Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Monday, March 28, 2022

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Monday, March 21, 2022

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Monday, March 14, 2022

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Friday, March 11, 2022

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Monday, March 7, 2022

Strachur House Bridge



 This ornamental bridge was built around 1783. 

Strachur House was built in 1770 by General John Campbell, 17th Chief of the MacArthur Campbells of Strachur. More recently it was bought by Sir Fitzroy & Lady Veronica MacLean in 1957 & their son, Sir Charles, currently lives there with his family.

Saturday, March 5, 2022

Ballimore House


In the early 18th century, the property was owned by the Campbells of Otter and around 1832 Mungo Nutter Campbell (more about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungo_Campbell ) commissioned David Hamilton to build Ballimore House. It was the seat of Campbell MacPherson Campbell in 1885. In 1899 it was bought by Major MacRae Gilstrap who engaged William Leiper to extend and enlarge it. A year later Thomas Mawson laid out the formal ‘Italian’ garden. The property has passed down the generations to Major Gilstrap’s granddaughter, Mrs Van Lynden who, after many years of neglect, has renovated the house. Not much sign of life today though. 

Thursday, March 3, 2022

LA-198


The Spitfire at Kelvingrove (all 2.3 tons suspended from the ceiling!)  

LA-198 was built by Vickers-Supermarine in Marston in 1944 and had some action in England before coming to RAF Abbotsinch in 1946. She had engine issues, described as a “prang on the runway” in the log book & required extensive repairs and was ultimately retired from active service in November 1953. After a stint in the film The Battle of Britain, she was in storage & gradually deteriorated but was brought back to pristine condition at The Museum Of Flight in East Fortune in the early 2000s, before coming to Kelvingrove Art Gallery in 2006. 

Spitfires were essentially a thin aluminium shell with an engine, offering little in the way of protection from enemy fire. Pilots, some as young as 18, only had steel plating behind their seats to shield them from bullets. If they needed to abandon their aircraft the canopy had to be manually popped open, preferably while flying upside down to make use of gravity for a speedy exit! To aid escape the plane was fitted with a crowbar to jimmy open the canopy, should it become jammed shut.

LA-198 stands as a vivid memorial to those daring Second World War pilots and brings thoughts and prayers to all those fighting just now in Ukraine πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ 


Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Floating Heads


 The Floating Heads installation at Kelvingrove Art Gallery by Sophie Cave. 
A gallery assistant said that there are 96 heads and 4 expressions!