366 Days of Architecture
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Sunday 24th January 2016
An Iconic Structure and a Symbol of Scotland
On 24th January 1890, the Marchioness of Tweeddale drove the first train across the Forth Railway Bridge, a great excuse to show off one of our many Victorian photographs contained within an album documenting the construction of this innovative feat of engineering. This one not only shows the creation of a 12 foot tube but also some of the workers in the distance! Coincidentally, it was also on this day in 2008 that the act to abolish bridge tolls in Scotland gained Royal Assent, enabling motorists to use the neighbouring road bridge for free.
Saturday 23rd January 2016
A Shot of Linlithgow
Today sees us on the High Street in Linlithgow courtesy of this early 20th century postcard view taken by photographers J Valentine and Son. This street was the scene of the assassination of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, on this day in 1570. He was killed by firearm, the first recorded instance of such.
Friday 22nd January 2016
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know
We’re at Aberdeen Grammar School today to celebrate the 1788 birth date of one of the institution’s most famous pupils, George Gordon Byron, latterly known as the flamboyant poet Lord Byron. His family moved to Aberdeenshire when he was a young boy and he attended the school when it was at its former Schoolhill site. The institution moved to Skene Street and into the Rubislaw granite E-plan premises designed by James Matthews in the early 1860s, later extended by Matthews and Mackenzie in 1894. Byron’s attendance is honoured by a statue in front of the school. His notebooks were held in the school library but destroyed by a fire in 1986.
