Nigel's Photo Blog

 Introduction  This afternoon, I am reporting on a Highland Games event using archive material. This event was held at Rouken Glen Country Park, Giffnock, Scotland.  Scottish Highland Dancers at Rouken Glen, Glasgow .  Information on the Highland Games Event This was a well-attended community event included: Caber tossing, hammer throwing and weight over bar. Scottish Native Championship (men). International Women’s Highlander Challenge. Local strong man competition. Drummers- Clann an Drumma Welly throwing competition. Neilston and District Pipe Band. Highland Dancing. Best of Scotland Craft Fair. Children’s entertainment. Farmers market. Images and videos are provided above and below. Neilston and District Pipe Band     Clann an Drumma.   Strong Man Competition  Women’s Weight over Bar competition  Highland Dancing Competition    Strong Man Competition    Putting the Shot   A well organised  cul...

Today, I visited a wide ranging exhibition of Italian Renaissance drawings at the King's Gallery,  Palace of Holyroodhouse , Edinburgh , Scotland. The exhibition included a portfolio of work by Leonardo da Vinci which is the subject of this post.  The muscles of the trunk and the leg.c 1510-11. Pen and ink with wash, over black chalk.  Design for a dragon costume.c 1517-18. Black chalk, pen and ink.   Designs for table fountains.c 1513. Pen and ink over red chalk, on blue paper.  Branch of blackberry. c 1506-12. Red chalk, touches of white chalk, on orange-red prepared paper.  Head of a youth.c 1510. Red and black chalks on orange-red prepared paper.    More Information. For more information on various other aspects of Scottish art & culture and help for tourists generally please refer to Visitors’ Guide to Scotland, ISBN 978-1-9161332-0-4.This publication is also available via Kindle .            

  Introduction To an extent this post is a continuum of recent posts incorporating references to Robert Burns , Scotland's National Poet. In particular, I refer to the posts covering Kilmarnock and Burns Night 2026 .  Information on Burns Portraits. Coinciding with Burns birthday celebrations, there occurred reports in the media of the discovery of a long-lost portrait of the poet. The work was painted by renowned artist Sir Henry Raeburn more than 200 years ago but then disappeared. By good fortune it turned up in a house clearance in Surrey (southern England). Subsequently, the portrait (above) was cleaned up, formally identified and sold for £68,000 at auction in 2025.The new owner then loaned the work to the Scottish National Galleries in Edinburgh for a short period. The new find was not painted from life but from an earlier painting (below) of Burns which is conveniently exhibited close to the Raeburn work.  Original portrait of Robert Burns    More In...

  Introduction This afternoon, I am reporting on  Dean Castle near Kilmarnock , about 30 minutes S.W. of Glasgow . This fortification has a long history but in conjunction with the associated country park is now operated as a visitor attraction by the local council.      Dean Castle: 14th C tower on left, 15th c palace on right. Essentially, the castle builds comprise two parts: A stand-alone keep or tower which was built about 1350 by the Boyd family , Lords of Kilmarnock. The design focused on defence as evidence by walls some 2-3 metres thick, few windows and just one entrance door positioned high above ground level. Absence of arrow slits would indicate that defensive fire was concentrated from the roof of the building.  Tower  Here is a video clip of the inner courtyard and Grand Hall. p  A small palace with an attached tower built by Robert Boyd about 1460. This features a large number of windows and projecting battle...

  Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow , Scotland Introduction  This evening, I am posting information on a restored stables block from 1800. This sits, somewhat incongruously, in a high density, 1950s era, social housing development in Castlemilk, South Glasgow.  I nformation on Castlemilk Stables   Incredibly, this building provides multi-faceted links with Scotland’s past. Such links include  Scottish Borders region, the Royal House of Stuart, Siege of Orleans (France) 1429, Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587), David Hamilton (famous architect) and the Battle of Langside 1568 . Summary information as follows: Named after Castlemilk in Dumfries-shire in the Scottish Borders region from whence the Stuarts of Castlemilk originated. This family was connected with the Scottish Royal House of Stuart and acquired lands in Glasgow from around 1474. Two members of the Stuart family fought in France against the English in the 15th century. This military service is co...

Introduction In 2025 Glasgow celebrated it's 850th anniversary . This afternoon I am dipping into the early years with information on still extant sites from the medieval times. Information on Medieval Glasgow   This report covers the period roughly spanning the years 1119 to 1492. This was a period during which Glasgow’s medieval ecclesiastical centre, based on the Cathedral , played an important role in the economic development of the town. Although much of the medieval town lies under Victorian architecture, there are visible remains which provide hints to the past, as illustrated below.    WEST PORT  This was the western entrance to the medieval burgh. Image below shows view from the head of Argyle Street towards Trongate.    West Port, Glasgow, Scotland   NEW VENNEL  This was an alley providing access to Bridgegate which was a busy residential and business area.  New Vennel, Glasgow, Scotland   T...