This evening I am posting some images of my recent tour of Skye. These were mainly taken around Isleornsay. Weather and light conditions were in perfect alignment. THE place to be for photographs-and great local people too!!

Labels: isle of skye

posted by Catswhiskers @ 12:46 PM  0 comments

Today I am on Isle of Skye. Here is an image of a lighthouse scene at Isle Ornsay. Great Scenery!

posted by Catswhiskers @ 2:59 PM  0 comments

Today I visited Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. This castle is owned by the Queen. Only the garden, grounds, and ballroom are open to the public. The garden is a Highland garden and well worth a visit.

posted by Catswhiskers @ 3:30 PM  0 comments

Today visited Glamis Castle in Angus. This dates back to the 12th century and has many connections with Britain's Royal Family. An excellent guided tour is provided of this famous castle which has also has notable connections to Shakespeare's Macbeth.

posted by Catswhiskers @ 3:46 PM  0 comments

Here are some images of today's tour of Edinburgh's Royal Mile and Castle.

posted by Catswhiskers @ 8:44 AM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting some images from a recent visit to a small farm on the isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides.

Here is a magnificent specimen of a Highland Cow

Belted, Galloway Cattle feeding.


Greedy sheep. In fact this sheep was a former pet lamb and is used to being hand fed.


Sheep and young lamb
Newly born lamb and mother arrive at farm at dusk.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 1:34 PM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting some images of my visit today to Paisley, near Glasgow.

Paisley was a boom town in the late 1800s and generated wealth on a large-scale textile industry the remains of which are still evident as in street names such as Gauze Street, Cotton Street and Linen Street.

The sun was shining which was good. The downside was that I had only my cellphone camera, so quality of images is not brilliant.

In the foreground of this image is the museum, art galleries and central library. In the background is the Thomas Coats Memorial Church.

Here is an image looking towards Gilmour Street Station


Here is an image of the Town Hall, a magnificent Victoria edifice reflecting the confidence of the era.

Here is the famous Abbey which dates back to 1163. The former priory became an abbey answerable to Rome in 1245. It is possible the William Wallace was educated at the Abbey.

Paisley is a vibrant place with lots of history and well worth a visit

Labels: Paisley

posted by Catswhiskers @ 12:33 PM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting an image of an exposed and eroding piece of archaeology found on a cliff at Galson in the north of Lewis. I have other images of the site but blogger seems very slow and unwilling to publish them. The remains are thought to be iron age. Nearby is believed to be the remains of a Viking settlement.

I will try and upload the other images tomorrow.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 1:08 PM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting an image from a recent tour of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.

This whale bone arch is situated between two houses in Bragar. The two bones are the lower jaw bones of a Blue Whale and were removed from a beached whale in 1920 together with the harpoon which was still in the whale together with intact explosive charge.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 2:16 PM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting some images taken at lsle of Great Bernera which is small island connected to Lewis (Outer Hebrides) by a bridge.

At Bosta in the north west, the island has a beautiful beach and an 'Iron Age' village. One of the Iron Age houses has been re-constructed and is open to the public during the summer. These houses are very similar to the 'Black Houses' of Lewis which were occupied by crofters up until the 1970s.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 1:56 PM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting some images of a recent tour to the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides.

This island is very rich in prehistory. provided below are images of just a few of the prehistoric stone circles with which this island is richly endowed.


The next two images are of Callanish III (Cnoc Fillibhir Bheag). It appears to comprise a double circle with the inner comprising four erect stones and the outer eight standing stones including five recumbents. There is a hint of Pythagorean algebra, long before Pythagoras.



These stones are found within Callanish II (Cnoc Ceann a' Ghearaidh) which stands within site of the main Callanish site discovered next. The stones form an ellipse of seven stones, two of which are prostrate with a ruined cairn near the centre.

The following are images of the famous Callanish stones which comprises one of the most significant megalithic complexes in Europe. The next four images are of Callanish 1 which consists of rows of Lewisian gneiss arranged in a cross shape. At the centre is a monolith and small chambered cairn. Absolutely stunning!





Standing stone at Ballantrushal. This is the tallest standing stone in Scotland and stands some 5.7M (18.7 feet) high. Its purpose is unknown but there is speculation that the monolith could have been a prehistoric sea-marker.


This is Steinacleit, Lower Shader. This site contains the remains of a chambered cairn with upright slabs. In turn, the Cairn sits within an oval some 269 ft (82M) in diameter. The site dates from 5000BC to 3000BC

Overall these sites are fascinating examples of the monuments left by the Mesolithic and Neolithic peoples.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 12:21 PM  0 comments

This evening I am posting some images of a recent visit to Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

Harris is well known for the eponymous Harris Tweed cloth which is still a cottage industry with the wool spun in private houses.

Here is a small shop we visited where the wool is spun on site. I bought some rolls of cloth to have made into trousers (pants). This outlet is set in a superb, remote location and definitely not "touristy"-a genuine traditional operation mainly selling traditional Harris Tweed jackets.

Here is am image of the loom which, unfortunately, was not in operation on the day of our visit.

Here is the inside of the well stocked shop.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 2:47 PM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting some images from my recent tour of Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

This is the section featuring this unique group of restored thatched cottages which reflect life in a typical crofting township of the early 20th century.

Included is a demonstration of weaving Harris Tweed which still continues to this day in island cottages.

This is a truly fascinating site in an idyllic setting of Carloway (when the sun shines!) and is well worth a visit.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 1:44 PM  0 comments

This evening i am presenting some images from Isle of Lewis tour . These show a renovated pair of thatched buildings used in the past to convert barley grain into meal using water power.

The buildings reflect the Scandinavian influence on the Western Isles of Scotland.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 2:23 PM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting some images of a recent visit to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Below are images of a 2000 year old iron age Broch which is located at Carloway above Loch an Duin on a rocky knoll. Brochs are unique to Scotland and may have been constructed as combined high status and defensive dwellings. They were built with two concentric walls of stone with a stairway or gallery within the walls, a feature which may have been a very effective climate control system.

Labels: Isle of Lewis

posted by Catswhiskers @ 12:21 PM  0 comments

This morning I am presenting some images of a recent visit to Glasgow Green in the East End of Glasgow.

Here is the Doulton Fountain which dates to the 1888 International Exhibition and is a manifestation of Britain's then empire.


Here is the Templeton Carpet Factory, a very unusual design based on the Doge's palace in Venice.

Here is inside of the the Peoples Palace and Winter Gardens (1888). This was built as a cultural centre for the East End population.

Labels: Glasgow Green

posted by Catswhiskers @ 1:08 AM  0 comments

This evening I am posting some images from a recent tour of historic Glasgow which included Provand's Lordship, Glasgow's oldest house.

This property is located on Cathedral Street, in close proximity to Glasgow Cathedral, which reflects is ecclesiastical origins.

Provand's Lordship dates from 1471. The property was originally built as a manse for St. Nicholas Hospital which was established opposite the Cathedral around 1460.

Labels: Glasgow

posted by Catswhiskers @ 12:16 PM  0 comments

This evening I am posting some images taken from a recent visit to Glasgow City Chambers aka City Hall which is conveniently located on the edge of George Square in Central Glasgow.

Escorted tours of the interior are available.

City Chambers date from 1882-90 ( William Young) and houses the City's local government. Some key issues concerning the architecture:

• Entrance based on 3rd century Arch of Constantine in Rome.
• Inside the main door, the Loggia ( gallery or corridor) has a patterned vaulted ceiling featuring 1.5m pieces of mosaic.
• The building features two open staircases with the grander of the two (the Marble Staircases) rising three stories.
• The grand banqueting hall is on the second floor. On the walls of the hall are hung paintings illustrating Glasgow's history.
  

Interior open staircases


Front entrance taken from George Square

Labels: Glasgow

posted by Catswhiskers @ 10:29 AM  0 comments

Today, I attended an interesting event at a nearby public park in Giffnock.

A local re-enactment society gave an interesting display of Scottish fighting soldiers across the millennia covering from Roman times through to the Jacobite rebellion. Here are some of the images.

The weather was OK-fine but cold.

Labels: battlefields

posted by Catswhiskers @ 7:43 AM  0 comments

This evening I am posting some images from yesterday's visit to Glasgow Cathedral.

The site has been held sacred for over 1500 years with the first stone built Cathedral dating from 1136.

The Cathedral has five major components, viz:

• Nave
• Quire
• Upper and Lower Chapter Houses
• Lower Church
• Blacader Aisle

Glasgow Cathedral is best known for being the only church of Pre-Reformation date to have been left largely intact by the ravages of the Reformation. It has a fine collection of modern stained glass.Traditionally, the Cathedral has close links withe the military (army).


Here is an image of the nave which has an open timber roof of late medieval design.

This is the Blacader Aisle (1483-1508) . The window shown in the image is the oldest in the Cathedral.

This is the tomb of St.Kentigern (St.Mungo) located in the Lower Church


View looking towards the Choir with stone pulpitium in middle distance

External view of the west end of the Cathedral

The Cathedral stands high on a hill overlooking modern-day Glasgow. This area is very historic and includes Provand's Lordship (which dates back to 1471) and the Glasgow Necropolis.

Labels: Glasgow

posted by Catswhiskers @ 10:28 AM  0 comments

This morning I was out taking photographs of historic parts of Glasgow and came across the city emblem which can be found in great abundance around the Cathedral area. What follows is the story behind the emblem; this seems somewhat fanciful as these embellished legends often do. Here we go:

• The tree represented is an oak which commenced life as hazel. The background to this story is that St. Mungo (patron saint of Glasgow Cathedral and also known as Kentigern) was in charge of a holy fire in St. Serf's Monastery but he fell asleep and other students (jealous of Mungo's preferred position) put out the fire. However, St. Mungo obtained frozen branches from a hazel tree and by praying over them caused the fire to reignite.This story would date to about the 6th century AD.
• The bird represented is a wild robin which was tamed by St.Serf but died. St. Mungo was blamed for the death but he was able to restore the bird to life by breathing over it.
• The fish represented has a ring in its mouth. The background to this dates back about 1500 years when the King of Strathclyde gave his queen a ring as a present. She gave to a knight who lost it. The King demanded to see the ring on pain of death. The knight confessed to St. Mungo who arranged for a fish to be caught in the river. The fish was cut open by St. Mungo and found the ring. The symbol of fish with ring was incorporated in the Bishop of Glasgow's personal seal around 1271 and was subsequently incorporated in the Glasgow coat of arms.
• The bell represents "St.Mungo's Bell" which was commissioned in 1450 when John Stewart, the first Lord Provost of Glasgow, left an endowment so that the inhabitants could pray for his soul every time the bell was tolled. The practice of ringing the bell continued at least until 1578.
  

Labels: Glasgow

posted by Catswhiskers @ 9:31 AM  0 comments

This evening I am presenting images of a family memorial from Kilmarnock recording the Currie family.

Unfortunately, the stone has been vandalised- but is still legible.

It records the passing of:

• Alexander Currie on March 19th 1904 age 58
• Elizabeth Kilcoup (wife) who died Nov 18 1901 age 52
• Joseph who died March 13 1870 age 1 month
• Janet who died Oct 9th 1874 age 7 yrs.
  

Labels: Kilmarnock

posted by Catswhiskers @ 12:44 PM  0 comments

This afternoon I am presenting some images of a military memorial in central Inverness, near to the railway station. This records the casualties due to military action and disease in various military engagements in Egypt and Sudan during the late 1800s when Britain's empire was approaching its zenith.

Highland Scots were (are) always highly regarded as front line fighters. Here is a list of the battles which the memorial records:

• Atbara
• Kosheh
• Tel-el-Kebir, 1882
  
• Khartoum
  

Labels: Inverness

posted by Catswhiskers @ 12:32 PM  0 comments