This evening, I am presenting video clips and information on Dunstaffnage Castle which is located north of Oban at the mouth of Loch Etive. It is built on a rocky mass of Old Conglomerate. The castle has been a lordly residence for almost 600 years and was abandoned relatively recently, in 1810.

It is believed that a fortress has been on the site for over 1500 years with the present building dating from 1225 AD when it was commissioned by the Macdougalls, Lords of Lorn.

The tall, 13th century curtain wall is provisioned with a relatively modest number of arrow slits. The gatehouse has a harled or roughcast exterior (for protection from the elements). This building dates from the 15th and 16th centuries.

In 1470 the Campbells of Argyll took the Lordship of Dunstaffnage and Lorn which proved a critical move in the ascendancy of the Campbells.

The Captainship of Dunstaffnage Castle requires that the present Campbell Captain spends at least one night each year in the Gatehouse in recognition of historic rights.

Overall, this is an impressive and austere building in a pleasant location and affording excellent views over the local scenery.

This short video clip shows the castle exterior whilst the video below covers the interior and local surrounds.

Labels: castles

posted by Nigel Cole @ 1:48 PM  0 comments

Today, I provided a tour to the prehistoric site at Kilmartin Glen on the west of Scotland. This is about 2 hours from Glasgow. During course of the day, the weather progressively deteriorated but despite and the associated poor light conditions, we achieved most of our objectives.

En route we called in at Inveraray Castle to take some external pics and avail of some light refreshment. This castle is more of a grand mansion and is home to the Duke of Argyll, Chief of Clan Campbell. It is open to the public during the tourist season. Next we moved on to Kilmartin Glen first stopping to view the prehistoric rock art at Achnabreck. Then up to the Kilmartin Museum for a spot of lunch after which we visited the adjacent church to photograph a fascinating collection of medieval slab graves. We then visited or viewed:

• Glebe Cairn
• Nether Largie South Cairn
• Temple Wood Stone Circles
• Nether Largie Stones
• Ballymeanoch Stones
• Ballymeanoch Kerb Cairn
• Dunchraigaig Cairn
• Dunadd Fort

After this tour, undertaken in driving rain, we were utterly soaked to the skin but, nevertheless, considered the day a productive one.

Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Castle
Nether Largie Standing Stones

Labels: KILMARTIN

posted by Nigel Cole @ 2:57 PM  0 comments

This morning, I am posting information on Alexander Thomson's St. Vincent Street Church which is located at the corner of St. Vincent St and Pitt St., Glasgow.

Thomson ( 1817-1875) was probably the greatest mind in Scottish architecture during the Victorian era.

This St Vincent St Church is the only surviving intact church by the architect. It is raised up on its own man made Acropolis on what is a steeply sloping site.

The Ionic porticoes are purely symbolic while the tall steeple suggest an inspiration from the Indian sub continent.

Internally, Thomson made impressive use of light and space. There are cast-iron columns with extraordinary capitals and windows in which huge sheets of rolled glass are rammed straight into the masonry.The interior suggests classical Greek, Assyrian and Indian influences. Thee are also decorative plant and shellfish motifs which are peculiar to Thomson.

Thomson left an extensive legacy of his work in and around Glasgow. He is buried in Glasgow's Southern Necropolis. In due course I plan to put up a web page dedicated to his buildings.

Labels: architecture

posted by Nigel Cole @ 2:57 AM  0 comments

This morning, I visited the Glasgow of School of Art ("GSA"). In architectural terms, this is an iconic building and considered to be one of the most influential and significant structures of the 20th century.

The GSA was founded in 1845. In 1896 the present Mackintosh Building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh who worked for the Glasgow architect firm of Honeyman and Keppie. Half of the building was completed in 1899 with the western end finished a decade later in 1909. This staggered completion was due to financial constraints at the time. Mackintosh was 41 years of age at completion.

This building, which still houses the working Art School, has been described as "The only art school in the world where the building is worthy of the subject".

Mackintosh was a graduate of the GSA. Not surprisingly, the School houses extensive Mackintosh and other collections which, together with other archive material, document the history of the GSA and art, design and architecture education since the School was founded in 1845.

The north facade of the building reflects the internal plan and results in a masterpiece of balanced asymmetry. The entrance is at the centre of the building. See this video for a better appreciation.

Entrace to Glasgow School of Art

Side elevation

Labels: Mackintosh.

posted by Nigel Cole @ 2:07 PM  0 comments

This morning was a classic, wet and overcast day in Glasgow. However, undeterred, I visited a couple of key Mackintosh sites, namely Ruchill Church Hall and the Mackintosh Church which are relatively close to each other near Queen's Cross.

Mackintosh (1868-1928) was a leading architect/designer and a key member of the 'Glasgow Four' which comprised Mackintosh, Herbert MacNair, and the sisters Margaret and Frances McDonald. This group were centred on the Glasgow School of Art (also designed by Mackintosh) and were prolific in the production of decorative works of furniture, architecture, panels, embroideries and graphic material.

It was pleasing to see the Ruchill Church Hall (1898-1899) still being for its original purpose as a church hall/community centre. At time of my visit here there was some sort of play group in process. Refreshments for the public were also available. The Hall , one of Mackintosh's minor works, was built as a mission prior to construction of the adjacent church (not designed by Mackintosh). The image below together with this video clip show the exterior of the Hall. The second video at foot of this posting shows part of the interior.

The Mackintosh Church is contemporary with the Glasgow School of Art (1897-9). It was designed by Mackintosh for architect firm, Honeyman and Keppie. The design reveals a sophisticated handling of form, ornament and symbolic meaning. For an appreciation of the interior see this video clip.

This image shows the pitched, glazed roof of the Mackintosh Church hall with handsome beam structure.


This image shows the barrel-vaulted roof, Nave and Gallery of the Mackintosh Church.

Video no 1 below is the exterior of the Mackintosh Church whilst video no 2 shows interior of Ruchill Church Hall.

Labels: Mackintosh Tours

posted by Nigel Cole @ 9:27 AM  1 comments

This evening, I am focusing on an unusual aspect of Glasgow's architectural and social history in the form of Govanhill Baths at Calder Street.

These baths were built in 1914 (at cost of GBP13,000) pursuant to a Glasgow Council policy of improving health and hygiene for communities at a time when most tenements (flats) lacked proper washing facilities.

The Calder Street facility provided for personal washing (slipper baths), a steamie for washing cloths and three pools for swimming.
The key driver behind this and many other social and educational improvements was the Lord Provost (Mayor), Sir Daniel M Stevenson (1851-1944), a benefactor of Glasgow University who also introduced electric trams and public libraries to Glasgow.

The Baths (good examples of early 20th century baroque style civic architecture) were scheduled to close on March 29th 2001. At that time the Govanhill Baths were the only original, substantially unaltered public baths still in use. In the absence of consultation with the local community, a local lobby group was established and sponsored strong oppositon to the closure plans. This strategy proved successful in that, on June 25th 2009, the Govanhill Community Baths Trust was granted planning permission to develop the Calder St Site as a Wellbeing and Health Centre in a GBP12.5M project that will result in the retention of 12 of the original slipper baths and refurbishment of two of the existing swimming pools. When finished the facility will also include a healthy eating cafe, gym, sauna, Turkish bath, roof garden, gallery, cinema/theatre and other facilities.

Subject to funding it is hoped that work on the refurbishment will commence March 2010.

This image shows original main pool with its cast iron railed gallery together with arched reinforced concrete roof trusses which facilitate a large amount of natural light. The structure on the floor is a piece of artwork called 'Mario Botta' by Rebecca Lindsay and is constructed from wood, aluminium and steel.

Another aspect of the main pool


This image shows a guide with reproduction knitted woollen swimwear from bygone days.

Labels: Glasgow

posted by Nigel Cole @ 11:09 AM  0 comments

Today, I decided to visit Glasgow's famous Necropolis with key driver being comment posted on my separate Ancestry blog from Australian descendants of people named Edington. Early this year I posted information sourced from a Edington memorial stone at the Necropolis but the video image was poor quality so I decided to try and improve the image quality with a more sophisticated camera. This endeavour was only partly successful due to the unusual shallowness of the inscription aggravated by some 100 years of weathering. The amended posting can be found here.

The journey up to the Necropolis ( City of the Dead) took about 40 mins via bicycle and benefited from light Sunday traffic. On the way I had opportunity to 'dip into' some of Glasgow famous sites and sights such as the Squiggly Bridge over the River Clyde, the Tolbooth Steeple and Glasgow Cathedral. Upon the reaching the Necropolis ( which benefits from a high aspect) I took opportunity to photograph a selection of some of the impressive monuments there.

A photo record of the trip is provided below together with summary comments.

This is the Charles Clark Mackirdy monument which dates from 1891.Mackirdy was a wealthy Glaswegian businessman owning a large cotton spinning company and estates in the West Indies.

This is the William Rae Wilson Mausoleum dating from 1849. Dr Wilson was born in Paisley in 1772, lost his first wife after just 18 months and then undertook travels in the Middle East. His second wife built this domed octagonal Moorish kiosk built in the style of Sepulchre monuments from Palestine.

This is the Major Archibald Douglas Monteath Mausoleum and dates from 1842. Monteath's fortune came form the 'liberation' of a consignment of precious gems belonging to an Indian Maharajah. The building is based on the Knights Templar church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This is an aspect of Glasgow Cathedral which dates from the 12th century. It is dedicated to St. Mungo ( aka St. Kentigern).


Aspect of the Necropolis skyline from Glasgow Cathedral. The Necropolis contains the remains of some 50,000 people, mainly the great, good and wealthy of Victorian Glasgow from the time when Glasgow was the second city of the British Empire.


Statue of explorer and missionary, David Livingstone against a backdrop of Glasgow Cathedral.


This is the Tolbooth Steeple at Glasgow Cross and dates from 1636. In its day this stood at he centre of Glasgow and formed part of a larger building which had the unusual dual role of Town Hall and Prison.


This shows the new Squiggly Bridge over the River Clyde. This structure has won various awards for its architecture and engineering. See this video for a closer view.

Overall, a successful trip with original objective achieved.

Labels: Glasgow

posted by Nigel Cole @ 9:34 AM  0 comments

This evening, I am posting some images taken during a recent hike along the Fife Coastal Route from Crail to St. Andrews.

This route along the east coast of Scotland goes past:

• A coastguard station
• A World War Two gun emplacement.
• The seventh oldest golf course in the world.
• Constantine's Cave ( possible location of the King's death in 874 AD
• The Cambo Burn (via a bridge)
• Kinsbarns Golf Links
• Babbet Ness
• Kenly Burn
• Buddo Rock-stack of pink sandstone.
• Rock and Spindle-remains of a volcanic plug.
• Kinkell Ness
• West Sands Beach at St. Andrews.
  

View of St. Andrews
The Rock and Spindle

Buddo Rock
Hiking Scene
Bridge over Cambo Burn

Farmland Scenery
Rocky Beach
Fife Coastal Scene

Labels: Hiking

posted by Nigel Cole @ 10:55 AM  0 comments

This morning was dry so I took myself of to Rouken Glen to obtain some autumn scene images.

Rouken Glen is a fascinating place, located on the south of Glasgow. In the past it has been a gentleman's estate, an industrial area and an army camp (WW1). It is now a pleasant and extensive park containing a wide variety of trees, a waterfall, a golf course and formal gardens. Not surprisingly, the park is very popular with dog walkers and southsiders for general exercise. A vet practice was recently established at one of the entrances, no doubt to capitalise on he passing canine footfall!

My vi st proved rewarding as the trees and leaves provided quite a colourful spectacle producing some interesting, seasonal images. It would have been nice to have some sunshine but this is Glasgow in October!


This first image was taken at the local cemetery.

The following images and video are all of Rouken Glen

Artificial pond. This is home to many waterfowl including swans and ducks.













Timing of this video coincided with some canine antics. The dog came right on cue, just as I pressed the button!

Labels: rouken glen

posted by Nigel Cole @ 4:27 AM  0 comments