HMS Tarlair

Hawkcraig Admiralty Research Experimental Station, Aberdour

For more information, visit www.hmstarlairfife.org.uk

HMS TARLAIR

HMS Tarlair is the name of the WW1 Royal Navy research base that was located at Hawkcraig point in Aberdour, Fife. Nothing now remains of the base, or the associated seaplane station, other than two or three shattered concrete hut bases and the crumbled remains of an old pier. There is little memory remaining of the base or the people who worked there.  Who now knows that this base played a key role in the defence of the nation?

The work carried out at HMS Tarlair is of local and national interest. During its short period of operation, major technological advances were achieved, not only in the detection of submarines, and it was one of the first instances of collaborative work between civil and military scientists and researchers. This is not only the story of the development of technology, but also of the characters and personalities involved.

From early 2013 the Aberdour Cultural Association has been supporting a community-driven local history project which has uncovered a significant amount of archive and other material, and with local residents has carried out original research and has compiled this information. The results of this programme were presented at the 2014 Aberdour Festival: Friday 8th August to Sunday 10th August: Exhibition HMS Tarlair including launch of the booklet Listen Up! by Diana Maxwell, a history of the base and the people who worked there, and a programme of talks. See the Gallery page for pictures of some of the events.

The 2nd edition of Listen Up! was published in 2016 and includes more information that came to light following publication of the 1st edition in 2014.

For more information on this project please contact us on [email protected].

100th Anniversary of the Armistice

On Sunday 11th November 2018, Diana Maxwell and Alison Chapman attended the National Service of Thanksgiving in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. Members of the Royal family and religious and political leaders were joined by members of the public who have contributed to the Centenary on a national, regional and local level. Recognising the huge contribution the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and its First World War projects have made to the Centenary, the Department for Digital, Media and Sport invited HLF to nominate people to attend the Service. As a result over 300 people who have been involved with HLF funded First World War projects across the UK attended the Service. The Heritage Lottery Fund distributes the heritage share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide variety of projects across the UK, and it invested £97million in 2,200 First World War Centenary projects. It was an honour to be invited and to be able to represent Aberdour and the huge contribution that the work at HMS Tarlair made to the First World War!

HMS Tarlair March 1917