woodroad Park.
25
Illus 1: Site location.
1.0 Introduction
Cumnock's Raising the Bar is a innovative heritage and arts project designed to draw members of the local
community into the exploration and celebration of their heritage in a variety of ways that appeal to different
generations and interests. It has combined hands-on investigation of archaeology and historical records with
learning events and arts workshops, with the aim of increasing engagement and interest in heritage among the
people of Cumnock and the surrounding area.
The project focused on the heritage of a gap site in Lugar Street, in the heart of this historic town in East Ayrshire.
The gap site was formerly the site of Jenny Tear's pub, also known as the Tupp Inn. It involved schoolchildren and
adult volunteers in investigating how the site was used in the past, while also using the space to facilitate learning
and creative practice among the wider community. The gap site had considerable potential to illuminate the history
of Cumnock, lying as it does within the historic post-medieval street pattern and close to key historic buildings, such
as the Baird Institute and Old Cumnock Old Church.
The archaeological and historical research carried out as part of the project involved participants in investigation
and increased understanding of how the site was used, helping to fill a gap in the story of Cumnocks past. The
various educational and creative aspects of the project drew the gap site into the present cultural and social life of
the community.
The project was financed by the Scottish Government, European Community and Ayrshire LEADER 2007-2013
Programme; East Ayrshire Council and Historic Scotland Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme, and this
evaluation report has been prepared in response to their requirements. It reviews activities undertaken during the
course of the project, from July 2013 to March 2014.
2.0 Aims of the Project
The aims of the project were:
to carry out stakeholder consultation in order to raise awareness of the project, invite dialogue and begin a
process of direct engagement with the widest possible section of the community in order to understand
what was valued and meaningful to community members, identify possible research and creative themes
and establish the particular areas of interest of individuals and groups.
to carry out desk-based study of the evidence for previous activity and past land use at and around the
site, in order to build up a thorough understanding of the sites historical development and archaeological
potential and assess the importance of the heritage assets in and around it, and to inform a strategy for
invasive work and the development of interpretative themes.
to carry out excavation at the gap site to reveal features related to the Tupp Inn and investigate the
archaeological evidence for how it was used in the past.
to involve volunteers in the excavation and other activities in order to build appreciation for Cumnocks
heritage, whilst also supporting them to learn new skills and experience personal benefits such as
increased social involvement and confidence; for these reasons, we aimed particularly to involve young
unemployed people in the area, for whom these benefits would be most marked.
to involve schoolchildren in investigating and appreciating local heritage through workshops and site visits.
to invite and encourage the participation of the wider community in the project through a series of
workshops and through attendance at public events.
to engage members of the local community in arts projects that were focused on the gap site and linked to
the heritage of Cumnock.
to disseminate information about the project as widely as possible, through a project website, social media
and local and national media.
For the core group of volunteers, close involvement with the project was also aimed to impart certain skills,
including:
an understanding of heritage and conservation management issues (technical and social);
excavation and recording (technical and descriptive recording, survey, photography, photogrammetry, finds
processing);
critical thinking (how to interpret historical documents and built heritage, research techniques);
creative, IT and presentation skills (designing and curating interpretative materials, and presenting their
findings to the local and wider community).
team working and communication skills.
3.0 Project Management

3.1 Management & Staffing
The project was managed for Northlight Heritage by Dr Gavin MacGregor and Ingrid Shearer. Ingrid bore
responsibility for the detailed planning and day-to-day running of the project, while Gavin took a high-level
overview to ensure the achievement of milestones and deliverables.
Ingrid Shearer also designed and delivered the workshops, arts events and involvement in public events in
collaboration with Katy Firth. Charlotte Francoz and Peta Lucy Glew directed the excavations and helped to deliver
training to the volunteers along with Ingrid and Katy. Morag Cross carried out the desk-based research.
The Raising the Bar team worked with artist Geraldine Greene and woodcarver Neil Finlayson to develop and deliver
the project arts events.
3.2 Timetable
The project began with community consultation in July 2013. The phases of desk-based research and fieldwork
involving volunteer participants and the public and arts events took place in August and September 2013.
Workshops with schools and community members began in August 2013 and have continued through March 2014.
3.3 Publicity
A project website was launched on 24 July 2013 to present the aims of the project, publicise events and invite
participation -- see http://www.cumnockraisethebar.co.uk/. A Facebook page was created to act as a forum for
participants at https://www.facebook.com/Cumnockraisethebar?ref=hl, and this now as 130 'likes'. A Twitter
account was also created at https://twitter.com/CumnockRTB, and this has 94 followers.
To publicise the project locally, posters were given out to local schools, business and public places such as the post
office, libraries, etc. Fliers were also distributed to local businesses and public places, and a display explaining the
project was installed in vacant premises in the local shopping centre.
The local press and radio were contacted with press releases, which led to publication of three articles in the
Cumnock Chronicle and an online article on the S1 Cumnock website. The local press were also invited to the
excavations to take photographs and gather material for articles.
th
Illus 2: Article from the Cumnock Chronicle, August 14 2013.

4.0 Activities and Outcomes
4.1 Activities
Cumnock's Raising the Bar has involved a series of activities and events. These are listed below, and further
expanded upon in the following sections.
Online Sources workshops: Two workshops held to introduce and teach skills in desk-based research into
archaeological databases, historic maps, aerial photographs, documentary sources and other online
sources and in how to upload information to HistoryPin.
Design and Display workshop: A workshop exploring basic design principles and resources for the creation
of posters, leaflets, websites and other dissemination materials
Family History Research workshop: A workshop held to teach participants how to research family history
run by Anne Geddes, a former Cumnock Living Memory Group member.
Memory Bank: A series of oral history events inviting community members to contribute stories, photos
and other material to build up a better picture of the inn and Cumnock in the recent past. These sessions
inspired participants to form a new heritage society, the Cumnock History Group
(www.cumnockhistorygroup.org). Northlight have continued to provide support and guidance to the new
group, helping them write their constitution and attending meetings.
Inn Three Words: A collaborative artwork developed over the course of the project, in which participants
were invited to submit their memories of the Tupp in a three-word format oral history lite.
Pub Trawl: Memory gathering in the local pubs around the square. Three sessions in four pubs were
conducted prior to the excavation to publicise the project, engage with locals, meet some of the former
regulars of the Tupp Inn and gain an insight into how it looked and its layout, dcor and ambience and to
gather memories.
Fayre in the Square and Cumnock Highland Games: Events held at both the annual farmer's market and
community games day to publicise the project and invite participation.
Screen printing workshops: An arts workshop was held at Fayre in the Square, at which members of the
public were able to try their hand at screen printing an archive image of the Tupp Inn. A separate
workshop was subsequently held at Cumnock Academy, at which over 100 S1 pupils learned screen
printing techniques.
The Big Dig: Excavation of the gap site with volunteer participants, to teach archaeological field skills and
uncover more of the inn's history. 26-30 August The site was revealed in first phase (26-30 August) and
The Big Dig took place 9-23 September. Six trenches were opened, excavated and record and 35 tons of
rubble and spoil were shifted by hand!
Make Your Mark: A public arts event held during The Big Dig, in which master carver Neil Finlayson
created a couthy bench at the gap site using an oak log and chestnut su pports donated by East Ayrshire
Woodlands, to which over 100 community members were helped to add their own carvings.
Shop Front Heritage Hunt: A competition for local primary age children, encouraging them to look for
clues about the hidden history of Cumnock.
Trail Blazers workshops: Workshops held to gather participants' input into a new pilot heritage trail and
leaflet for Cumnock, looking at local landmarks and planning how to compile them into the trail.
Capture Cumnock: A competition to create a new postcard, inviting participants to capture what Cumnock
means to them in a drawing, photograph or painting.
123D Catch: A short workshop with East Ayrshire Young Carers, looking at how to capture historic
monuments using photogrammetric software.
Takeover Day at The Baird Institute: Children from local primary schools participated in this nationwide
event, putting together exhibitions and interpretations the Baird Institute in Cumnock, giving guided tours
and generally becoming curators for the day.
Pub Signs: A short workshop with East Ayrshire Young Carers examining pub signage through the ages.
Participants then created their own signs for the Tupp Inn or Jenny Tears, which were displayed on the
heras fencing around the site and later exhibited in the Glaisnock Shopping Centre.
4.2 Community Consultation

An inception meeting was held on 2 July with key communities organisations and individuals, and a subsequent
meeting was held in August to update community organisations. Northlight Heritage staff also met with local
historian Dane Love to get his input and ideas, and contacted the local MacMillan Cancer Support Group, the
Cumnock Camera Club and the Living Memory Group to engage their collaboration and support.
Project staff met with staff at local libraries to give them further information about the project, and also met with
staff at the Education Department at Dumfries House in Cumnock to discuss opportunities for collaboration. We
met with Ciss McCreadie of the East Ayrshire Council initiative Vibrant Communities, which led to contact with local
churches. We also approached Helen Duncan, Cultural Coordinator for East Ayrshire Council, to liaise with local
schools on behalf of the project.
4.3 Volunteer Participation

4.3.1 Volunteer Recruitment
In order to recruit volunteers to the project, and specifically with the aim of upskilling the young employed,
Northlight Heritage project staff met twice with staff and students at East Ayrshire Works in Millbank and with the
local youth group YIPWorld. We put out a 'call for volunteers' in the Cumnock Chronicle. We also met with staff at
the East Ayrshire Volunteers Centre in Cumnock, which led to their advertising the project on their website, and
contacted Skills Development Scotland and Ayr College's career centre. We held two meetings with local Job Centre
staff, who posted the volunteering role as an opportunity and as an activity for Community 10,000 -- a
community volunteer scheme for DWP staff. We also met with East Ayrshire Young Carers, which led to their
participation in two workshops in using 123D catch software and creating signage; they also undertook two site
visits during the excavations.
This led to the recruitment of 19 volunteers, who together contributed a total 62 volunteer days during the
excavation. Of those 19 volunteers, three were in the age group 16-25, 15 were aged 25-65 and one was aged 65+.
Although the majority were not from the youngest age bracket, there were a significant number of unemployed
volunteers. All but one were of working age, which suggests that this project did not attract the traditional
demographic of local archaeology societies and history group members. Four of the volunteers were Job Centre
employees, recruited through the Community 10,000 scheme, which provides Department of Work and Pensions
staff with the opportunity to volunteer for a day with a range of partners who represent the interests of their
customers. These staff now know much more about careers in archaeology, which will enable them to better tailor
help for job seekers in the future.
4.3.2 Volunteer Development
In advance of the excavation, a field manual was produced for each volunteer, which included an introduction and
background to the site. The rest of the manual was devoted to detailing the basic methods and principles involved
in excavation and recording, and included a glossary of common terms. The purpose of this document was twofold.
It allowed volunteers to familiarise themselves with the site. In addition, it was designed to act as a basic reference
manual, allowing volunteers to digest what they had learnt on site at their leisure and to understand their daily
tasks within the wider context of fieldwork principles and best practice. When volunteers arrived on site, they were
given an introduction to the site and a health and safety induction, and were shown some of the artefacts found so
far.
Volunteers received training in:
10
Excavation techniques
Recording techniques (mostly scale drawing and photography)
Surveying techniques (using level and total station)
Identifying and recording finds
Illus 3: Volunteer Katherine receives training in plan drawing.

New participants would begin by learning basic excavation skills, initially using mattock and shovel to excavate the
demolition material overlying the structural remains; while doing this they were taught how to identify
archaeological features and artefacts. Following on from this, they learned to refine their trowelling skills, before
being introduced to recording processes both written and drawn. We discussed with each volunteer the kinds of
tasks in which they preferred to get involved. Some did not want to undertake certain activities (for example,
drawing or taking levels) and preferred to continue with excavation. In these cases, we did not force volunteers to
undertake tasks with which they felt uncomfortable. The training was informal, practical and very flexible, tailored
to suit each volunteer. A checklist of tasks was kept and when each volunteer had experience in a certain task, a
box would be ticked. This helped to remind staff where any gaps lay and where certain volunteers might like
additional training. The chart below shows the principle tasks in which volunteers received training.
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Excavation
Trowelling
Artefact/Ecofact ID
Recording Contexts
Recording artefacts
Plan drawing
Taking Levels
Visitor liasion
Illus 4: Pie chart showing volunteer tasks.

There was no formal training in visitor liaison, other than having volunteers listen to staff members give site tours
and talk about the sites history. However, several volunteers felt comfortable talking to visitors about the site and
the work underway and asking for the visitors memories of the Tupp Inn.
The amount of training a volunteer received and indeed the variety of tasks with which each assisted was usually
proportionate to the amount of time he or she spent on site. This varied from half a day for one volunteer to nearly
the whole three weeks for another.
In addition to the excavation, volunteers have been involved in other parts of the project, such as assisting with
events like the Cumnock Highland Games and the Fayre in the Square. This benefited members of the public in
presenting the project from the viewpoint of members of their own community rather than professional
archaeologists.
4.3.3 Volunteer Feedback
A feedback survey was handed out to volunteers on the last day of the dig (24 September 2013) and was e-mailed
as an online survey to volunteers who were not present on the last day. Of the 19 volunteers, 10 have responded to
the survey. It returned some interesting results:
The main ways in which volunteers found out about the excavation were through the Job Centre, Volunteer Centre
and local press. The main reason they got involved was overwhelmingly an interest in history, although meeting
new people and gaining new skills were also mentioned. In answer to these four questions:
Would you get involved in a similar project in the future?
Would you like to be involved in the next phase of the project?
Did you get to know any new people as a result of the excavation?
Has the excavation increased your interest in Cumnock's Heritage?
the response was 100% positive. When asked the question: Do you think this volunteering experience has
increased your future employability? two-thirds of respondents said Yes and one said maybe. Eighty per cent of
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respondents said that they had learned new skills during the excavation and were able to list several of these. All
participants said that they had received enough information prior to the excavation and had received sufficient
support from staff during the excavation. One hundred per cent of respondents said that overall their experience of
taking part in the excavation had been 'Great'.
In addition, 66% of our volunteers said they thought their experience had increased their employability.
Illus 5: Volunteer Donna gathering some ideas from members of the public during Cumnock's Highland Games.
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Illus 6: Volunteer Sean using the total station, while Volunteer Barry talks to a member of the public.
Illus 7: Volunteer Craig working on the Couthy Bench.
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4.4 Engaging Young People

A total of 356 children were involved in the project in various ways, as detailed below.
4.4.1 Primary Schools
As part of the Raising the Bar project, seven local primary schools were contacted through Helen Duncan (Cultural
Coordinator at East Ayrshire Council). They were provided with an information sheet detailing the pre-visit,
excavation visit and follow-up sessions. A pre-visit workshop was delivered to eight local primary school classes.
The pre-visit workshop consisted of a PowerPoint presentation 'Who is an Archaeologist?', which covered the topic
of archaeology, the types of sites and artefacts we study and what they can tell us. It also covered the methodology
we use to excavate. Then, if time permitted, a workshop activity was offered, such as an object handling session
with a selection of artefacts and, with some classes, an introduction to historic maps of their area. These visits
typically lasted two hours.
During the Big Dig, six school classes from Logan Primary 6 and P7, St. Patricks Primary 6, Barshare Primary 5,
New Cumnock Primary 7 and Greenmill Primary 6/7 visited the excavation. After being welcomed to the site, the
children were split into two groups. Each group spent time on site and received a tour, were shown the finds, had a
turn at trowelling and/or sieving and were given instructions as to how to trowel, shovel spoil and empty their
buckets safely. Each group also spent half of the visit looking at the wider history of the town. This included:
looking at old maps of Cumnock and spotting changes to the town; making their own maps and signage inspired by
pub signs, which were displayed on the heras fencing and later in the Glaisnock Shopping Centre; a visit to the Baird
Institute (when available) and a tour of the Square. Each group was also given the chance to observe a member of
their class carving his or her name on the Couthy Bench with wood carver Neil Finlayson. Due to timings, not all
groups experienced the same set of activities.
Illus 8: Making signage for the heras fencing.
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Illus 9: A pupil carves her name.
Illus 10: Katy supervises some trowelling.
Feedback forms were sent to the schools following the excavation. Four of the six classes returned the forms
(totalling 75 individual responses). On the forms, the children were asked 'What was the best thing about your
visit?' The children's answers have been collated as a word cloud (Figure 4), in which the words which appeared
most frequently in the responses are given greater prominence. Spelling and grammar mistakes have been retained
in their original form.
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Illus 11: A word cloud generated from school feedback forms.

Trowelling and digging were frequently mentioned as highlights, as well as looking at the historic maps. When
asked if there was anything we could do better, just over a third said 'no' or 'nothing'. Five said they wanted to dig
deeper, or dig a bigger area, and 13 said they wanted to stay longer or do more. The children made a few
suggestions, such as incorporating games; a roof on the site; cleaner gloves; improving the maps to make them less
confusing, and allowing everyone to have a go at each task.
On the whole, feedback was very positive. The graph below shows a breakdown of the different activities, which
were rated by the children using the scale below:
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Feedback from all Primary School classes

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
How much did you enjoy How much did you enjoy How much did you enjoy How much did you enjoy
your visit of a
visiting the excavation? having a go at trowelling? looking at old maps of
archaeologist to the
Cumnock?
classroom?
:'-(
:-(
:-I
:-)
:-D
Illus 12: A graph showing feedback from primary schoolchildren.

This shows that for all four activities combined, the overall rating of 'Great/Good' was just over 80%. The feedback
was not detailed enough to provide a breakdown for every single activity, but gives an overall impression of the
children's satisfaction with the activities in which they took part.
Follow-up visits were arranged with individual teachers. The Logan Primary 5 teacher expressed a wish for a
follow-up session focusing on the maps surrounding Logan. Interestingly, this was the class who had mentioned in
their feedback that the maps were confusing for them. We delivered a simple map regression session in early
November 2013 for the class, in which we looked at maps of the area around the Logan House estate, which
became the housing estate where their school now stands. The class were split into groups to find differences
between the different maps and discover how the area had changed.
One of the teachers (Greenmill Primary 6) whose class had taken part in a pre-visit session but who had not visited
the excavation, asked specifically for a Victorian Cumnock walking tour to accord with a topic they were studying in
school. This took place at the end of October 2013. The class worked with the Ordnance Survey first edition map of
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Cumnock to orientate themselves in the Victorian town. They visited various sites near the school, including the
Baird Institute to look at snuff boxes and pottery, and then did an exercise using old photographs of the Square
trying to find the original photographers view point and work out what had changed.
A third follow-up visit was held at St. Patricks Primary 4/5 on 21 December and the teacher asked specifically for a
themed session on Skara Brae, as the class were studying it already and wanted to hear about it from an
archaeologist. The visit comprised a presentation with various pictures of Skara Brae, a reading of an excerpt from
The Boy with the Bronze Axe, a show-and-tell session with various stone age artefacts and ecofacts (including
shells), and the showing of a video developed by a PhD student at Glasgow School of Art, re-imagining Skara Brae
digitally.
No formal feedback has been gathered from these follow-up visits, but the anecdotal feedback was very positive.
The Greenmill teacher especially expressed a wish for further heritage-related sessions.
Below is some general feedback from one of the head teachers:
'Thanks again for all you have done to make this project really come alive for the young people in Cumnock.'
--Angela Hastings, PT/Acting Head Teacher, Barshare Primary School
In autumn 2013, the Raising the Bar team were involved in a collaborative project with East Ayrshire Leisure Trust
(EALT) and Greenmill Primary 6/7, in which the pupils took part in a national scheme to take over their local
museum for a day. The Takeover Day took place on 29 November. Prior to the Takeover Day we assisted EALT to
deliver two pre-visits for the class. Northlights role was to help a group of pupils become the Collections Care team
for the day -- curating their own exhibition using finds from the Tupp Inn excavations. The pupils chose their own
objects and cleaned, catalogued and photographed them, before working together to create a display of the
artefacts in a museum display case. . Members of the community were invited along to view the exhibition. The
pupils gave a tour of their exhibition and provided an interpretation panel to accompany the display. This is now on
display in the Baird Institute.
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Illus 13: Greenmill Primary pupils curating their own exhibition of the finds from the excavation.
4.4.2 Secondary Schools
After initial meetings and discussions about how heritage could help contribute to the wider curriculum (the
Curriculum for Excellence), Helen Duncan (Cultural Coordinator for East Ayrshire Council) suggested we contact the
Principle Teacher of Art at Cumnock Academy. We did so, offering activities such as wood carving and screen
printing to complement the skills of the artists involved in the project. Initially there seemed to be a couple of
potential barriers:
Pupils working towards exams have very little leeway in their timetables for extra visits such as these
All S1 pupils have to have the same experience
Taking pupils out of school presents logistical and health and safety issues (which arose because we
wanted an S1 class to do a photographic tour of Cumnock)
So, with the above in mind, it was decided that the screen printing could be incorporated into the S1 printing unit..
In late November 2013 an information assembly was held for all the S1 pupils at Cumnock Academy where
Northlight staff outlined the background to the project and presented some ideas on how heritage can inspire
artists. At the beginning of December we set up a screen printing workshop with artist, Geraldine Greene, in which
all the S1 pupils had a turn at creating their own postcard of the Tupp Inn. The pupils could change the colours to
suit their tastes and although it was a short session with each pupil, they showed a real sense of enjoyment and
achievement.
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Illus 14: An S1 pupils face as he sees the results of his screen print for the first time.
Illus 15: Senior pupils from Cumnock Academy learn how to sculpt wood with Neil Finlayson.
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We also invited a small group of senior pupils to East Ayrshire Woodlands depot to carry out some wood carving on
the Couthy Bench and to learn about the craft from wood carver Neil Finlayson. The students received a brief
introduction about the project and the bench itself. There was time for two students to carve, while the rest helped
to prepare the bench for display and use by sanding down the top surface. This visit went well: the anecdotal
feedback from the seven students and teacher was that it was an interesting afternoon. They were also lucky
enough to witness a log cabin being built using traditional wood craft skills at the depot.
4.4.3 East Ayrshire Young Carers
We delivered two workshops to the East Ayrshire Young Carers group, a group of seven in their mid teens. The first
workshop introduced the participants to 3-D image creation software called 123D Catch. The group took photos of
one of their leaders sitting in the Square and then used the software to mesh together an image. As well as
learning about Cumnocks heritage, they boosted their IT skills using this free software. The same group were
invited along during the Big Dig to experience excavation. Despite the inclement weather and lack of waterproofs,
the young people got involved in trowelling and the carers' supervision team noted a marked improvement in
concentration levels, focus and team-working.
The younger group of East Ayrshire Young carers (primary school age) also came to a double session on excavation
and wood carving and examined examples of historic pub signage before creating their own versions. We hope to
carry on working with these two groups in the future.
4.4.4 Additional Childrens Activities
During the October holidays we provided a Shop Front Heritage Hunt in Cumnock town centre in which, with the
support of local shops, we set up a trail around some of the local shops to find clues relating to Cumnocks heritage.
Entry forms told entrants which shops to visit and they had to fill in the blanks on the form and hand the completed
forms in to Words of Wisdom in the Square. The forms were distributed online, in local shops, in local schools,
through community organisations like YipWorld and Vibrant Communities and by the Town Centre Managers
October Holiday craft activity provider. There were 26 entries. The winners were a joint entry from Scott and Abbie
McKenzie, who won a goodie bag, comprising mostly gifts donated by local shops.
Numbers of Young people engaged through organised activities during Raising the Bar
NB: This does not include children who visited the excavation ad hoc or who came to carve their names in the
bench outside school time. It also does not include children taking part in Take Over Day, as they are included
in the below classes.
School
Number of children
Logan P5
15
Logan P6/7
16
New Cumnock P7
22
Greenmill P6/7
25
Greenmill P6
29
Greenmill P7
25
Barshare P5
26
St. Patrick's P4/5
23
22
Cumnock Academy S5-6
Cumnock Academy S1
120
East Ayrshire Young Carers Older group
East Ayrshire Young Carers Younger group
15
Children entering Heritage Hunt competition
26
Total
356
4.5 Engaging Adults

As well as engaging adults in the Raising the Bar project as volunteers, we offered other opportunities to get
involved and to receive training in heritage research skills.
Prior to the excavation we held informal workshops in four of the local public houses to stimulate interest in the
project and to gather information and recollections on the Tupp Inn from locals who had frequented the pub.
During The Big Dig, site staff and volunteers engaged in discussion with many passers-by about the excavations and
the wider history of the town, holding an estimated 15 long conversations per day.
During the Memory Bank session in the Baird Institute on 14 September 2013, members of the public were invited
to come along and contribute memories of Cumnock. Around 60 people dropped in throughout the day and
interest was sparked between members of the Cumnock Living Memory Group (CUMLIMEG) and several other
members of the public to get together following this. Two meetings were held with the Raising the Bar team and a
small steering group of three CUMLIMEG members and three interested community members to discuss relaunching the Cumnock Living Memory Groups website along with colleagues from East Ayrshire Leisure Trust.
Out of these meetings, the Cumnock History Group was born. The group have had monthly meetings since
November 2013 and by 3 February 2014 had over 50 members. The Northlight Heritage team have been
supporting the group by attending and arranging meetings, taking minutes and providing input and entertainment
such as a Christmas Quiz. The group is chaired by Bobby Grierson who has set up the website at
www.cumnockhistorygroup.org with support from the Raising the Bar project funds.
The Cumnock heritage phenomenon quickly spread to social media. The 'Old Cumnock' Facebook page hosted by
Garry Savage had 15 members during the excavation in September. This has grown to 287 members by March
2014.
During the meetings with Cumnock History Group in November and December, the Northlight Heritage team
sounded out some ideas for skills workshops in early 2014. The following table shows which workshops were then
delivered. They were promoted through local press/social media and by posters in the wider community.
Three of the workshops were surveyed for feedback and this returned 15 responses. 100% of respondents said they
learned something new as part of the workshop and 73% of those rated the workshop as 'Great', while the other
27% said 'Good'.
23
Illus 16: The Cumnock History Group's website.
24
Illus 17: Cumnock History Group are promoted in the Cumnock Chronicle on electing their board members.
Illus 18: Heritage Trail Blazers in action in Woodroad Park.
25
Date
Workshop
Attendees
11 January
Design and Presentation (numbers were capped and not widely

advertised due to nature of workshop) held at the Baird Institute
25 January
Introduction to Online Resources 1 (including maps) held at Cumnock

Library
30 January
Introduction to Online Resources 2 (images & multimedia) held at

Cumnock Library
1 February
Introduction to Family History (2 day workshops) led by former

CUMLIMEG member Anne Geddes. Held at the Baird Institute
10
15 February
Heritage Trail Blazers 1 - held at the Baird Institute
22 February
Heritage Trail Blazers 2 - held at the Baird Institute
Total
37
One of the outcomes of these workshops will be a pilot heritage trail leaflet, with content decided by the attendees
of the workshops. A Heritage Trail was one of the desired outcomes of the project by the votes placed by members
of the community at the Fayre in the Square event at the end of September.
The Cumnock History Group now have a column in the local paper and are applying for Scottish Charitable
Incorporated Organisation status.
A literary response to the project was created by one of the volunteers, screenwriter Barry MacMillan. The piece is
an outline for a community play, reimagining the story of Dantes Inferno on the site of the Tupp Inn. Key characters
from the history of the Tupp, artefacts found during the excavation, the couthy bench and the volunteers
themselves are deftly interwoven into the story. The play is written to be performed in situ, and it is hoped the
outline may form the basis for a full-scale production in the future.
4.6 Public Events
The Raising the Bar team participated in two public events:
Cumnock Highland Games on 25 August 2013, with wood carver Neil Finlayson
Fayre in the Square on 27 September 2013 with a workshop in screen-printing Cumnock postcards by
local artist Geraldine Greene and a display of the finds from the dig.
Both of these stalls involved gathering memories of the Tupp Inn by encouraging participants to describe it in three
words. So far there have been 63 responses. Users of the project website can also participate. The Fayre in the
Square event also included a consultation on where the Couthy Bench might find a home (26 participants voted at
the event and further two voted online), and what people would like to see happen during the next phase of the
project (50 participants voted).
4.7 Research and Excavation
The desk-based research carried out as part of the project included extensive archival research as well as map
regression work. This has generated a great deal of detailed knowledge of the historical development of Cumnock,
its street plan and architecture. It also unravelled the social history surrounding the pub, a communal space that
26
played an important part in the life of Cumnock's residents from the 1860s and throughout the 20th century, and
provided historical context for the excavations
The excavations revealed the predominantly sandstone built street frontage wall of the property, in addition to
small fragments of the south eastern gable foundation, which appear to be the only surviving elements from the
th
th
original late 18 century construction. A small brick built extension with typical 19 century brick foundations and
th
a slate damp course was identified to the rear of the property at its eastern end, at some point in the early 19
century as they can be seen on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1860). This extension had survived as an
internal room of the pub.
Terrazzo flooring, most likely dating from the 1930s or 1940s was located in what was the door way on to Lugar
Street and covering the floors of the former toilets towards, what would originally have been the rear of the
property. However, several large displaced blocks of concrete were encountered amongst the demolition rubble,
which were also covered with Terrazzo tile work underneath subsequent floor coverings, suggesting that Terrazzo
had been used extensively throughout the property at that time.
Extensive renovations were clearly undertaken sometime between the late 1950s and early 1970s as seen from the
extensive use of bricks from the local NCB Skares brick works. The changes undertaken during this phase of
alteration included rebuilding the gable fire place at the far south east end of the property, inserting a new
suspended floor throughout the ground floor and completely rebuilding the elements of the property along
Kilnholm place. It seems likely that it was during this phase of redevelopment that the legendary dance floor Up
the stair was added. Probably as part of these renovations, the original gable wall, that separated numbers 4 and 6
Lugar Street, was removed to increase the amount of space in the lounge bar at the front of the property, along the
north western side of trench 4. This may ultimately have contributed to structural failures observed shortly before
its demolition in 2002. Several members of the community described seeing large cracks in the walls.
The latest phase of development was the insertion of concrete floors throughout the north western range of the
buildings along Kilnholm Place, allegedly after someone had put his foot through the pre-existing, rotten wooden
floors. A trench excavated through part of this concrete floor revealed a Tudor brand crisp packet dated Best
Before July 1993 indicative of the floors having been laid that year by a builder who threw his empty crisp packet
under the plastic sheeting prior to pouring the concrete.
While the cultural heritage investigated through historical research and especially excavation in Raising the Bar is
not of a kind or period often given high value in academic discourse, because of the pub's relevance to Cumnock
and its role in social life during living memory, its investigation has made a significant contribution to the
community's sense and appreciation of heritage, especially in combination with the oral history research
undertaken. The Tupp Inn and its later incarnation as Jenny Tears was fondly remembered by many locals as a
friendly, albeit slightly grubby, howff. It catered to all age groups, with youngsters tending to frequent the upstairs
dancehall, while older folks were more inclined to gather in the lounge or front bar. In the 1970s and 1980s the
Tupp Inn was the live music venue in Cumnock, and this perhaps more than anything came across during our
memory gathering activities. We are very grateful to all who shared their memories. The Inn Three Words piece
(illus 18) amply illustrates the pubs association with music, bands and games along with other more impressionistic
and often contradictory recollections submitted by over 50 participants.
27
Illus 18: Inn Three Words graphic.
28
5.0 Review
This section reviews what worked well, what worked less well and why, and also considers the question of whether
the differences the project made would have happened whether it took place or not.
The positive outcomes of the project were:
There was wide community participation across generations.
All volunteers who returned surveys said that they had met new people and increased their interest in
Cumnocks heritage. One volunteer who is unemployed has recently taken up a voluntary position at
Dumfries House as a result of his volunteering experience on the excavation.
The formation of the Cumnock History Group was an overwhelmingly positive yet unforeseen outcome of
the Memory Bank session.
Good relationships were built up with community groups and local businesses and services such as East
Ayrshire Leisure Trust, the Volunteer Centre, Vibrant Communities and East Ayrshire Woodlands, all of which
really helped the project take off.
Running the excavation fairly early on in the project created useful momentum and buzz.
The length of the project allowed for sustained relationships to be built and follow up visits to be delivered.
Collaborating with the community members resulted in workshops tailored to their needs.
Digging a pub in the town centre meant the excavation site was highly visible and got people's attention, so
that it became a very sociable site and we had great incidental engagment with passers-by. This was greatly
augmented by having the bench carving activity.
Digging a site which was still in living memory increased public appreciation of the project immensely.
Primary school follow-up visits, prepared to complement the curriculum being taught, led to much more
meaningful sessions.
Other aspects worked less well:
As much of the community engagement was tailored to the individual groups, the organisation was
sometimes problematic as it was difficult to predict what the groups would want to do in advance; this
created problems at times for timetabling, allocation of resources, etc.
The short timescales meant that volunteers were recruited quite rapidly, and this may have been one reason
why the project failed to engage harder-to-reach volunteers from the 16-25 age bracket, from East Ayrshire
Works for example.
Formal training for volunteers on the excavation was made more difficult because of the large number of
school visits during the weeks.
The rigid nature of the secondary school timetable limited the amount of engagement the team could have
with them.
The location of the local archive in Kilmarnock was less than ideal for the community to research their local
area.
We had hoped to utilise facilities and exhibition space at the Baird Institute (ideally situated directly opposite
the site) as much as possible. While we significantly increased footfall into the building, and had full support
from the staff, restricted opening hours limited our ability to maximise this resource.
In our assessment, the project made a significant difference to people's engagement with heritage in Cumnock. If
the project had not taken place, it is likely that the Living Memory Group would have continued to have infrequent
lunch meetings and a handful of individuals in the community would have continued to do independent research
29
into family history. The project drew community members from multiple generations into the investigation and
celebration of Cumnock's heritage through a series of engaging and innovative activities. In doing so, it proved
certain predictions, expressed before the project commenced by several community members, that it would not
succeed in engaging the community because people were cynical, as they had had negative previous experiences
with groups coming to carry out research (for example, from universities) and then disappearing without sharing
the results or following through.
6.0 Summary of Lessons Learnt
The main lessons learnt are to do with the pacing of the project and the overall timescale. While a foreshortened
timescale lent the project a certain momentum, a longer lead-in time would have been preferable. It would have
allowed more time for the Raising the Bar staff to engage potential younger (age 16-25) volunteers in the project
through local services for unemployed young people (for example, East Ayrshire Works) to ensure that it could be
fully integrated into their programmes of activities. Running the excavation over a longer period would also have
allowed longer intervals between the school visits and thus less interruption to formal training of the volunteers.
It would also have been useful to have a staff member embedded in the community for part of the project, to
consolidate relationships and lend further support for the ongoing activities.
One issue which many community projects face, and one which can prove extremely problematic, is managing
community expectations. The site of the Tupp Inn is a gap site in every sense of the word. When approaching the
town centre, the sense of a void in the street frontage is felt keenly. Several project participants and members of
the public expressed dismay at the state of site and there is still lingering resentment amongst many locals that the
building was torn down. In highlighting a forgotten or overlooked place, there is a certain amount of responsibility
on the part of those initiating the work to look beyond the present. What would the people of Cumnock like to see
on the site in the future? We asked that question as part of our OppINNion Poll but we have little power to effect
any meaningful change while the site lies in the hands of a private developer.
However, the excitement and buzz surrounding Raising the Bar has continued, largely through the efforts of the new
history group, and the Couthy Bench will be installed in the Glaisnock Centre as a lasting physical legacy of the
project.
7.0 Acknowledgements and Thanks
Someone asked our site director, Peta Glew, what the best find of the excavation was and without missing a beat
she replied, our volunteers. Cheesy as it sounds, she hit the nail on the head. We are extremely grateful to all the
folk who came along and helped us excavate the site. Some became stalwarts who came every day, others gave up
their weekends or took leave from work in order to attend. All did a grand job, were hard workers and good
company. Northlight would like to say a big thank you to them for making working on the site such a pleasure.
In no particular order they are: Shaun Lowrie, Lorna Jane Anderson, Barry MacMillan, Jamie Duncan, Scott Holland,
Brian Carey, Laura Johnston, Stewart Finlay, Craig Ferguson, Katherine, MacDiarmid, Jane MacDiarmid, Julie
Morrison, Jan Gordon, Lesley Burns, Donna Nicoll, Ruth, Patterson, Elaine, Matt McReadie and Graham Rook.
We would also like to thank all our funders and project partners for their help and support, in particular John Durie
of CARS for his patience, enthusiasm and exemplary coffee-making skills; Bruce Morgan and William McConnell of
East Ayrshire Leisure for their unstinting support and for use of the Baird Institute, and Helen Duncan of East
Ayrshire Councils Creative Minds Team for liaising with schools and providing on-tap advice and an essential
30
sounding board for ideas. Ross MacGregor and the staff at the Burns Monument Centre also deserve much credit
for their help during the projecty. Thanks also to the Cumnock Library staff for letting us use the library as a venue.
We also enjoyed collaborating with Linda Fairley, Stanley Sarsfield and Jason Sutcliffe during Takeover Day at the
Baird Institute. John Lumley of EAC Estates and Management generously loaned equipment and provided valuable
input on historic maps during the excavation.
Thanks to Morag tenacious C Cross for going above and beyond in researching the history of the site, and to the
staff of the national and local archives who helped her in her work. Kudos too to our creative powerhouses -- Neil
Finlayson, Geraldine Greene and Barry MacMillan -- for producing great work that has excited and engaged so many
people. Thanks also to Craig Ferguson who designed and painted the pattern on the side of the Couthy bench.
Thanks are also due to John Coltart and staff at Coltart Contracts for the generous loan of the Heras fencing, the Rev
Paterson and the congregation at Old Cumnock Old Church for the use of the hall, and the lovely ladies at Words of
Wisdom caf for tea and sympathy.
Our hunt for volunteers was greatly aided by Maureen Murphy at East Ayrshire Volunteers, Kaye Rowe at the
Cumnock Job Centre, Vicky Fleming and Mary Hamilton at East Ayrshire Works, and Janice Hendry at YIPWorld.
Bruce Davidson, Reg Briers and the team at East Ayrshire Woodlands were fantastic -- supplying the timber for Neils
Couthy Bench, as well as delivering the eight-foot long plank to site and allowing us full use of their yard for
preparation and finishing work and workshops. Huge thanks to Bruce Walkington and Colin McKee for facilitating
the installation of the Couthy Bench and to the caretakers at the Glaisnock Centre for their help in organising the
celebration event.
Thanks also to Gillian McKelvey and East Ayrshire Young Carers, and to all the students and staff from Logan
Primary, New Cumnock Primary, Greenmill Primary, Barshare Primary and St. Patrick's Primary schools. Also thanks
to Teraessa Lopez and the staff and students at Cumnock Academy.
Thanks to all the folk who came along to our workshops. In particular, wed like to express our deep gratitude to the
legendary Jean McMurdo, and to Anne Geddes and former members of the Cumnock Living Memory Group. The
establishment of the new Cumnock History Group has been an absolute joy to watch; Bobby Grierson in particular
deserves credit for his work in setting up the Cumnock History Group, but we are delighted that so many have
stepped forward to support the new group thank you all. Thanks to Dane love for all his help and thanks to the
judges of the photographic competition.
We would also like to say thanks to our site neighbours for their patience, in particular the wonderful Jess Nesbit
and staff at In The Pink estate agents, and Crowdstoppers across the road. In addition, thanks to all the shops and
local business that put up our posters and fliers, donated prizes and hosted clues for the Shop Front Heritage Hunt.
Thanks also to the janitors and staff at the Glaisnock Centre, to Fiona Nicholson, the Town Centre Manager and to
the staff at Allys Barbers for letting us have a look at their basement.
A big uh-huh and thank yall to the Elvis Cleaning Company and Mischief-la-Bas, who came and cleaned our site and
happily posed for photos five kings in our car park, eat it up Leicester!
The Cumnock Chronicle and journalist David Kerr were hugely supportive, featuring the excavation and other
elements of the project on a regular basis and supporting us via social media.
Finally, a big thank you to all the folk who dropped by the site for a blether, shared their memories and contributed
31
to Inn Three Words or came along to the Memory Bank sessions, especially Alice McConnachie and Matthew Burns.
Thanks also to all the folk who picked up a chisel and made their mark on Neils bench, and to those who
participated in Geraldines postcard screen-printing session at Fayre in the Square.
32

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NORTHLIGHT HERITAGE Cumnock's Raising the Bar

Evaluation Report Cumnock, East Ayshire

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Cumnock's Raising the Bar

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Aims of the Project

Activities & Outcomes

Summary of Lessons Learnt

Acknowledgements and Thanks

Article from the Cumnock Chronicle, August 14th 2013.

Volunteer Katherine receives training in plan drawing.

Pie chart showing volunteer tasks.

Volunteer Donna gathering some ideas from members of the public

Volunteer Craig working on the Couthy Bench.

Making signage for the heras fencing.

A school pupil carves her name.

Katy supervises some trowelling

A word cloud generated from school feedback forms.

A graph showing feedback from primary schoolchildren.

An S1 pupil is delighted with the results of his screenprinting.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

The Cumnock History Group's website.

Cumnock History Group are promoted in the Cumnock Chronicle on

Heritage Trail Blazers in action in Woodroad Park.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Illus 1: Site location.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

the heritage of Cumnock.

an understanding of heritage and conservation management issues (technical and social);

team working and communication skills.

3.0 Project Management

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

excavations to take photographs and gather material for articles.

Illus 2: Article from the Cumnock Chronicle, August 14 2013.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

4.2 Community Consultation

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

4.3 Volunteer Participation

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Illus 3: Volunteer Katherine receives training in plan drawing.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Illus 4: Pie chart showing volunteer tasks.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Illus 7: Volunteer Craig working on the Couthy Bench.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

4.4 Engaging Young People

Illus 8: Making signage for the heras fencing.

Illus 9: A pupil carves her name.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Illus 10: Katy supervises some trowelling.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Illus 11: A word cloud generated from school feedback forms.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Feedback from all Primary School classes

Illus 12: A graph showing feedback from primary schoolchildren.

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014

St. Patrick's P4/5

Northlight Heritage | Project: 4345161 | Report: 91 | 13.3.2014