366 Days of Architecture
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Tuesday 2nd February 2016
A remote posting
James Chalmers, printer and postal service reformer, born on this day in Arbroath, 1782. Prior to the postage stamp letters were usually paid for by the recipient, meaning that the Post Office could occasionally fail to recoup the costs if the recipient refused to pay – a problem solved by the invention of the prepaid adhesive stamp. Chalmers was one of those who petitioned for a uniform rate of postage leading to a faster improved service across the British Isles, including the Isle of Coll.
Monday 1st February 2016
Inspiring castaway
In 1709, after a lonely four years, Alexander Selkirk, mariner and privateer from Lower Largo in Fife, was rescued from the island of San Juan, 400 miles off the coast of Chile. Selkirk was most famously the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's castaway 'Robinson Crusoe'. He had asked to be left on the island believing, rightly as it turned out, that the ship he was on would founder and he would rather take his chances on dry land. His father’s profession of tanning must have been useful when it came to making his own clothes from the local goats. This bronze statue of Selkirk by Thomas Stuart Burnett was unveiled in 1885 at the site of his former home in Fife.
Sunday 31st January 2016
Itching for February to Start
Now let’s be practical! As well as being National Bug Busting Day – an awareness day for monitoring head lice – 31st January is also the deadline for self-assessment tax returns. We’re perhaps being nitpicky by reminding you of the latter with this 2012 image: it’s the Telephone Exchange and Inland Revenue Office at Rothesay, Bute, built c.1966 by local building contractors John R Hunter Ltd. The building, along with the adjacent Moat Community Education Centre, contrasts greatly with the historic 13th-century castle nearby and was photographed as part of our detailed urban survey of the town. We hope that those tax forms aren’t making you scratch your head too much…
