Glasgow Necropolis

In March 2018 I was in the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow. I blogged about, amongst other things, the view from my room of the Glasgow Necropolis. It included a winter photo of the Necropolis.

I have, for many years, been meaning to visit this last resting place of the great and the good of Scotland in general and Glasgow in particular. 

The Necropolis is next to Glasgow Cathedral and a bridge joins the two:

The cemetery, like most early Victorian cemeteries, is laid out as an informal park rather than the formal layout of later cemeteries. The Glasgow Necropolis has been described as a "city of the dead". Glasgow native Billy Connolly has said: "Glasgow's a bit like Nashville, Tennessee: it doesn't care much for the living, but it really looks after the dead." Having said that it is a beautiful place to walk: an oasis in the hustle and bustle of a large city.

 

An avenue of Whitebeam

John Knox stands atop his monument staring down on the world below including, in the foreground, the tomb of the chemist (he discovered bleaching powder) Charles Tennant who founded an industrial dynasty.

The summit memorial to John Knox

One of the most spectacular mausoleums is the burial place of  Major Archibald Douglas Monteath who served in the East India Company before returning to Glasgow the Mausoleum has become an established part of the Glasgow skyline. Monteath made his fortune when an elephant carrying precious gems belonging to a Maharajah was captured and ‘relieved’ of its load by him. 

The following is the view of my bedroom in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary from which I took the original picture on this post (please don't ask me which one is my bedroom window!).

A Most Unusual War Memorial

Yesterday Anna, a visiting friend, and I went over to the Callanish Standing Stones because it was something she had wanted to do at the Summer Solstice.  This was not, I would add, for any of the ritualistic or other reasons that many had gathered to see the solstice at the Stones but simply something she wished to do. 

At Garynahine just before we arrived in Callanish I happened to notice behind some trees and shrubs what looked like a model of a Cormorant.  Having stopped the car and investigated I discovered a fairly new and very unusual War Memorial:

The Standing Stones of Callanish

The Standing Stones of Callanish, which are estimated to be about 5000 years old, are on the West side of the Isle of Lewis at (as the name not unsurprisingly suggests) the township of Callanish.  They form one of the most outstanding stone circles in Britain ranking with Stonehenge and the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney.  Despite the paucity of information on the Wikipedia entry for the Callanish Stones (some of which appears fanciful to me) a considerable amount of research has been undertaken and published including the book New Light on The Stones of Callanish (ISBN 0 9505998 4 0).  They are a must see for every visitor to the Island and we were fortunate in having a sunny, if cold, day for our visit.  Quite how impressed the children were I’m not sure but I’m sure that they will remember them – who could not?

The Callanish Stones

A closer look

Fraser and Catriona providing scale

  Next time I’ll organise a better shot!

The Doulton Fountain at Night

When we were waiting for the taxi – see the previous post – we were sitting by The Doulton Fountain outside The People’s Palace.  It was particularly beautiful lit up at night: