Inverness at Night

When I was in Inverness a few weeks ago with my son Gaz we stayed at the Glenmorriston Hotel on the bank of the River Ness. I used to stay there years ago when it was far less "upmarket" than it is now. There were no Singapore Sling cocktails available 'back in those days'. After an excellent dinner Gaz and I decided to take advantage of the very cold, crisp late evening air and go for a walk along the river or, to be more accurate, along one bank and back along the other.

The view from my bedroom window

Looking back towards the hotel (not in view) and the Castle. The old Highland and Islands Development Board offices between the camera and the Castle are now luxury apartments

The road bridge from the town centre towards Loch Ness and Fort William

There are a lot of churches on the river's banks

One of several footbridges

Just a closer view

Just a wider view

Just a Quick Quiz

This is a picture captured on my dashcam yesterday on the Isle of Lewis on the way home from Grimshader. It's an unusual scene for Lewis. Do you know why?

It's Mine

Faces

Yesterday we went to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. I love going there and have blogged about it many times. Today I looked, as I always do, at some of my favourite paintings by The Glasgow Boys and then, whilst listening to the afternoon organ concert, wandered around the gallery on the first floor looking at familiar sculptures and, in particular, at the faces. I have probably blogged about these statues before but when I concentrated on the faces I could just concentrate on the emotions captured in the materials.

This face is from a statue entitled The Sunflower carved in Portland Stone by Gilbert Ledward in about 1932.

I don't think that I've ever shown this one before. It's entitled Paul and Virginia  and was carved in about 1841 by William Calder Marshall. It depicts a scene from a French poem with Paul carrying his devoted playmate over a raging river. She later dies at sea and Paul dies of a broken heart.

 

The next is a bronze cast for a gravestone. It is entitled Memorial to a Marriage by Patricia Cronin. The explanation follows the picture.

Syrinx (the beauty who attracted the unwanted advances of Pan in Greek mythology) by William Macmillan was awarded the accolade of Best Sculpture of The Year in 1925 by the Royal Society of British Sculptors.

The Spring Tide of Life by Robert Colton in 1903 depicts the children gazing from the crest of  wave as if into a wonderful future.

Of course anyone who has followed my blog for any length of time knows of my love for the sculpture entitled Motherless by George Anderson Lawson (1832 - 1904).  Few sculptures show more emotion than this.

Lastly is the face of the Rt Hon the Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden KT who was chairman of the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Committee amongst many other things.  I just thought that it was an 'interesting' face. When we had finished wandering we went down to the restaurant for coffee. I showed Anna the photo and asked her if she know who it was. "Of course" she replied "I was sitting near him at (her granddaughter's) school production recently." That was not an answer I had expected but it reminded me of the six degrees of separation which states that everyone in the world can, supposedly, be linked with everyone else in not more than six steps.