• 18 Mar 2014 - a Visit to the Scottish National War Memorial
• 16 Apr 2014 - Backstage at Scottish Opera and the Riverside Museum, Glasgow
• 24 Apr 2014 - St Ninian's Manse and Lambs House, Leith
• 5 Jun 2014 - Traditional meets Modern in Pathhead, Midlothian: visit to two contrasting houses in Midlothian. The date for this visit, shown as TBC in the programme card and on the website, is now confirmed as 5 June; the flyer will be available later, when details have been confirmed.

• 28 Feb 2014 - The Art Fund Winter Lecture - "The Art of Discovery", Philip Mould OBE
• 26 - 30 May 2014 - EDFAS tour to London - tour description and booking form
• 29 Apr - 5 May 2014 - NADFAS Scotland & Northern Ireland Area tour to Lisbon

Click here for the Newsletter on the EDFAS website

Members have asked about missing EDFAS events eMails, and what we, or they, can do about this. Frequently, a friend has received the events eMail, but they have not. There are many possible explanations, a few within EDFAS' control, most completely outside it.

The most common cause of non-delivery is that our message is wrongly flagged as "unsolicited commercial eMail" or spam. Apparently, nearly 70% of all global eMail traffic is spam. We send out the eMails using a bulk mailing program, in such a way that the various mail servers should not wrongly assess our mails as spam. Nevertheless, this does happen, and there is almost nothing that EDFAS can do about this. In some cases, you, our members, may have control over your own spam filter, and, if you do (and know what this means), you may have the opportunity to "Whitelist" the mail address from which we send our mails. Nevertheless, our messages may still be trapped by other spam filters over which you, and we, have no control.

In other cases, members themselves have deleted the mails without thinking, or, worse still (yes, we have heard this!), their spouses may have done so without consulting them. In such cases, EDFAS can do something to help. Henceforth, we shall post a link to any bulk eMails on the "Members' page" of the website. Should you wish to recover the mailing, you should find it there, and be able to link to the flyers for the various events, just as you would have done from the mailing itself. We shall leave the links there until well after the event has passed, and shall then purge the page of old mailings at intervals. We shall be glad to have feedback on whether this is of any help.

Many members are already familiar with the website and use it regularly, but we encourage those who are not to have a look. We are always available to help - up to a point.

The Casket

The Scottish National War Memorial, opened in 1927, is considered one of the finest accomplishments of Sir Robert Lorimer. We shall have an opportunity for a short tour of the Memorial, followed by a 45-minute talk, The Human Face behind the Scottish National War Memorial, by Randall Nicol, military historian.

The event will conclude with a visit to the Officers' Mess of Edinburgh Castle for a glass of wine.

The event is priced at £ 14.00, for members only. A ballot will be held on Thursday 20th February 2014. Those attending should gather at the Edinburgh Castle visitor centre, at 17:15; it may be difficult to admit latecomers, so please be prompt.

Click here for the flyer

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Madama Butterfly (1903) - Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

We are delighted to have been able to arrange a tour behind the scenes at Scottish Opera. This will take in the workshops, paint room and costume department, as well as a possible glimpse into the rehearsal room, where Scottish Opera are preparing a forthcoming production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

After lunch, our coach will head for the Riverside Museum, the striking building designed by Zaha Hadid. The museum houses Glasgow Museums' renowned collections of historic cars and motor bicycles, steam locomotives and ship models from the Clyde's shipbuilders, as well as several Glasgow street scenes.

The coach leaves from outside Saltire Court, Castle Terrace at 09:00, and returns there at 17:30. Tickets, priced at £ 45:00, include return coach travel, coffee on arrival at Scottish Opera, and lunch (soup and quiche) there, before moving on to The Riverside Museum.

Click here for the flyer

Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport - © Zaha Hadid Architects

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Our visit to Leith takes us to two historic houses, both brought back from dereliction to economic use by two firms of architects. Simpson & Brown Architects rescued St. Ninian's Manse in the 1990s, and now use the building as their offices.

Lamb's House is a typical merchant's house from the late 16th/early 17th century, with the business occupying the ground floor, and the merchant and his family living "above the shop". Nicholas Groves-Raines has just completed his restoration of this important house, and installed his architectural practice on the ground floor, while he and his family live on the upper floors.

Tickets are priced at £ 10.00. Parking nearby is difficult, and travel by bus is recommended. Lunch is available at any of the many nearby restaurants.

Click here for the flyer

The Art Fund are offering tickets to EDFAS members for their Winter Lecture, given by Philip Mould OBE, on "The Art of Discovery". Philip Mould will be known to viewers of Antiques Roadshow; he will speak of several discoveries of "lost" paintings.

After drinks served from 18:00, the lecture will start at 19:00, in the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Galleries of Scotland. Tickets are priced at £ 25.00 each, and more information is available in The Art Fund leaflet. Please apply to the address shown on the leaflet, and NOT through any of the normal EDFAS channels.

Following on from the success of his tours to Northamptonshire in 2013, and Yorkshire in 2011 and 2012, Neil Hynd has selected London as his destination for 2014. His original intention had been to commemorate the start of the First World War with visits to the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum, but, amazingly, both are closed for major refurbishment in May 2014. Neil's first day takes in Greenwich - where Cutty Sark is newly reopened after the fire - after which you may visit the National Maritime Museum or the Old Royal Naval College. His second day moves on to two contrasting styles of architecture and design, the Courtaulds' Eltham Palace, and William Morris' The Red House. Architecture is again the theme on the third day - Chiswick House and Syon Park. Commemorating two different wars, the group will visit Wellington's house at Apsley House, followed by the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall. The tour rounds off with a visit to Sir John Soane's Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Please click here for the full tour itinerary.

The tour costs £ 650.00, based on two sharing a room, for four nights in the Imperial Hotel, Russell Square, and meals as specified on the tour itinerary. To apply, please click here for the application form, which should be returned to Ian Dickson Travel, with a non-refundable deposit for £ 200.00. Travel to and from London is NOT included.

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NADFAS Scotland & Northern Ireland Area has arranged this tour to Lisbon in April/May 2014.

The tour price includes: 5 nights’ accommodation at the 4 star Hotel Mundial in Lisbon; buffet breakfast daily, certain meals, as detailed on the flyer, all coach transfers in Portugal, and the services of a local specialist guide for all visits. The price, of £ 875.00, based on sharing a twin/double room (single supplement £ 260.00) DOES NOT include the cost of suggested EasyJet flights to and from Lisbon.

Click here for the leaflet from Heritage Group Travel for more information, and how to apply to join the tour.

PLEASE NOTE that the tour price DOES NOT include the cost of flights to and from Lisbon. Flights using EasyJet are suggested.

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