THE Benarty History Preservation Group was delighted with the way their open evening went and hope that they could go some way to encouraging some new members to join up.

The Lochore Institute hosted the evening and it saw several interesting events and a number of local people involved along with special guests.

The History Group welcomed an excellent turn out of more than 60 people and they enjoyed the main speaker and also several other events

The guest speaker was Dr. David Munro, from Kinross, who has been a regular contributor to many outstanding events in the Benarty area, including the rehabilitation project at Lochore Castle.

Mr Munro's talk was about William Spiers Bruce and his Antarctic voyages, titled Voyage of the Scotia.

Special guests were Sara Smith, designer of the group's striking logo, and the family of local historian, Jim Mackie, whose works were gifted to the group.

Jim was a someone who enjoyed collecting Benarty history and ensuring it would be kept for future generations.

The first publication of Jim's work was presented to the family and Sara's work was also recognised.

The evening was enjoyed by around 60 guests.

The display included Mr. Tom Slaven's mining artefacts, and mining publications by Chris Sparling, the Fife mining guru, who has made regular contributions to the Times following the activities of the local pits, mines and communities.

There was also a presentation from Irene Donaldson and Colin from the Re-Employ Community Enterprise, based at the Crosshill Centre, which was warmly enjoyed by everyone.

Jim Taylor, on behalf of the The Benarty Heritage Preservation Group said: "We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came along to make the event a success and to Jane Scougal for a lovely buffet, it was an excellent evening".