A view across Loch Fyne this afternoon.

#lochfyne #scotland

Loch Earn this afternoon.

#lochearn

Gateway #5 This rusty gate is by the road at the south end of Loch Lubnaig. Inside is an overgrown cemetery with just one memorial still standing. I discovered later there was a chapel to St Bride, and it was principally the burial place of the McKinlays of Annie.

#gateway #cemetery #graveyard

Just a cow and its favourite tree …

#trossachs #lochachray #highlandcattle

Gateways #4 An entrance in the remains of … whatever it was. I couldn’t quite work out what this structure was originally, as immediately inside were three openings a little like windows which seemed out of place internally. Any ideas?

#gateway #ruins #denny

RFA Proteus in dock this afternoon at HMNB Clyde (aka Faslane). She is apparently a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship (MROSS) converted from an offshore support vessel in 2023.

#navy #rfaproteus #rfa

As it’s Burns Night, just a reminder of what a wild haggis looks like. This rare example is displayed in the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow.

#haggis #burnsnight #kelvingrove

Gateway #3 and a dip into the archive from a couple of years ago and the Church of the Holy Ghost, Crowcombe, in Somerset. The private door leads to the Carew Chapel, a private section for the lords of the manor. Not so equal in the eyes of God.

#gateway #crowcombe #privatechapel

Gateway #2; a bonus for today. This gateway in Carradale is clearly still used by pedestrians (who no longer have to use the rather scary steps on the left) but no carriage has driven between those posts in many a year. The moss adds so much.

#gateway #carradale

I love an interesting gateway/doorway/entrance, and I’ve seen a lot since I arrived in Scotland, so I’m going to post some. (I will be stretching the word ‘gateway’ beyond its limits!)

Here is Gateway #1, and I’ve posted it before. An arched gateway at the back of a neglected graveyard.

#gateway

Finally, my find of the day. Simply a stunning orchid.

#glasgowbotanicgardens #botanicgarden #glasgow #orchid

I find cacti and succulents fascinating but strangely unendearing!

#glasgowbotanicgardens #botanicgarden #glasgow

Personally, I’m always drawn to texture and form in plants, rather than sheer colour.

#glasgowbotanicgardens #botanicgardens #glasgow

On a cold - and often snowy - day, I spent a few hours in the glass houses of the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, and thought I’d share some images. First, some colour on this dull day.

#glasgowbotanicgardens #botanicgarden #glasgow

One of the Kelvingrove’s most famous works: ‘Christ of St John of the Cross’ by Salvador Dali, 1951. It was bought from the artist in 1952, a purchase which was controversial at the time.

#kelvingrove #dali #christofstjohnofthecross #glasgow

A beautiful piece of graffiti I passed today. It’s a word I love, and make no apology for that. It has a million meanings; context is everything. And the sun was picking out that very stone. The adjacent saltire, possibly by another hand, adds even more ambiguity.

#graffiti #saltire

In Keil Cemetery I came across this memorial, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. The carved stone is encased in iron, but if the intention was preservation, it hasn’t worked, as both iron and stone are quietly crumbling.

#keilcemetery #kintyre #graveyard

Just along the road from the hotel sits Keil Cemetery. It is still the burial place for local communities, but it’s also where St Columba supposedly first set foot in Scotland on his way to Iona in 653CE. The ruined chapel is C13, and hidden by thriving vegetation!
#keilcemetery #stcolumba #kintyre

A few final items from my week on the Kintyre peninsula. On the southern end is a small place called Keil, and this is the Keil Hotel. As you might guess from its style, it was built in 1939, and operated until 1990. It now stands decaying.

#keilhotel #kintyre #scotland

Perhaps the most interesting part of my visit to Saddell Abbey was the graveyard around the remains. I love an old cemetery. Although it has been in occasional use recently, most of it is falling into gentle - and rather beautiful - decay.

#saddell #saddellabbey #cemetery #graveyard

The remains of the abbey may be few, but there are the Saddell Stones to see. There are several hundred of these stones surviving; twelve at Saddell. The men in armour are from Iona, but the others are thought to have been made at Saddell.

#saddell #saddellabbey #saddellstones #lordoftheisles

Also at Saddell are the remains of an abbey. Saddell Abbey was founded around 1148, and although small, survived into the C16. Few documents survive to flesh out its history, and there are few visible remains.

#saddell #saddellabbey #kintyre #abbey

Grip by Antony Gormley on the beach at Saddell. It’s one of five of his works commissioned to celebrate fifty years of the Landmark Trust, one of whose properties is right by the beach (third picture). (Tide and light prevented a better picture!)

#antonygormley #saddell #landmarktrust #sculpture

One final piece of history from Skipness. In the field next to the chapel is a concrete arrow, difficult to see on the ground. In WW1, this area was used for training Fairey Swordfish pilots to drop torpedos, and the arrow was part of their trial run.

#ww1 #faireyswordfish #torpedoplane #skipness

The view from what was the main gate of Skipness Castle, the Isle of Arran across the water.

#skipness #skipnesscastle #kintyre #scotland #history

Skipness Chapel is around 200 metres from the castle, and roughly the same age. Dedicated to St Brendan, it contains some interesting headstones, and is still occasionally used for burials.

#skipness #skipnesschapel #kintyre #history #chapel

Skipness Castle, begun in the 1200s, and much altered over the following three hundred years. In a beautiful, but strategically important, spot.

#skipness #skipnesscastle #kintyre #scotland #castle

The beach at Carradale Bay on a sunny Boxing Day. Almost deserted, except for two or three dogs taking their servants for a walk.

#carradale #carradalebay #carradalebeach #kintyre