Being arty f***y with a shell and some rocks on the shore. (well maybe two shells since I stood on one 😱) Amazing how you can get lost in yourself with something so simple!
Ayr Auld Kirk
Ayr’s Auld Kirk, dedicated to St John the Baptist, dates to 1654 and was built with compensation money received from Oliver Cromwell, paid for the loss of the Church of St John the Baptist which had been turned into a fortress by Parliamentary troops and was situated near Ayr shorefront. Robert Burns is said to… Continue reading Ayr Auld Kirk
Sorbie Old Parish Church, Galloway, SW Scotland.
I came across this ruin completely by accident when out e-biking in Galloway. It’s a cracking wee ruin although much of its history is hard to come by. It is a Category B building. Built circa 1750, probably to design by James Douglas; restored 1826. T-plan church with long 4-window, elevation single bay jamb to… Continue reading Sorbie Old Parish Church, Galloway, SW Scotland.
The Lookoot
In one of the UK’s worst peacetime sea disasters. The lives of 133 people were lost when the car ferry Princess Victoria, sailing between Stranraer and Larne, sank in a ferocious gale off the Co Down coast on January 31, 1953. The Lookoot Leanin oan the auld herber waa, he’d stare at the mooth o… Continue reading The Lookoot
Repentance Tower and Trailtow Chapel Graveyard, Hoddom, Scottish Borders.
Not exactly a Kirk this one, but there is a graveyard within the tower’s enclosure, so it counts as far as I’m concerned. Especially when you consider the wee climb I had to make to get there! The view from the tower is magnificent though. Repentance Tower was erected in 1563 within… Continue reading Repentance Tower and Trailtow Chapel Graveyard, Hoddom, Scottish Borders.
St. Ninians Chapel, Isle of Whithorn, Galloway, Scotland
A wee Church that drips with history in a superb location. . The ruins of St Ninian’s Chapel stand on the seaward side of Isle of Whithorn, on what was originally a genuine island before the gap between it and the mainland was filled during the development of the village and harbour. The chapel and… Continue reading St. Ninians Chapel, Isle of Whithorn, Galloway, Scotland
Auld Mortality
Robert Paterson (1715–1801), known as “Old Mortality”, was a stonemason who took it upon himself to travel around lowland Scotland carving inscriptions for the unmarked graves of Covenanters martyred in the 17th century. Walter Scott made him a principal character in his novel Old Mortality (1816). Auld Mortality Ye left yer mark in mony a… Continue reading Auld Mortality
Dalswinton Loch, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Dalswinton Barony Church
How can you not take a picture of this wee church situated in deepest Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Built in 1881 some 0.6km south-east of Dalswinton hamlet, the church is one of the few remaining examples of ‘tin’ churches that were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The owner of the Dalswinton Estate at… Continue reading Dalswinton Barony Church
Machrie Moor Standing Stones (Isle of Arran)
Machrie Moor Standing Stones. (Isle of Arran) Following the shadow of a standing stone, we came to three others, and so it went on across Mochrie Moor. Circle upon circle, stone beside stone. We looked to the hills, we looked to the Firth, tried to find answers in each cleft and tide. Finding none, we… Continue reading Machrie Moor Standing Stones (Isle of Arran)
