Fort Ligonier staffer's research takes her 'across the pond'

Erica Nuckles, director of history and collections for Fort Ligonier, will present information she gleaned from her travels to the United Kingdom during a “Tea and Time Travel: Exploring Incredible Connections in the U.K.” Speaker Series program on March 8 at the museum, 200 S. Market St.

During the 2 p.m. program, Nuckles will discuss her recent travels to England and Scotland, where she researched old world connections to Fort Ligonier and Braddock’s Battlefield History Center.

While in London, Nuckles visited memorials to Lord John Ligonier and General James Wolfe in Westminster Abbey. She viewed art work displayed at the Foundling Museum, including British soldiers and other colorful characters in William Hogarth’s 1750 painting “The March of the Guards to Finchley.”

In Scotland, she was able to tour sites on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile with the Dunfermline Heritage Trust’s Frank Connelly. He also provided a tour of Dunfermline, located across the Firth of Forth, home to notable figures intimately connected to western Pennsylvania.

At Pitfirrane House, Nuckles walked stone steps worn down by generations of the Halkett family, including Sir Peter and his sons James and Francis, who fought at the Battle of the Monongahela with Braddock in 1755.

The Halketts were neighbors of the Forbes family who resided 2 miles away at Pittencrieff House, home of Gen. John Forbes and a huge contrast to his simple hut at Fort Ligonier.

While in the Scottish Highlands, Nuckles visited the site of the 1746 Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite Rebellion.

“I was astounded at the layers of connections I was able to make across the Atlantic to the history of western Pennsylvania and I cannot wait to share what I discovered,” Nuckles says in a release.

Walk-ins are welcome.

Cost is $20.

Details: 724-238-9701 or fortligonier.org