‘These buds of love’
I once made a film about the lost garden of D U N I R A . A number of years later, I came across this verse inscribed on a … Continue reading ‘These buds of love’
Category: gardens
A roadside garden
Mossgrove, Bridge of Allan, 23 May 2020. Music credit: ‘Cars in the garden’ by Paul Buchanan
Notes from HERE and THERE
Holmhill House, Dunblane, where extraordinary charity began. Grace Donaldson raised thousands of pounds for charities and alongside financial legacies, left on her death, the park of Holmehill to the children … Continue reading Notes from HERE and THERE
Something of the sky
This film is for Sian. Thanks to Mike Mckenzie for writing such a beautiful song from his home.
2mm
This short film is about a village response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Footage is from Bridge of Allan and from our house and garden. The voice is that of Alastair … Continue reading 2mm
The Sisters’ Garden
This photograph makes me smile. The Matron looks fierce but the Sisters’ as bonny as the flowers that they are tending! The exact location of the Sisters’ Garden has been … Continue reading The Sisters’ Garden
No.1 Shrub Place
From No.1 Shrub Place, Edinburgh, a dynasty of gardeners grew. No.1 Shrub Place was where Melville Christie and his wife Jane raised their family. Melville Christie was employed as a gardener … Continue reading No.1 Shrub Place
The Auld Gardener
John McGregor was Gardener for Dunblane. Today he would be called a “Council worker” but in his time his occupation was termed: “Statute Labourer”. John McGregor lived with his wife … Continue reading The Auld Gardener
Glassingall Gardener
Glassingall Mansion House, just North of Dunblane, was demolished in the months before my birth. I have seen photographs of it, and to my eyes, it looks to have been … Continue reading Glassingall Gardener
a garden above High Street
My Granny, Constance Gibson, was born in Dunblane in 1908. It is likely that she would have remembered this Chemist shop. I cannot ask my Granny about her childhood as … Continue reading a garden above High Street
A Dishonest Sweep
Philip Hughes (1836-1896), a Chimney Sweep who lived and worked in Edinburgh, had a troubled life. His family, and the City he lived in, were also troubled by his behaviour. … Continue reading A Dishonest Sweep
Outside looking in
Mossgrove, Bridge of Allan, Sunday 17 May 2020.