Royal Scottish Geographical Society

19/10/2026

🗻 Leo Houlding is one of our headline speakers at a Wild Night In this December! 🗻

Hear from Leo about you can expect on the night 👇

He'll be speaking alongside Dave Macleod, Polly Murray and Louise Flockhart, with other special guests...

🎟️ Tickets are available to book now - don't miss out!

14/10/2026

JOIN US THIS SATURDAY as we offer a special tour around the Fair Maid's House in Perth, where we will delve into the RSGS archive to uncover some of the gems within our photographic collection and explore the fascinating stories behind them!

We will also consider the geographical and cultural significance of photography, and hear first-hand insights into what it’s like to view life through a lens.

During each two-hour tour, you will hear from:

Photos and Geography: Alexander Moore is a is a photography curator, creative producer and writer with more than 15 years’ experience developing exhibitions, publications and public programmes. He will explore photographs from the the RSGS collection to explore the relationship between photography, geography and human experience.

Glass Slide Display: Get a closer look at some of the glass slide images housed by RSGS, as Jane Griffiths from the RSGS Collections Team shares some of the most notable images from our collection.

Career Through a Lens: Lorne Gill will reflect on his career as photographer for Nature Scot for over 50 years, including some of his favourite memories and photos that he has captured. He'll also offer a unique insight into how he, and his camera, have seen the Scottish landscape change.

Isobel's Camera: RSGS Writer-in-Residence Jo Woolf explores iconic images in the RSGS collection taken by Isobel Wylie Hutchison from her travels in the Arctic, and the stories behind them.

Get your tickets here: https://www.rsgs.org/Event/discovery-day-photos-from-the-archive

08/10/2026

Join us for A Wild Night In with mountaineers!

A Wild Night In celebrates many of the most momentous and inspiring stories in the history of mountaineering seen through the RSGS archive. Hear in person from some of the world’s leading climbers, including Leo Houlding, Dave MacLeod, Polly Murray and Louise Flockhart, alongside other notable guests - offering a unique opportunity to hear so many remarkable figures from the world of climbing, all in one wild night in. An evening of inspiration plus an opportunity to ask your own questions.

Tickets available now!

Leading mountaineers celebrate many of the most momentous and inspiring stories in the history of the sport seen through the RSGS archive.

06/10/2026

Next week, we are excited to host Miriam Payne for the Inspiring People talks programme in Glasgow and Edinburgh!

Miriam is an ocean rower who has crossed the Atlantic solo and most recently was part of the first women’s team (Seas the Day) to row the Pacific non-stop and unsupported. Miriam, alongside teammate Jess spent five and a half months at sea on a 10-metre boat, rowing 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Australia. Miriam will share her story of becoming part of the first female team to complete the journey non-stop and unsupported.

Tickets are available to book online or at the door!

We organise a programme of public talks and events each year: most of these form our core programme of Inspiring People talks which run from around September to March; our special events include additional talks by high-profile speakers, award presentation events, and specialist event...

01/10/2026

We have a busy October for the RSGS Inspiring People talks programme, with many brilliant speakers to look forward to! Including:

🐟 Writer John Goodlad telling the story of how salt fish from Shetland became one of Europe’s staple foods, powered an economic boom, and inspired artists, writers and musicians:
📌University of Aberdeen ⏰Mon 28th Sept 7:30pm
📌University of Dundee ⏰Tues 29th Sept 7:30pm
📌Dunfermline High School ⏰Wed 30th 7:00pm
📌Renfield Centre, Glasgow ⏰Thurs 1st Oct 2:15pm
📌University of Edinburgh ⏰Thurs 1st Oct 7:30pm

🚲Cyclist and filmmaker Jude Kriwald returns to share his remarkable journey cycling solo from England to India:
📌Inverness Royal Academy ⏰Mon 5th Oct 7:30pm
📌Perth, NCO Centre ⏰Tues 6th Oct 7:30pm
📌University of Stirling ⏰Wed 7th Oct 7:30pm

🏊Jasmine Harrison will reflect on her Guiness World Record breaking swim from Lands End to John O'Groats in 2022:
📌The Old Kirk, Kirkcaldy ⏰Mon 12th Oct 7:30pm

🚣🏽‍♀️ Pacific rower Miriam Payne will share her story of becoming part of the first female team to row the Pacific non-stop and unsupported:
📌University of Edinburgh ⏰Wed 14th Oct 2:15pm
📌The Glasgow Academy ⏰Wed 14th Oct 7:30pm

Mark Wedgwood reflects on cycling 4,000 miles from Dull in Oregon to Boring in Scotland:
📌Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries ⏰Mon 26th Oct 7:30pm
📌Borders College, Galashiels ⏰Tues 27th Oct 7:30pm
📌Kyle Academy, Ayr ⏰Wed 28th Oct 7:30pm
📌Victoria Halls, Helensburgh ⏰Thurs 29th Oct 7:30pm

Tickets are available via our website!

29/09/2026

Since their invention, photographs have provided a powerful way to capture key moments in history, exploration, adventure, innovation and the natural world.

At our latest Discovery Day event, we will delve into the RSGS archive to uncover some of the gems within our photographic collection and explore the fascinating stories behind them. We will also consider the geographical and cultural significance of photography, and hear first-hand insights into what it’s like to view life through a lens.

Learn more and book now!

RSGS offer a specially curated tour to explore the stories of images from its archive.

25/09/2026

We are so pleased to announce that last night we unveiled our first new medal in years by presenting it to the very person it has been named after, Kirsty Wark.

The Kirsty Wark medal is awarded for excellence in communications, arts and creative contributions to geography - designed to acknowledge those who aim to reach the head, the heart and the soul in the way they communicate.

Geography is as much about people as it is about place. It captures a spirit of curiosity and connection, while helping us to understand, to empathise, to discern and to communicate about the world around us.

Throughout her career, Kirsty has embodied this principle beautifully, and as well as being the inaugural recipient of this medal, we hope the medal itself will inspire and celebrate other great communicators for many years to come!

Read more here: https://www.rsgs.org/blog/kirsty-wark-inspires-medal-for-communications

23/09/2026

Next week join John Goodlad for his talks in Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline, Glasgow and Edinburgh as he tells the story of how salt fish from Shetland became one of Europe’s staple foods, powered an economic boom, and inspired artists, writers and musicians!

For more than 300 years Shetland was at the centre of a fascinating salt fish-trading network that connected these remote islands to the rest of Europe. This captivating story is told through the lives of many remarkable people, the fishers, the merchants, and the exporters, ordinary people who led quite extraordinary lives...
Join him at:

📌University of Aberdeen ⏰Mon 28th Sept 7:30pm
📌University of Dundee ⏰Tues 29th Sept 7:30pm
📌Dunfermline High School ⏰Wed 30th 7:00pm
📌Renfield Centre, Glasgow ⏰Thurs 1st Oct 2:15pm
📌University of Edinburgh ⏰Thurs 1st Oct 7:30pm

Book tickets now:

We organise a programme of public talks and events each year: most of these form our core programme of Inspiring People talks which run from around September to March; our special events include additional talks by high-profile speakers, award presentation events, and specialist event...

17/09/2026

Since their invention, photographs have provided a powerful way to capture key moments in history, exploration, adventure, innovation and the natural world.

At our latest Discovery Day event, we will delve into the RSGS archive to uncover some of the gems within our photographic collection and explore the fascinating stories behind them. We will also consider the geographical and cultural significance of photography, and hear first-hand insights into what it’s like to view life through a lens.

Learn more and book tickets now:

RSGS offer a specially curated tour to explore the stories of images from its archive.

15/09/2026

Next week, Anne Strathie will be telling a history of Polar exploration in 50 objects!

Anne Strathie is a researcher and writer of three biographies featuring Scotland’s Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers (the first Scot to the South Pole) and other members of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.

This talk will draw on Anne’s latest book, A History of Polar Exploration in 50 Objects, and feature objects associated with Scottish explorers including James Weddell of Leith, John and James Clark Ross, Dr Harry Goodsir (Franklin expedition), John Rae, William Speirs Bruce, ‘Birdie’ Bowers, geologist James Wordie (Endurance) and Aberdeen’s James ‘Scout’ Marr.

Anne will be speaking in:
📌Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries ⏰Mon 21st Sept 7:30pm
📌Borders College, Galashiels ⏰Tues 22nd Sept 7:30pm
📌Kyle Academy, Ayr ⏰Wed 23rd Sept 7:30pm
📌Victoria Halls, Helensburgh ⏰Thurs 24th Sept 7:30pm

Book tickets now: www.rsgs.org/events

We organise a programme of public talks and events each year: most of these form our core programme of Inspiring People talks which run from around September to March; our special events include additional talks by high-profile speakers, award presentation events, and specialist event...