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At the end we had a written exam, which involved writing a lot of short essays. Then we did a practical assessment in Edinburgh.’
Richard Thomson was on the 1988 course which ran from November 1987 to May 1988.
‘There were 24 of us altogether on the course,’ he said. ‘It was a great course, led by Anne Lister, ably assisted by Jane Orde, Elizabeth Seaton and a few others. We attended lectures every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and we were on tour round the land, usually every two weeks. It was a really well constructed course, great lecturers and truly well led.’
In 1988 Anne Lister resigned as training manager and Ros Newlands took over her duties on a freelance basis. Margaret Anderson was originally a history teacher and 'head-hunted' when she came out of college but not many years later history teachers were no longer wanted as Modern Studies came to the fore. She, therefore, answered a request for Burrell guides when the Collection first opened. Her husband suggested that since she was unlikely to get a history job she should consider following Bette Hunter and Aileen Biggart who had used their Burrell guiding as a springboard into STGA guiding.
Margaret Anderson was on the 1992-93 course in Glasgow which had
30 participants.
‘Twenty seven qualified but some never guided for a number of reasons
but a core of us
are still guiding,’ said Margaret.
‘I followed this up and contacted Innes Macleod at the then DACE, at Glasgow University, where the STGA courses were run, and asked whether my Scottish History qualifications meant that I might not need to do the whole STGA course,” Margaret said. ‘His reply was two-fold - you must do the whole course which won't start for another year, but meantime I can use you in this department. One odd result of this was that on one occasion the following year I taught a class including Bette and Aileen as students and at the end of the lecture went to the other side of the desk as a student on the STGA course.’ Margaret was on the 1992-93 course in Glasgow which had 30 participants. ‘Twenty seven qualified but some never guided for a number of reasons but a core of us are still guiding,’ said Margaret.
‘Nineteen of the thirty STGA training class of '92-'93 met for a 21st anniversary lunch at Oran Mor in 2014. Others had been contacted but were not free to come and sent their best wishes, yet others had not been contactable. It was amazing how some whom we have not met for some years have not changed at all!! It was a lively occasion with the same camaraderie and jokes which sustained us all those years ago! We hope to meet up again but will not wait 21 years to do so!’ Margaret added.
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