Arbroath Signal Tower Museum

01/06/2026

30/05/2026

Join us tomorrow for a visit and you can also celebrate the new A92 cycle path with Angus Cycle Hub

22/05/2026

Wednesday was celebrating these important and fascinating insects 🐝🐝🐝

If you have visited the garden at Signal Tower Museum in Arbroath, you may have noticed these stone structures in the back wall. These are bee boles. 'Bole' is a Scots word for an alcove or recess and bee boles were made to shelter a straw beehive known as a 'rusky'. The bees provided honey and wax as well as pollinating crops and garden plants. Bee boles were a common feature of old gardens and farms in this region but many have since been demolished.

This set came from the kitchen garden at Cairnie Farm near Arbroath where they were saved from demolition in 1969 then moved to the museum in 1975. They probably date to the 18th century but may be older as Cairnie Farm was built around 1750 replacing Cairnie Castle. There was also a nearby site associated with Arbroath Abbey and it has been suggested that the bee boles may have originally come from there, but they are more similar to other local 18th century examples.

Find out more with a visit to the museum, we are open every day apart from Tuesdays from 10:30 until 4pm, with last admissions at 3:30pm. Free admission, donations are welcome and go towards the upkeep of ANGUSalive Museums and Galleries.
Dog are welcome within the museum too 🐾🐾
We look forward to welcoming you on your visit.

18/05/2026

A very big thing starts tomorrow!! We officially start moving our amazing collection to our new store. We're so excited as we'll be offering behind the scenes tours and workshops of this special place from later this year. Sneak (empty) peek below!

18/05/2026

Hello everyone

Visitor Advisor Shaun here at The Meffan Museum & Art Gallery , sharing with you my favourite work of art from our fantastic current exhibition "Beyond the Horizon" by Victoria Wylie - Artist

One of my favourite artworks on display is 'First Light After', which is made from Acrylic on canvas. This painting is an interpretation of St Ninian's Beach in Shetland. Sitting in the gallery space, listening to the soundtrack that was specially made for this exhibition i can feel myself transported to those distant shores, with dramatic dark skies and the vast blue of the sea stretching towards the Nordics. I can imagine the waves gently lapping at the stone and sand beneath my feet and the birdsong around me as the cold winds from the north chills the air.

The exhibition is on until 22nd June 2026 and the Meffan Museum & Art Gallery is open each day except Tuesdays, 10.30 am until 4pm, free admission with donations welcome, dog friendly too!
Victoria Wylie - Artist

18/05/2026

On this day in 1906, James Blyth sadly passed.

Blyth was born in Marykirk in 1839, and was later educated at Montrose Academy. Upon completing his studies, Blyth went on to study Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at University of Edinburgh.

After graduating, he pursued an active teaching career. However, in 1886, Blyth began to conduct research on the side, exploring the possibility of wind generated electricity.

Only a year later, Blyth designed and created the world's first wind turbine in his own garden in Marykirk.

In 1895, he sought out Mavour and Coulson, a Glasgow Engineering Firm, to build a second turbine which was then used as a power source at Sunnyside Royal Hospital for the next 27 years.

18/05/2026

Did you know that the "Victorian James Bond" was from Montrose?

On this day in 1805, the legendary explorer, diplomat and spy Alexander "Bokhara" Burnes was born in Montrose. As a distant cousin of national poet Robert Burns and brother of renowned surgeon James Burnes, Alexander came from an illustrious family. After studying at Montrose Academy, Burnes joined the East India Company at the young age of 16. He quickly rose through the ranks of the company after learning Hindustani and Persian and was appointed an official interpreter within his first few years of service. By the early 1830s, his diplomatic skills led to him being appointed as the leader of a secret intelligence-gathering mission into Afghanistan, a region largely unknown to Europeans that was being nervously eyed by both the British and Russian Empires. Burnes and his companions attempted to disguise themselves by donning local garb, as can be seen in many of his portraits. Accompanying him in his Central Asian expedition was Mohan Lal, an Indian diplomat and writer who would go on to play an important role in the "Great Game" conflict between Britain and Russia. Their trek took them to Kabul, Bukhara and Persia before returning to England, where Burnes was given a hero's welcome and several pretigious awards. After unsuccessfully lobbying the British government to support his friend Dost Mohammad Khan as ruler of Afghanistan, he returned to Kabul to serve as an official representative of the Crown to Shuja Shah Durrani, who was disliked by both Burnes and the Afghan public. After public resentment towards the administration grew, a riot erupted in Kabul in which both Burnes and his brother Charles were killed on 2 November 1841. The dramatic deaths of the Burnes brothers presaged the defeat of British forces in Afghanistan the next year and the eventual instatement of Dost Mohammad Khan to the Afghan throne.

Come to the Montrose Museum to purchase a copy of the swashbuckling travelogue "Travels into Bokhara" by Alexander Burnes and see objects donated to the museum by his brother James on display. Open 10:30-4, Wednesday - Monday. Free admission, donations always welcome. Dog-friendly and all are welcome.