360 no 33

    Entry for August 27, 2007, 360 import, The Reaper
Aug 27, '07 3:18 PM
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This is 'The Reaper', a fife sailing herring drifter which not a million years ago sailed the North Sea in pursuit of plentiful fish stocks. This weekend she was moored up in Arbroath as a visitor attraction during Seafest weekend. Once Arbroath harbour, along with many other small fishing towns and villages along this stretch of coastline, was full of boats just like her. They braved the cruel North Sea and brought back holds full of white fish. Sometimes I look across the harbour at the many shiny new leisure craft moored on the new purpose built pontoons and picture the harbour 100 years ago full of these brown sailed fishing vessels brimming with their white fish catch. What a sight that would have been. Today no white fish are landed at Arbroath harbour, today the only catch to be landed here is crabs and lobsters. There are still some small fishing boats registered to Arbroath but nothing like as many as there were 100 years ago. The Reaper represents the most popular design of fishing vessel used through out the 19th and early 20th century. She was built in Sandhaven near Fraserbrough in 1902, almost one of the last of her kind. She is also one of the biggest of her kind. She is a 70 foot, two masted lugger, usually berthed at Anstruther and oft found at exhibitions and tourist attractions through out the UK. She has had a bit of a chequered career; used first as a fishing vessel registered in a variety of places in Scotland, she was then requisitioned by the Admiralty during the war and post war she was used as a cargo vessel in Shetland. She is now the property of the Scottish fisheries Museum in Anstruther. All in all I think she is my all time favourite of the Seafest.
I have quite a few photos of her, some are in the set of 'Seafest' photos and some are old ones in a 'Reaper' set. She is worth having a look at so please just check her out, she is amasing.
Tags: 360 import, environment, boats, sailing ship, sea, seafest, arbroath, arbroath harbour, scotland
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360 no 32

Entry for August 26, 2007, 360 import, Arbroath Seafest 2007
Aug 26, '07 5:53 PM
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This weekend was the Arbroath Seafest, an annual celebration of the local seafaring traditions held in and around Arbroath Harbour. We were so lucky, the weather was just about the best it has been so far this summer, hot, dry and very sunny mmmmmmmmm!!
A lovely day out was had by all. I've just posted all my seafest photos and as soon as I have time I shall be writing more, untill then just check out this band..........very different and very celtic.
http://www.thetrybe.org
http://www.myspace.com/trybalrecords
Oh heaven, sun, sea, boats, fluffy white clouds, the distinct smell of Arbroath Smokies wafting on the sea breeze, and all this while lounging on the grass watching these guys perform. I don't quite know what to say about them.........unique I guess, and good.
Tags: 360 import, seafest, arbroath, scotland, environment
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360 no 28

Entry for August 08, 2007, 360 import Sight Seeing
Aug 8, '07 7:47 AM
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I feel as if I have been away from here for ages, apart from the odd test, quiz or to answer a message or something I just don’t seem to have really sat down and ‘blogged’ so to speak. Oh I’m going into withdrawl so here goes!
I’m sure it can’t really be as long as it seems. Those of you who know me also know all about my dodgy knees; the knees belong to a body which is rapidly nearing it’s sell by date and certainly wouldn’t pass its MOT. The thing is; the knees, along with the rest of the body, are driven by a brain which foolishly refuses to acknowledge the passage of time and persists in the delusion that it’s forever 25 (ish). Now, as you can imagine, this does cause a bit of a problem at times. For the last couple of weeks or so the knees have protested if made to sit at the computer for any length of time, they just don’t like the position they are forced to adopt and they are certainly not knees to shut up and suffer in silence, all of which partly explains my absence. But only partly; As coincidence would have it, at the very same time as the knees refuse to fold neatly under the computer, a friend who I just don’t get to see that often unexpectedly turned up and offered a weeks worth of sight seeing in the car. I duly consulted the knees and they assured me that stretching out full length in a plush, air conditioned, sat navigated, all singing/ all dancing car was totally acceptable whereas bending double in the cramped confines of under computing table was absolutely not. So……well what choice did I have but to drag myself along on this sight seeing tour? Just prior to the sight seeing tour, my family, who had already noticed I was just a wee bit down, depressed and stressed out had included me in several ‘fun’ family days out.
And that just about sums up the longer than usual absence from these pages. Inconsiderate and uncooperative knees, a brain which refuses to acknowledge the passage of time, family who are observant enough to recognise rising stress levels, and the unexpected arrival of a god-send of a friend with a car. Oh and then there are the photographs of course. Sight-seeing = multiple photo shoot opportunities = loads of photos to download, sort, save and put online, a time consuming task as yet unfinished. I could only do little bits at a time as and when the knees permitted.
Where do I begin? At the beginning I suppose, 8th July.
One daughter + one daughters’ partner + his daughter + their son + another of my daughters’ son + me, all took a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas is a REAL steam train and visits the Caladonian Railway in Brechin once or twice every year!! We met Thomas and all of his friends, we talked to the man on stilts wearing stripy trews and juggling balls, the children took rides on the fairground carousel and everyone went away clutching Thomas flags. The 25 year old brain thought it was great fun, the aged knees did nothing but complain but the sad and depressed spirit fleetingly lifted and sored.
http://www.caledonianrailway.co.uk/
Then there was Blair Drummond Safari Park, 12th July,
God-send friend + all singing all dancing car + youngest grandchild + me, all spent the day there. Child cuddled a Lama, clapped at the penguins, shyed away from the pacing Bear, rode on a ‘tea-Pot’ ride, half ate his packed lunch and finally peeded his pants in the sand pit and went home wearing bright red tiger pyjamas hurriedly bought from the shop. Think that adds up to a good time when you’re just two.
http://www.safari-park.co.uk/faqs.php
There followed a weekend of ‘events’ in our own little town.
On Saturday14th July,
WE had the ‘Seafront Spectacular’, an annual event held on the park next to the beach. With customary grandchild in tow I watched the Fly Past of three antiquated aircraft, all looping the loop and sending out streams of coloured ‘stuff’ (smoke?, Steam?, dunno exactly what it is). We watched the skydiving, all done in the name of some local charity, the grandchild climbed in, out and over and under a fire engine while wearing a REAL yellow fireman’s hat. I watched while the child inspected a steam roller, a whole row of very large motor bikes and what seemed like hundreds of circling Minis. Then, oh joy of joys…………the grandchild spotted the helium inflated, Thomas balloon floating in the sky, well he just had to have one. I was reliably informed he slept with this oversized, helium inflated Thomas balloon for the next week or until it was so deflated it posed a health hazard and had to be forcibly removed from his tiny, tightly closed fist. I think that operation also involved much screaming and stamping of feet but fortunately I wasn’t around to witness the final sad demise of Thomas, or the wrath of the child.
http://www.seafront.org.uk/
Saturdays Seafront Spectacular was followed on
Sunday 15th July,
by another local event arranged by one of the town pubs and named, rather tongue in cheek, ‘Tooties in the Park’. ‘Tooties’ is in fact the name of the organising pub, and the ‘Park’ is the park next to the pub where the event is held; But, the name itself (rather obviously) is a ‘take’ on the infamous ‘T in the Park’. Seemed to be hundreds of kids everywhere, daughters kids, daughters friends kids, kids belonging to neighbours, friends of friends, nephews, nieces, cousins, just kids, kids, kids and more kids where ever you looked. There were stalls, rides, marching bands, military bands, Radio DJ AND……the star attraction! A Crain whose top seemed to disappear into the clouds. At the very top of this Crain was a little platform from which people threw themselves off! And all in the name of charity, of course. Bungee jumping is, I am reliably informed, a totally ‘cool’ way to earn respect & cash for your chosen charity, It just looks bloody scary to me but each to his own I suppose. Guess even brain realises it’s not 25 sometimes.
MONDAY 30th JULY.
Then on with the sight seeing tour. Monday was the Falkirk
Wheel, a feat of contemporary engineering, with astounding mechanics, absolutely second to none. Monday dawned a fine, bright and sunny day perfect for our visit (no kids today) to the wheel and surrounding docks, barge boats and countryside. I managed some dramatic and almost abstract photography of the wheel, all of which are now stored in my flickr photos so please just go take a look. The Falkirk Wheel is the spectacular centrepiece of the £84.5 million ‘Millennium Link', the UK’s largest canal restoration project, developed by British Waterways to reconnect the Union Canal with the Forth & Clyde Canal, re-establishing east to west coast access for boats.
http://www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk/
TUESDAY 31st JULY.
Tuesday was a late afternoon visit to Barry Mill just outside Carnoustie, Angus. We arrived too late to actually get into the Mill but …… another great photo opportunity, just go look at the photos and see what a great sky there was that evening. The Mill itself is a pretty interesting little place which we will return too later. This 19th century meal mill works on a demonstration basis. Records show that a mill has occupied the site since at least 1539. The present building was rebuilt in 1814 following a fire. Barry Mill was the last water-powered meal mill to work in Angus, producing oatmeal until the late 1970s and animal feed until 1982. The whole ‘visitor’ experience highlights the important place the mill held in the community.

http://www.aboutbritain.com/barrymill.htm
WEDNESDAY 1st AUG.
Now Wednesday really was an OUTSTANDING day, rated on a scale of 0-10 on out little sightseeing tour it’s right up there at 10++++. We travelled all the way North to Oban, known as the ‘Gateway to the Islands’. Oban lies on the North West coast of Scotland and is the major ferry port to many of the outlying Islands. The journey up there took us past hills, lochs, villages and scenery just out of this world. On the way we stopped briefly at Loch Earn, 87 meters deep, 10.5 km East to West, 0.8 km width at widest point, all set to a backdrop of hills, villages and water foul.

http://www.strathearn.com/op/lochearn.htm
Just before Oban we passed the Connel Bridge, built in 1901 over the entrance to Loch Etive and near to the ‘Falls of Lora’. This is a relatively small Cantilever bridge but quite an impressive one, anyone who likes bridges and engineering projects just check this one out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connel_Bridge
Once you get into Oban you can see why it is called ‘The Gateway to the islands’, that’s exactly what it is, a town that completely revolves around its little harbour. The town is full of people waiting for, embarking, disembarking, booking, or almost missing ferries all bound for one of the islands off the West Coast of Scotland. This is another of Scotland’s towns which once boasted a large, successful fishing fleet but in order to survive has had to ‘diversify’ as they say. Fortunately for Oban, it’s just the most amazing place for tourists so their future is assured, pity the same can’t be said for many more of the little fishing towns all along Scotland’s coast whose livelihoods have been decimated by ‘fish quotas’ and suchlike.
Dominating the skyline above the town is a Collosseum like structure built by Banker, (yes that is a B) John Stewart McCaig, a wealthy Victorian philanthropist. He designed the structure and built it by employing local unemployed stone masons throughout the winter months. It dominates the skyline, giving the impression that Oban is overshadowed by a great ancient monument that would rival the best that ancient world has to offer. All false of course, it’s just another example of the Victorian obsession with Ancient Classicism. BUT…… it offers views to die for, now these photos you have to check out
So here’s a bit of the history; The tower is also known as "The Crown of Oban" and is built on Battery Hill, which, as the name suggest was previously the site of gun emplacements. It’s approximately 190 feet in diameter and is essentially another Victorian ‘Folly’. The tower was built, like so many other "follies" to provide work for local stone masons. Whatever the reasons behind the building, or the inspiration, the tower has provided Oban with another attraction and this one is never, EVER forgotten. The views from the tower are stunning. It's position is perfect as it looks out over the harbour, Kerrera Island and the whole bay. Originally the wealthy philanthropist planned a tower, museum, art gallery and chapel all to be built at the site, but none of that actually happened. The likeness of the building to Rome's Coliseum has prompted suggestion that the tower was modelled on Rome's famous landmark, you can understand why, like I said, check out the photos. The tower is now owned by Oban Town Council who have added floodlights and maintain the property. The floodlights have ensured that the tower dominates the town at night. And we will just have to go back to see the tower at night!!
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/oban/oban/index.html
http://www.robinwilson.net/mccaigstower/mccaigstower.html
THURSDAY 2cd JULY.
Thursday and half way through our weeks worth of sight seeing already. Thursday’s destination was a place I had visited before but always wanted to return to. Amongst other things, (buildings, bridges, Victorian engineering projects, etc) I have a love of boats and ships. So Thursday’s destination was the Glenlee, One of only 5 Clydebuilt ships remaining afloat today. She was built in Glasgow in 1896 and used as a long haul cargo vessel. And what a very beautiful vessel she is! Apart from anything else, she’s just another great photo opportunity. The Glenlee was built at the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow and was one of a group of 10 steel sailing vessels built to a standard design for the Glasgow shipping firm of ‘Archibald Sterling and Co ltd’. She is a three masted barque, with length 245 feet; beam 37.5 feet and depth 22.5 feet. The Glenlee first took to the water as a bulk cargo carrier in 1896. She circumnavigated the globe four times and survived ( not easy in those days, though not without incident) passing through the fearsome storms of Cape Horn 15 times,(wow 15!!) before being bought by the Spanish navy in 1922 and being turned into a sail training vessel. The ship was modified and served in that role until 1969. She then operated as a training school until 1981 when she was laid up in Seville Harbour and largely forgotten. Untill she was rescued, brought home and restored to her former glory, don’t you just love a happy ending.

http://www.glenlee.co.uk/
FRIDAY 3rd JULY
And then it was Friday, the last day of the sight seeing tour in the plush, air conditioned, all singing/all dancing, sat navigated car. Also time for me to start calculating my unusually large eco footprint for the previous week……………..I’m gonna be turning off lights, recycling mine and every body else’s rubbish and letting even more of my garden grow wild for the next year to compensate for the oh so deliciously extravagant all singing/all dancing automobile excursion. But oh!..... it has been enjoyable. So Friday, well that turned out to be an odd day. We aimed for Loch Levan, it looked like a picturesque loch with a ruinous castle on an island in the middle of the Loch, only accessible by a boat ride. Oh…. It sounded an ideal way to end our week, so we set the sat nav, sat back and enjoyed the scenery.
www.kinrosshouse.com/lochleven_touristinfo.html
Unfortunately we asked her (sat nav) to take us to Leven, not LOCH LEVEN, seems the loch is not the same place as the town and the town turned out to be not that exciting. It’s quite a sad, kinda run down little sea side town, which has the cheek to ask 30p to go to the not so special loo on the sea front! So we sat in the car, drank coffee, looked at the sea and decided what to do. And what we decided was to just drive up the coast and have a look at the picturesque villages along the way. We passed St Monans, Pittenween and Anstruther.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Monans
www.scotland-flavour.co.uk/pittenweem -
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/anstruther/anstruther
And this rather impromptu and unexpected tour of some of Scotland’s best kept secrets along the Fife coast was just such a high to end out sight seeing on. These are traditional Scottish fishing villages at their best. I haven’t quite finished downloading all the photos from my camera so the pictures from Friday have yet to go online, but all the others are there and these will follow just a.s.a.p. The only village we actually managed to park in and get a good look at was St Monans, and it was beautiful. St Monans is a town in the East Neuk of Fife named after the legendary Saint Monan. It’s approximately 3 miles west of Anstruther this small picturesque fishing community rests on a hill overlooking the Firth of Forth Estuary, with views over to North Berwick, the Bass Rock and the Isle of May. St Monans contains loads of historically important buildings, most notably the now defunct Windmill that once powered a salt-panning industry! There is also a 14th century church that perches precariously on the rock face cliffs above the water on the western side of the village. Approximately 1/2 mile west of St Monans, are the remains of the once great Newark Castle, a 16th century manor that has since fallen to ruin through cliff erosion and disrepair, another one to add to my ‘must see’ list. In 2002 with the permission of Historic Scotland, an attempt to restore the castle was made however for whatever reason was unsuccessful (if anyone knows why please feel free to add that in).
Parish Church
St Monans church, still within its kirkyard is just to the west of the village on the very edge of the sea. It’s rumored to be the church nearest the sea in the whole of Scotlands The church, one of the best Middle Ages Church in Scotland was built by King David 11Bruce (1329-71), initially for a small house of Dominican Frias. It later became the Church of Scotland parish church. The church has never been properly finished (it lacks a nave), it has many features of architectural interest, notably the fine stone vaulting in the choir and the simple but handsome ‘sedilia’. Internally it is white-washed throughout and is in a style that seems to dominate in this small Fife costal area.
Major restoration to the windows and masonry was completed in March 2007. The church is open to visitors daily from April – October, for some reason not open while we were there! And so ended our grand tour. From there we traveled up the coast intending to grab a coffee in St Andrews before setting off for our final destination….home. What we didn’t take into account was the ‘Ladies Open’, (important Golf for those of you who like me, are completely disinterested!), in full swing in St Andrews, and which consequently led to every parking place and coffee shop being full, full, full. Dehydrated, tired and homeward bound our weeks sight seeing finally came to an end. And after all that I’m sure you can see why blogging has taken a bit of a back seat for a while.
..
Tags: 360 import, environment, seafront spectacular, arbroath, scotland
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360 no 23

Entry for July 25, 2007, 360 import, House of Dun
Jul 25, '07 6:03 PM
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ONE WEEKEND,
ONE GRANDAUGHTER, ½ DOZ CROSSANTS,
AND THE HOUSE OF DUN
Oh, it just seems so long sinse I did a 'real' blog I just thought it was about time I did one, so here it is, AND there SHOULD be a complete album of photos of 'The House of Dun' in my photo's to go with this blog.

A Couple of weeks ago I stayed over with my daughter and granddaughter, Great Weekend!!. I have the privilege of sleeping in the granddaughters rooms on a futon when I stay there. The Futon’s nice and comfy but there’s not much chance of a lie in with a bouncy, excited 6 yr old peering over the top of her fairy princess bed, grinning her toothless grin, and all at the crack of dawn. True to form she was up with the birds and therefore so was I. We decided to allow her mother the unaccustomed pleasure of a Sunday morning long lie in bed, while we amused ourselves with a leisurely stroll to the shops. We bought the Sunday Newspapers, fresh orange juice and chocolate croissants for breakfast.
Mmmmmmm, yum yum, nice breakfast.
Croissants devoured, newspapers now sticky with chocolate croissant remains were strewn across the floor and we decided to go visit The House of Dun.

House of Dun on AboutBritain.com
This beautiful Georgian house, overlooking the Montrose Basin nature reserve, was designed by William Adam in 1730.
http://www.aboutbritain.com/houseofdun.htm
THE HOUSE OF DUN was designed by architect William Adam and is described as one of his best if not THE best surviving, modest sized, country houses in Scotland today. Adam was commissioned sometime in the early 1730’s by David Erskine,13th Laird, Judge of the Scottish Court of Session, to build a new, grand, fashionable house on his estate, overlooking the Montrose Basin. The house stands half a mile north of the basin on a pleasant, green and decidedly 'non-floodplain' piece of land. Delving a little into the history I immediately stumbled across something I would like to know more about. It seems the Dun estate was purchased in 1375 by Sir Robert Erskine from Renfrewshire and during the 16th and 17th century his descendents happily inhabited a Scottish Tower house situated approximately ¼ mile west of the present house. All that remains of this once noble and traditional Tower House is a ruinous archway in the old walled Garden. Now maybe I just haven’t looked very hard (very possible) or maybe there really isn’t much evidence or information out there on the original ‘Old Castle’, but; for what ever reason, I have drawn a blank!! My only lead to information about this now vanished Tower House is that it is mentioned in Vol 3 of the antiquated 19th century series of books; Angus & Forfarshire’ by A. G. Warden. A source of information I fully intend to investigate at a later date. But for now, if anyone knows anything of this now vanished Tower House please, please share your information with me. I would most especially like a picture of it, or some detail on its design and layout. Most original architectural drawings of these buildings are long lost, I would not be so foolish as to expect the original, or accurate copies of the original drawings to turn up. BUT; something must be known of this old tower house by someone, somewhere. It must have stood for the best part of 200-300 years at least, and it’s difficult to believe that in all those years a passing painter didn’t record it, or journey man didn’t stay there and write a letter about it. The one piece of information relating to the original Tower House to be found in the official ‘National Trust for Scotland’, guide book is that it was completely destroyed in 1723. The actual quote is from Alexander McGill, the official Edinburgh City Architect who was originally employed to survey the estate and provide plans for a new house. He is recorded as saying that the old castle (Tower House) was ‘Raze’d Dow’n to the Ground’. How, (accidental or otherwise) it was raised down to the ground the quote didn’t say but I’m pretty sure that much at least must be known by someone. Anyway, I digress, since I don’t know anything about the original Tower House this little blog was supposed to be about the grand palatial and impressive House of Dun as designed by William Adam.

A Couple of weeks ago I watched a BBC programme about the way Scottish Architecture has developed over the centuries, it was called ‘Building Britain’, presented by David Dimbleby. The eminent and much respected Mr Dimbleby presented the public with ‘Kinross House’
http://www.kinrosshouse.com/
as the very first grand country house in Scotland NOT to be built as a ‘Castle’, (his description not mine). Kinross House was designed by William Bruce and completed in 1693, although the interior had not been completed to Bruce’s designs by the time of his death in 1710. Dimbleby positively gushed over Kinross House, he admired the design of elegant classicism as opposed to the traditional Tower House design, he admired the comfort and space classicism offered and he spoke admiringly of the European influence of space, light, height and classical proportions. In conclusion to his obvious enthusiasm for the new and precisely proportioned Kinross House he said cuttingly ’what a relief’! Meaning I assume; that the peoples of Scotland were surely thrilled to do away with their old dingy Tower Houses in favour of this new breed of building. Much as I admire the eminent Mr Dimbleby I most certainly do not agree. If you want comfort and sumptuous surroundings go visit ‘Argyll’s Lodgings’, an intact, if developed Tower House just down the road from Sterling Castle. Or, if you want to see how light and the modernism of the time were adapted into Tower Houses go look at the enormous windows incorporated into Edzel Castle. What I am trying to say here is that for me, the demise of the traditional, vernacular, Scottish Tower House in favour of the classically proportioned, palatial box adorned with imitation Greek columns and other assorted embellishments, remains a tragic loss to this country. Mr Dimbleby may casually remark ‘oh what a relief, I just hope he doesn’t think his opinion is universally accepted.’
AND, yet again I digress; I am supposed to be talking (blogging) about ‘The House of Dun’. The reason for this digression is because;
Despite acknowledging ‘The House of Dun’ as a bloody fine example of what it is, (designed by William Adam you would expect that). Still, my steadfast and unfaltering preference lies with the starkly, almost forebodingly powerful, rubble built, harled, traditional Tower House, over a palatial, classically proportioned, mathematically perfect box of columns, finials, portico’s and triumphal archways.

As for the House of Dun itself, it was every bit as beautiful as you would expect. To say it was designed by William Adam is not exactly the whole truth. Its design was in fact the result of architectural consultations, plans, drawings, general chit-chat & argy bargy at a distance, between the original designer, Alexander McGill, Edinburgh City Architect, William Adam, Architect and entrepreneur and John Erskin, Lord Mar, gentleman architect and notoriously exiled Jacobite kinsman to Lord Dun. The key word there is ‘exiled’, which accounted for the consultations taking place ‘at a distance’, AND over time. Much of the original design was in fact Mar’s with a triumphal arched front centrepiece added later. Adam’s greatest contribution to the project was that he acted as what would today be called ‘site manager’. He held the post of ‘Mason to the board of Ordinance’ and as such directed the project. The house, once built, was elegant and symmetrical with a grand stair way leading to the megalithic arched entrance at the front of the house. The rear of the house is equally elegant and symmetrical with external stairs leading into the grounds which extended all the way to the waters edge. The famous jacobite connections of the family were celebrated with the flamboyant, extravaganza of allegorical jacobite plasterwork carried out by Joseph Enzer in the Saloon. The saloon being the principle room of the house, the room used for entertaining, was situated on the ground floor with spectacular views out over the grounds and down to the water. The placing of the principle room on the ground floor was just another move away from the traditions of the tower house where the Grand Hall or principle room was always situated on the first floor. The plasterwork is unequivocally the best to be seen, ANYWHERE, except maybe at Arniston House which also has plasterwork by Enzer. There is a stucco ceiling, Bas-reliefs of Neptune and Mars that dominate the two fireplaces, heraldic lions, armoury, shields; there is Minerva, Medusa and a whole menagerie of dolphins, dogs, stags and horses tethered to warrior led chariots. Whole books could be written about this plasterwork. What it actually depicts in ‘real’ terms is mostly in keeping with the new classicism, depictions of ancient Greek Mythology. But; woven into that is the thinly disguised pro Jacobite theme of victory and the ensuing peace under the victorious jacobite rule. On top of the clever politics, it is stunningly beautiful.
Having glazed over in awe at this mind boggling plasterwork I had to metaphorically smack myself in the face, tell my feet to move and head out to investigate the rest of the house. And I have to say, it was pretty dam good, highly recommended as a smart place to visit for anyone who happens to find themselves in the general vicinity of Montrose, especially if, like me you happen to be somewhat obsessed with antiquated buildings.
AND……. The icing on the cake for me was….. my six year old granddaughters apparent genuine shared interest in these old and dusty rooms. This is poetic justice indeed for the times I have tried valiantly but in vane to generate the smallest spark of enthusiasm from my daughter (her mother) in our built environment, in the heritage of our buildings. Alas my daughter has not the slightest interest in such things, but it seems her 6 year old daughter does!! Now, that really did make my day.
Tags: 360 import, dun house, montrose, scotland, robert adam, architect, architecture
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360 no 14

    Entry for July 05, 2007, 360 import, Draculars castle,
Jul 5, '07 2:01 PM
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Heir puts 'Dracula's Castle' for sale 
Being the avid Castle lover that I am I just could not resist this when I saw it…… yep…. It’s for real… Dracula’s Castle is for sale!!!!!!!!! 
By ALEXANDRU ALEXE, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 2,
BUCHAREST, Romania - A Habsburg heir is hoping someone will take a bite of his offer Monday to sell "Dracula's Castle" in Transylvania. 
The medieval Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, "Dracula." 
Legend has it that the ruthless Vlad — who earned his nickname because of the way he tortured his enemies — spent one night in the 1400s at the castle. 
The Habsburgs formally put the Bran Castle on the market Monday, a U.S.-based investment company said. No selling price was announced. 
Bran Castle was built in the 14th century to serve as a fortress to protect against the invading Ottoman Turks. The royal family moved into the castle in the 1920s, living there until the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana in 1948. 
After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania, it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as "Dracula's Castle." 
In May 2006, the castle was returned to Princess Ileana's son, New York architect Archduke Dominic Habsburg. He pledged to keep it open as a museum until 2009.
Habsburg, 69, offered to sell the castle last year to local authorities for $80 million, but the offer was rejected. 
On Monday, he put the castle up for sale "to the right purchaser under the right circumstances," said Michael Gardner, chief executive of Baytree Capital, the company representing Habsburg. "The Habsburgs are not in the business of managing a museum."
He predicted the castle would sell for more than $135 million but added that Habsburg will only sell it to a buyer "who will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect." 
Habsburg said in a statement: "Aside from the castle's connection to one of the most famous novels ever written, Bran Castle is steeped in critical events of European history dating from the 14th century to the present." 
According to a contract signed when the castle was returned, the government pays rent to Habsburg to run the castle as a museum for three years, charging admission. After 2009, Habsburg will have full control of the castle, Gardner said.
The government has priority as a buyer if it can match the best offer for the castle, he said. 
Opposition lawmakers have claimed the government's decision to return the castle to Habsburg was illegal because of procedural errors.
In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats flying around its ramparts at twilight — has attracted filmmakers looking for a dramatic backdrop for films about Dracula and other horror movies. 
Some 450,000 people visit the castle every year, Gardner said.
Ok folks…………..who’s got a couple a quit they can lend me, I mean, this isn’t any old Castle…………..
This is Dracula’s Castle!!!!
     
Tags: 360 import, environment, draculars castle, castle, architecture
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360 no 8

Entry for June 08, 2007, 360 import, One for 'EdTrain', Caladonian Railway,
Jun 8, '07 9:15 AM
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This is one just for you EdTrain.
Unfortunately the last time I rode on this old train I didn't have a digi camera, just an old APS and I don't have a disc with any of my photographs on. BUT..... as my daughter now lives in Brechin I think I may just pay her a visit pretty dam soon and take a trip on the wonderful CALENDONIAN railway, and when I do, rest assured, I will be bringing loads of good pics back with me and putting them right here for all to see. Until then, this is a mega quick scribble with a link to the site so you can have a nice little read and wait with bated breath in anticipation for me to go ride and bring back stories and pictures. Be sure to check out the photo gallery on this web site, great pics of old steam trains. Like I said Ed, this one's for you
www.caledonianrailway.co.uk
Tags: 360 import, environment, caladonian railway, steam trains, brechin, scotland
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360 no 7

    Entry for June 07, 2007, 360 import, Seaton Cliffs
Jun 7, '07 3:15 PM
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No buildings today, no Castles, no Tower Houses, no ancient stairways, no gun loops and no vaulted cellars. Instead, a vast prehistoric deposit of rich red sandstone, 350 million years worth of the stuff. And this is the basic building material of all those castles and fortified houses in and around Angus. Travel further north or down to Edinburgh and the castles are built from Granite, stone local to that area, but here it is red sandstone, found in abundance around this, the astoundingly beautiful North East Coast of the cruel North Sea.
These cliffs, caves and stacks are the result of relatively recent and ongoing erosion of the soft sandstone deposited so long ago. The cliffs are reached from the far end of Victoria Park, Arbroath at the end of the promenade, less than half a mile from the centre of town. The whole area from Victoria Park right along the Cliff top pathway is a designated 'Site of Special Scientific Interest', or SSSI as it is known. This is on account of the spectacular rock, stack and outcrop formations AND the vast numbers of nesting seabirds AND the numerous rare flora and fauna prevalent in the area. In fact, it has just about everything anyone could possible want for a nature loving day out.
If you follow the cliff top path from Whiting Ness at the north end of Victoria Park you reach the start of the reserve near a sandstone arch known locally as Needles Eye. Beyond that is Dickmonts Den, Devil's Heid and Carlingheugh Bay and then Seaton Den. You can stop and just sit a for while in perfect peace,just gazing out to sea, sometimes you get to see dolphins jumping and diving as they swim north where they breed. Always there is the sound of the sea birds screeching overhead and the sea crashing against the foot of the rocks. Sitting at the top of the cliffs gives a peculiar view of the swooping, soaring birds, very often they are actually flying lower down the cliff face than where you are sitting. Sometimes you're just sitting on top of the cliffs taking in the beauty, mesmerised by sun light sparkling on the blue water, when suddenly a bird will appear from below the edge of the cliff and sore up and up above you. There are Gulls, Gannets, Fulmars, Rock Doves, House Martins and my favourite, Puffins, with their bright red beaks. I especially like to see the Puffins, like little painted birds who imitate clowns. At low tide the waders come and poke around in the pools left behind by the sea.
Other people go to see the variety of wild flowers, some of the flowering plants are quite rare. There are tiny little wild pink orchids that I see sometimes, not sure exactly what they are called but they are very pretty. I think one of the most amazing things about this place is it's age, it gives a sense of continuity. For thousands, who knows millions of years, people have been living here. There are some very ancient cart tracks that show where the ancient people mined the sandstone from the foot of the cliffs and dragged it up by the cartload. This Red Sandstone has been the basic building blocks for all buildings in and around this area for all time, for as long as people have been erecting buildings around here this sandstone has been used.
The peace found up here is akin to sitting way up in the eves of a medieval cathedral. It offers that kind of peace and tranquillity, and yet it is far from silent with the crashing sea, the screeching birds and sometimes the howling wind. Beautiful, ancient, peaceful yet full of history and full of life. Oh how I love this place, if I were to give it a visitor rating it would have to be ****************************************************************
Tags: 360 import, environment, walking, seaton cliffs, arbroath, scotland
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360 no 6

    Entry for June 03, 2007360 import, Elcho Castle
Jun 3, '07 5:22 PM
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Another day dawns with the dreaded harle swirling around my garden, this is low lying cloud taken to extreme. My poor dog got lost in its murky mist. Poor wee thing, she only has one eye to start with, and that eye doesn't see too well at the best of times so submerge her in this particularly Scottish weather phenomena and she doesn't stand a chance. You wouldn't think my garden was big enough to get lost in even for a half blind, partially deaf and increasingly senile dog, you'd be wrong, she did. Low lying cloud be dammed, cause of mortal danger to small unsuspecting dogs in its path.
Heard a small piece about Elcho Castle on the radio today, reminded me of my visit there last year. Not the most well known of Scotland's little treasures but totally wonderful place to visit. It's quite well hidden, not that easy to find, not that well signposted and very easily missed!! Worth finding though.
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/perth/elchocastle
NB Warning!! Alert!!, please don't do as I did and go rushing up the many narrow stairs and then hang over the top of the highest tower to take pictures IF, as I was, you are accompanied by an asthmatic who gets vertigo at anything over first floor level!! ...... oops silly, silly me.
What can I say, another of Scotland's beautiful Tower Houses. As Red Castle must be one of the most ruinous tower house left, Elcho Castle is one of the most intact and original. Elcho Castle has stairs, floors, passageways, vaulted basements, everything in its original state with the exception of the roof and windows which were replaced in the 1830's. The building of this Tower House is thought to have started round about 1550, once all the lands of Elcho had been consolidated under the ownership of the Wemyss family. The Castle was the main residence of the Wemyss family. The first record of the land of Elcho is in the 'Register of the Great Seal' when Easter Elcho was granted by James III to John of Wemyss, BUT, there is mention of a 'place of strength' called 'Elkok' in Blind Harry's epic tale 'Wallace'. It is thought that this was some sort of earlier structure that stood on the site of or close to where Elcho Castle stands today. There is no exact parallel to Elcho in any other Tower House in Scotland, it incorporates round towers, square towers, some genuinely defensive elements and some decorative elements of castle architecture. It was built just at the beginning of the period when country houses were springing up in the traditional 'Castle' style, but with many of the defensive elements of the older castles imitated as decorative rather than functional elements. The skyline of this building is fascinating, it has round corbelled turrets, square corbelled turrets and aspects of European architecture blended with traditional Scottish architecture all to produce a very distinctive skyline . When it was built it was of the 'latest fashion'; rather than having an external stairway to the first floor that could be removed if under attack, as was the fashion in earlier defensive Tower Houses, Elcho has a grand stone stairway running from the ground floor to the grand hall on the first floor.
Think what I would like to do is to visit first Red Castle, then Edzell Castle and finally Elcho Castle, it would be like visiting a building site and seeing Tower Houses under different stages of construction, only of course in reality they are at different stages of decomposition. Buildings like these you can 'read', it's like peeling an onion and looking inside at the different sages of build. Fascinating, or it this just my rather unique way of looking at things.
Elcho, a totally fascinating, amazing, interesting and absolutely 'worth a visit' piece of Scottish history.
Tags: 360 import, environment, elcho castle, scotland, architecture
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360 no 5

Entry for June 02, 2007, 360 import, Kelburn Castle,
Jun 2, '07 4:11 PM
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Have not written anything for a few days, been feeling a little unwell. BUT.......saw this in to days newspaper and just had to have it.
www.kelburncastle.com
The story is this, like many of our historic buildings Kelburn Castle has at some time been rendered in concrete rather than the traditional Lime rendering. The concrete causes damage to the stone work and if the buildings thus affected are to be saved the concrete rendering must be removed. In this case the removal of the concrete rendering is scheduled to happen in 2009 as part of a £1 million restoration project.
BUT..... before this happens the current Earl of Glasgow, Patrick Boyle employed four Brazilian graffiti artists to transform the old tower of the castle. It is hoped that this will attract more visitors which in turn will generate more money toward the restoration of the castle.
Dunno 'bout you but I think it's quite amazing and I'll defiantly try to see it before the restoration work tears it down.
Tags: 360 import, environment, kelburn castle, scotland, architecture, art, graffiti art
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360 no 4

Entry for May 29, 2007, 360 import, Red Castle,
May 29, '07 1:34 PM
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Fun day at work today!! well actually not, my turn to accompany 7 15 year olds on a visit for the day, oh what fun that was, least said the better me thinks. As always vast majority of the kids are great but you always get one gobby little git who ruins the day for every one else. This particular gobby little git has a bit of an entourage, those who are prone to follow mindlessly. Needless to say; said gobby little git will not be going back for a second day and without her the sheep like entourage may begin to understand the fundamentals of group work. Fortunately gobby little git plus sheep like entourage are almost 16, oh the joy, this means we are not obligated to take her (or the gobby little gits in training) back next term. Do all 15/16 year olds have the propensity to imitate embryonic psychopaths or are we just lucky, lucky, lucky to have found so many??
However, now that work is over and I am de-stressed sufficiently to contemplate the more pleasant things in life, my thoughts turn yet again to the beautiful ruinous buildings, tower houses and castles of Scotland. And my choice for today is RED CASTLE.
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/montrose/lunanbay
Over looking Lunan Bay on the North East coast of Angus, Red Castle is just over 2 miles north east of Inverkeilor. Another ‘Castle’ which was actually a Tower House but this time it’s position does indicate that it was built with defence in mind. In a position like this a building would not need to be a full blown ‘Castle’ to deter would be attackers and assorted enemies. This Tower House is completely ruinous and will, in the very near future, totally disappear down the side of the sheer cliff where it's now perched most precariously, it's hanging in there by its fingernails. The ruins of this Tower House, built with the local red sandstone date from roundabout the 15th Century. The lands of Inverkeilor, on which the ruins of the Tower House stand, were granted to Walter de Berkeley, the royal chamberlain of William The Lion. On Walter's death in 1194, the property passed, via his daughter, to the Balliol family the probable builders of the first stone dwelling on that site. During the Wars of Independence the castle was granted to Donald Campbell who sold the lands on to the Stewarts, and it was the Stewarts who built the Tower House, the ruins of which we are left with today.
,Red Castle overlooks Lunan Bay which is just south of Montrose, somewhere between Boddin Point and the Lang Craig. Lunan Water flows out to the bay just near the tiny village of Lunan and here the beach is absolutely owe inspiring, there is just nothing to compare. Puffins nest up in the cliffs and the beach is this immense expanse of white sand edged by dunes and cliffs. It’s a bit of a hike to get up to the castle but oh is it worth it. Anyone intending to pay it a visit would be well advised to go sooner rather than later as it really can't hang on to that cliff edge for very much longer.
Tags: 360 import, environment, red castle, lunan, scotland, architecture
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360 no 3 Edzel Castle

Entry for May 28, 2007, 360 import, Edzell Castle

May 28, '07 3:59 PM for loretta's contacts

Here I am again at the end of another longish, coldish, dismal(ish) day, and still not solved the problem of uploading photos, which is (as opposed to 'uplifting photos') apparently the correct terminology for getting them from wherever they are to here. Thank you for your advice re photos and correct terminology, shall do as you suggest and wait for Yahoo to provide a download transfer link and for now just upload a few here and there. Thanks, all advice appreciated.
The dastardly ECDL was OK, passed another module and am now left with the tantalising choice of doing Database or Spreadsheets next, wow, exciting or what?? how lucky am I?
IF and I do mean IF I manage to upload the photo of choice for today it will be a rather nice view of Edzell Castle, situated in the delightful Angus countryside. This one was taken a while ago with my old APS, this was prior to getting my trusty little digi that now goes everywhere with me. So if the quality isn't that good, well that's why. Should really go back this summer and get some better pics.
What to say about Edzell Castle, well for a start it's not a castle, it's a Scottish Tower House, my favourite type of building. Scottish Tower Houses, the traditional and vernacular residence of the Scottish Nobility. Beautiful, strong, impressive, stone rubble built tower houses harled in white with brightly painted detail. These days they are mostly all devoid of their original harling. Some due to the ruinous state of the building and some because the ignorant owners thought the building would look better if the stone was uncovered. The living accommodation in a tower house is organised vertically rather than horizontally. The ground floor usually consists of vaulted storage areas and/or kitchen ranges, the first floor is where the main entrance is and usually where the grand hall is found. The upper floors are bedrooms and guest apartments. That is a very, very basic outline of what a Scottish Tower house is and not all of them will conform exactly to that rather crude formula. But you get the idea.
Edzell Castle was the ancestral seat of the Lindsays, they acquired it in 1358 and at the time the house was an earthwork-and-timber motte
http://www.castlewales.com/motte.html
www.castles-of-britain.com/castlesa.htm
thought to have been built some time in the 1100's. The old building stood about 300m South-West of the present building. The Lindsays built the first stage of the present building and started living in it from the early 1500's. Over time new ranges were added by the lindsays and their descendants but their greatest achievement was the garden. This was a first class renaissance walled garden complete with stone built summer house and a boundary wall covered with unique carved stone panels and tiny alcoves for plants. The carvings depict Arts, Virtues, Planets, Gods, everything you would expect from a true Renaissance building.
The last Lindsay Laird was deeply in dept and sold the estate to the Earl of Panmure in 1715 BUT..... because the said Earl of Panmure joined the 1715 Jacobite rising he forfeited all of his estates, including Edzell. The new owner began stripping Edzell of its assets and soon the place fell into disrepair. THEN..... in the 1745 Jacobite rising a bunch of hardy Argyll Highlanders moved in and occupied the castle for a while. The final death blow to the Castle was in 1764 when it was gutted for building materials. What a bloody sordid end to such a spectacular piece of Scottish renaissance architectural history.
I just do so love Scottish Tower Houses, this one in particular.
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edzell/edzellcastle/index.html

Tags: 360 import, environment, edzell castle, edzell, scotland, architecture

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My minds musing?.....................what do you think?

Musing on a train

Sometimes, your mind decides to go wandering and explore possibilities you never expect to act on. And then it begins linking these random possibilities together. Monday I spent hours on a train gazing out of the window when mine started aimlessly tossing out suggestions. My reflection in the train window was looking at me and I hardly recognised it. One day I will have to move, the stairs will get too much, the house needs work, no cash to do work, never will have cash, who has these days?, no way of getting more cash, nearing end of working life, would have loved to travel more, don’t suppose I ever will now, every day I get older, what I do today could be impossible next year, wish I could stop work now, have a couple of years before retirement, what if I use up my last few good years working……………………………..The mind does one of those extraordinary flips and says , sell the house, spend every penny, travel till it runs out, then rent something cheap for rest of days…………………Then train stops, I reign in mind and get off.

Today, Wednesday, just two days later, I’m woken by a phone call from one of my best friends, she has been called back from her holiday by the police to identify the body of her sister. Her sister was about 45. I’m pretty shocked and can’t go back to sleep so sign on here, I read about Sugar, the lady who has been so ill for so long, it will all be over for her soon. Sometimes you understand the temporary nature of our existence, our mortality is real, and sometimes so very, very sad. My friend is going through hell, friends and family of Sugar must be suffering terribly.

Ok…………….so maybe the rambling mind had a point. Life is for living. Could international back packer become exploring granny with shopping trolley? I suppose this is just my mind taking its daily exercise again, but ...................

 

THE EPIC JOURNEY 1973; PART TWO

The Epic Journey of 1973;
 a very personal journey.
Part two

I spent a while in Istanbul, I loved it. In some ways I didn’t want to leave but at the beginning of this epic journey, we had planned to go a lot further than Istanbul so off we went again. Until this point we had been hitching lifts, young and stupid though we were, we thought maybe this was the time to start taking public transport, so we did.

We travelled by train from Istanbul to Ankara, looking out of the window we could see a river with what looked like red mountains in the background. The river was shallow and ran by the side of the train tracks, the water looked red from the debris it must have collected as it came down the sides of the red mountains. There were little turtles swimming around in the river and sunning them selves on the rocks by the water edge. Along the waters edge were telegraph poles with telephone wires and all along these wires fluttered bright green and yellow birds that looked like budgies. The noise these birds made could be heard above the noise of the train. The ‘tea boy’ on this train was a young man who swing his tea urn full of boiling tea in and out of the passengers seemingly with out a care in the world, the train was crowded and I shrank back in horror imagining all sorts of horrendous accidents with boiling water and running children. I don’t think health and safety regulations had been introduced into Turkey at that time.
 I liked Ankara; it was a modern city with parks and good places to eat. If you strayed away from the city centre there seemed to be hundreds of little garages all repairing one or two cars on the road outside their premises. They all had their tiny radios with them and the sounds of lots of different Turkish songs mingled into one big buzz of the unfamiliar. There were western banks where all the staff spoke English and you could change currency or travellers checks. Apart from odd little things, like the call to prayer, Turkish music blaring out and signs written in Turkish, it was just like any other western city. The people didn’t seem to dress or act any differently to any other people in any other city.  From Ankara we took a bus to Tehran, (Persia) via towns called Erzurum (Turkey) and Tabriz (Persia) this was a trek into the unknown, we travelled through the desert. Erzurum had ‘’The Koran School’’; which was housed in a building with twin minarets. By the time we reached Erzurum, things began to look and feel very different. This town was part of Turkey (still is) but it felt more ‘part of the east’ than the rest of Turkey had. I remember the horse and carts there; they seemed to be the equivalent of the local taxi. I remember I had run out of film by the time I reached Erzurum and didn’t manage to take any photos. These photos I came across on the web, they were marked Erzurum 1973, and I must admit it is exactly how I remember it. They came from this site
 http://www.merhabaturkey.com/1SHOWSBindex.html



On we travelled, another bus, another journey. I had never seen a desert before; I found the experience of the desert quite spiritual in a strange way. I began thinking about how different religions all seem to have stories about the desert and I began to understand why this should be. If you haven’t done it yourself, it’s a very difficult experience to explain. I found myself sitting on a bus, a pretty uncomfortable bus, for a couple of days, with only a few stops at places with  basic toilet facilities and dubious looking drinking water, and all in temperatures I had never experienced before. The air was hot and still, there was no wind, not even a breeze, they skys were without cloud, the desert looked endless. There was a road, more like a dirt track, as we headed east there were mountains to the left and a vast expanse of desert scrubland to the right. This scrubland was acrid and barren with tiny bits of yellowed grasses scattered around. If the air moved at all they bounced around the desert in dusty yellow balls. If you looked very hard you could see little villages with mud huts sheltered at the base of the mountain range to your left. Then our bus broke down, I never did find out why. Every one was asked to get off the bus and a group of men tried to fix it. These photos were taken in the middle of the dessert when the bus broke down. If you look carefully you can see the mud hut village at the base of the mountain.

 

Eventually the men managed to get the bus going again and we continued on our journey. We left Turkey, entered Persia and passed through Tabriz. Again I didn’t manage to take photos in Tabriz, I think the very hot climate coupled with photographic technology of 1973 didn’t make it easy to get goods shots.  Tabriz is the dominant city of Northwest Persia and is the second largest city in Persia. Tabriz has been a centre of the Persian carpet trade for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years and it is these carpets that I remember, there were rug shops every where, the most amazing rugs I had ever seen. These are pictures (not taken by me) of one of the traditional Persian rugs of that area.
 http://www.oriental-rugs.com/persian-tabriz-rug.html



And then we arrived in Tehran, what a joy it was to get off that bus and find ourselves a cheap hotel for the night. The city of Tehran was lovely; it was clean and there was the most wonderful park in the centre of the city, it was like a little oasis of green after spending days in the desert. The people all seemed friendly; most people seemed to speak English and they all had a favourite restaurant or a favourite shop to recommend. It felt like a city of culture, of art, of education, there were so many things to see and so much to learn. I wish I taken more photos, I wish I remembered more of the sightseeing. I have learnt a valuable lesson from my time there. Take nothing for granted; because never in a million years would I ever have believed this wonderful city would become what it is today. If I had known how very privileged and lucky I was to experience that city at that time every moment of my time there would be indelibly imprinted on my mind. Hind sight is a wonderful thing, at the time it was just another leg in the journey. It was here that I met up with and spent time with a young German couple; this is a picture of me and the girl in the main street of Tehran and a picture of the couple sitting on the wall of Tehran Park in the centre of the city.


It breaks my heart to remember that city as it was in the 1970’s, pre revolution Persia/Iran is unimaginable for most people today. This is a web site that shows more of life in Persia/Iran in the 1970’s, it’s very interesting, it shows a modern vibrant city full of young people dressed in typical 1970’s fashion, including mini-skirts, wandering around just like young people in any modern city.

http://www.pagef30.com/2009/04/iran-in-1970s-before-islamic-revolution.html

Next stop after Iran was Afghanistan, more uncomfortable buses, more deserts, more stiflingly hot air and more scorched, cloudless skys. Before we left Persia we passed through Mashhad. This city is now known as a pilgrimage site for Shiites; they go there to pay homage to ‘Imam Reza’, an Islamic holy man believed to have been assassinated in AD 817. In the 1970s, when I was there, Mashhad was an important center for commerce, religion and tourism, known particularly as the gateway to Afghanistan. The political situation over the whole of that area has destroyed almost all trade and travel and left the town primarily a religious town. This picture is one I found on the net, it is a school photo with the teacher taken in Mashhad in 1973.


I remember vividly entering Herat, the border town of Afghanistan. It wasn’t a very big town, and it was obviously smaller, more rural, less wealthy and altogether different to the wonderful cities and towns  of Persia we had so recently left. The thing I remember with such clarity about Herat is the many small lorries and carts, all hand painted in bright designs and colours and the way every vehicle seemed to have people stuffed inside, sitting on the roof and hanging off the edges. Along the main street there were people selling water melons, huge big ripe water melons and for some reason they also sold orange Fanta fizzy drinks. I’ve no idea why they sold Fanta as opposed to any other fizzy drink, but they did. The water melons were the sweetest imaginable, they were so very big and as soon as you cut into them the pale red juices would start to dribble out, in no time at all and no matter how clean you tried to stay, they red juice of the watermelon dripped up your arms. They also had shoe shops, but not like any shoe shop I had ever seen before. This sort of shoe shop was an open fronted building with a man sitting on red hand woven rugs at the back of his ‘shop’; he would have his tea urn and his hubbly pipe. He would sit hand stitching sandals made out of camel leather. If you wanted a pair of sandals from  this man, he would draw around your foot to make a template and from that he would hand stitch you a pair of camel leather sandals, usually in a couple of hours. There were two not so nice memorable things we took from Herat, one was the flies, there were flies every where and they seemed to stay every where until I left Afghanistan. And there was the poverty. Not I hasten to add povery as you would see in some under developed countries now, but poverty like I had never seen before. There were children, mostly young boys, who pushed carts full of peoples luggage or sometimes they would be seen pushing cart loads full of melons. These young boys, about 8 years old, lived on the streets; their carts were their homes and their means of making a living. At night when all was quiet they would sleep under their carts or sometimes curled up on top of their carts. They were always ready for the next customer, it was a hand to mouth existence but somehow they seemed to manage. None of them were very big children, but neither were they the emaciated pot bellied kids we see on all the famine appeals. Herat seemed to have a few bakers  where visitors and tourists bought the very sweet and aromatically flavoured local pastry for these children. There were also tea shops every where, every one drank tea all of the time, hot, sweet, strong, black tea served into your small china cup from a long handled metal jug. Herat was a small town, its main purpose was as a border crossing in or out of Afghanistan. We spent a week or so there and then decided to move on toward Kabul.

 Photos from Wikipedia of local Musicians in Herat, 1973.


This has taken me much longer to write out than I expected and consequently, I haven't managed to get as far as I planned, a bit like the real journey I suppose, nothing goes exactly to plan. Tomorrow the next installment will see us travel through Afghanistan.

The Epic Journey of 1973;, part one

The Epic Journey of 1973;
 a very personal journey.
Part one
from Portsmouth to Instanbul

First I need to apologise for the very poor quality of these photos, they have been collecting dust since 1973 and in 1973, much as I already loved my camera, I wasn’t particularly good at photography. I’ve scanned them but at the moment I don’t even have photoshop, so like I said, my apologies for the state of the photos.

The story starts early in the year, about January time, I was already living in Portsmouth, by the sea, a couple of hundred miles from my parents. One cold day in January, I took myself away on the train to visit my parents. I had a very old fur coat, something I wouldn’t be seen dead in now but at the time I loved it, I lived in it. It was one of my favourite possessions, I found it lying in a second hand shop, picked it up, put it on and hence forth, was rarely seen without it! It took me a bus, then a train, then the underground train through London, then another train and then another bus before I reached my parents house. That left a lot of time for thinking and I found myself thinking about the pleasures of a travelling. I always planned to travel and by the time I returned home to my little flat in Portsmouth, my epic journey was virtually mapped out in my head. In 1973 things seemed so much easier and a lot less complicated than they are now, I asked a couple of friends if they wanted to travel, I took a couple of jobs waitressing to earn extra cash, I lived of beans on toast and soup for a few months and scraped enough money together to………well to just go.

My very best friend came to see me in Portsmouth before I left and we arranged to travel some of the way together. Her name was (is) Sarah but I always called her Sally, I can’t remember the last time I saw her, probably 30 years ago. This is a photograph of Sally and I sitting on the wall outside my flat in Portsmouth, she is the one in the foreground, on the left. It was taken on Saturday 10/03/73, If this lady happens to be your friend, your sister, your wife, your mother or even your granny, please point this out to her because I have no idea where she is now.
We sailed from Portsmouth on the ferry on 25/05/73 and arrived at la Havre the following day. We met some French students and spent the first night away from home in rooms, on the top floor of the Halls of Residence of a French University. We watched a magnificent thunderstorm. I can’t even remember which university it was.

We travelled South through France and stopped for a couple of days at a very dilapidated French farm house, it was a wonderful place, no facilities and surrounded by unadulterated nature at its best. It was somewhere near to Lyon I think. This is me with one of my travelling companions

Our journey took us through Orleans, Toulouse and Grenoble and then on to Switzerland. I remember sitting and watching the huge fountain on Lake Genève, I had never seen any thing like it, I must have sat for an hour or so mesmerised by it and then later I remember walking along the rivers edge and watching eagles swoop down into the water from the trees far above. This is a photo of me sitting on the grass in Genève.

From Genève we headed south toward Italy, we decided to travel through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, no one warned me it would be so cold, I think I arrived in sandals and almost got frost bite in my toes. First opportunity I had I changed into coat and winter wear. This is a picture of me at the entrance of the tunnel; I think it’s the Italian side.


I last saw Sally in France, at the farmhouse and I had arranged to meet her in Florence so I was quite anxious to get there. We travelled down through Turin, Genoa and then on to Florence.

This is a picture of me meeting Sally in Florence, and the other two are pictures of me in Florence. We arranged to meet on the Ponte Vecchio after which we wandered around drinking in the sights and smells and pleasures of Florence.


I spent a while soaking up the sights of Florence before heading off toward Brindisi where we boarded another ferry to Corfu.
 And there we were in Greece. We didn’t do the normal tourist thing, instead of heading south to Rome or Athens, we headed north. That was a fascinating journey, if I hadn’t been so young and stupid I would have been terrified. We travelled in a lorry driven by a kind but reckless local man. He drove his lorry along tiny winding roads that spiralled around mountains, teetered around corners, struggled with the climb and swung out perilously close to the edge; close to the edge of a road which dropped away into a great endless abyss. There were shrines all along that mountain road and every so often you could peer down the mountain and see cars that didn’t quite make the last corner. These photos are from that journey. They don’t even come close to showing what a perilous journey it was.


Once we reached the north of Greece the road and the terrain settled down. We passed Thessalonica and got a lift from a very kind family who were travelling in a camper van. The couple had decided to sell up and take the kids around Europe, so they sold their house, bought a camper van, packed the bare essentials, packed the kids and set off. We spent a week on a Greek Island with them, Thasos I believe, but there was no tourism there at the time, just miles of golden sand, crystal clear water permanently heated to the temperature of a warm bath and shoals of little fishes that darted every where as you waded in. By eleven in the morning it was too hot and you needed to nap under a tree or get burnt in the sun. There were no facilities on that expanse of beach, these people just parked up and camped. What a great week that was.



When we left them we headed east toward Istanbul, Gateway to the East. Crossing that bridge for the first time was one of the most memorable moments of my live. It truly was like a giant crossroads between one world and another. That bridge is where East meets West, it has nothing to do with political boundaries, Turkey started a while before we reached the bridge and the subtle changes began before we had left Greece, but the real change, the boundary between east and west, happen on that bridge. I loved Istanbul, it was exotic and exciting. I’ve never been back there but one day I will.

Tommorow, part two,
from Istanbul to Kandahar

I don't usually do this but;
 due to the personl nature of this blog,
consider all of it covered by copywright,
THIS IS MINE