Interviews conducted by Flora Burns

Flora Burns is originally from the North East of Scotland and made her way South West after graduating from Aberdeen University and completing teacher training in 1973. On the way she taught in around Glasgow before arriving in Dumfries and Galloway in 1986 and she has now lived near Thornhill for 33 years. She taught English and History and her last post before retiring was Depute Head at Dumfries Academy.

Of her participation in the Study, Flora said: Moat Brae, a fine example of a Georgian house, lies next door to Dumfries Academy. On retiring I joined the campaign to save the house from demolition and have been a member of the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust for 10 years. My principal reason for participating in the study was to record the oral histories of people who had known or worked in the building when it was a private hospital. On meeting people when we held open days or consultation workshops, we were struck by the many people who had a story to tell about the house and their association with it. We felt in recording their stories we were preserving an important part of the heritage of the house for others to enjoy.

Flora Burns conducted a total of 8 recordings made with 13 interviewees. The interviews were carried out between 2014 and 2015.