Alan Drury's photos

McCaigs Tower and Harbour, Oban, Argyll Scotland 1…

14 Sep 2020 3 4 140
McCaig's Tower also known as McCaig's Folly, is a prominent tower on Battery Hill overlooking the town of Oban in Argyll, Scotland. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a circumference of about 200 metres (660 ft) with two-tiers of 94 lancet arches (44 on the bottom and 50 on top). It is a Grade B Listed historic monument. The structure was commissioned, at a cost of £5,000 sterling (£500,000 at 2006 prices using GDP deflator), by the wealthy, philanthropic banker (North of Scotland Bank), John Stuart McCaig. John Stuart McCaig was his own architect.The tower was erected between 1897 and his death, aged 78 from cardiac arrest, on 29 June 1902 at John Square House in Oban. McCaig's intention was to provide a lasting monument to his family, and provide work for the local stonemasons during the winter months. McCaig was an admirer of Roman and Greek architecture, and had planned for an elaborate structure, based on the Colosseum in Rome. His plans allowed for a museum and art gallery with a central tower to be incorporated. Inside the central tower he planned to commission statues of himself, his siblings and their parents. His death brought an end to construction with only the outer walls completed.Although his will included £1,000 per year for maintenance, the will was disputed by his heirs; their appeal to the court was successful.

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA running…

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA running…

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA running…

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA running…

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA running…

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA runnin…

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA running…

Stanier LMS class 6P Jubilee 45699 GALATEA running…

BR standard class 7P Britannia 70000 BRITANNIA wit…

BR srandard class 7P Britannia 70000 BRITANNIA arr…

DRS class 60 68018 VIGILANT with 6K05 12.46 Carlis…

DB Cargo UK 66085 tnt 66131 with 3Z12 Knottingley…

DB Cargo UK class 66 66131 tnt 66085 with 3Z12 06.…

Slioch across Loch Maree

29 Jul 2020 6 6 193
Slioch (Scottish Gaelic: Sleaghach) is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands situated in Wester Ross, eight kilometres north of the village of Kinlochewe. Slioch reaches a height of 981 metres (3218 feet) and towers above the south east end of Loch Maree to give one of the best known and most photographed sights (from the A832 road) in the Highlands. VisitScotland, the Scottish national tourist agency, has used video footage of Slioch in its television advertisements. The mountain is composed of Torridonian sandstone on a base of Lewisian Gneiss and has steep crags on three sides and allows easy access for the walker only from the south east where the large open corrie of Coire na Sleaghaich has two ridges on its flanks which the walker can use. The mountain's name comes from the Gaelic word “sleagh” and means “the spear” and this only becomes obvious when Slioch is viewed from Lochan Fada to the north-east, from here the subsidiary top of Sgurr an Tuill Bhain (Peak of the White Hollow) (933 metres) dominates as a slender peak and gives the mountain its name. Wild goats are often seen on the mountain.

Looking across Loch Maree to Gleann Bianasdail and…

29 Jul 2020 4 2 219
Beinn a'Mhuinidh is the highest summit on the great chunk of high ground to the north of Kinlochewe on the edge of the Great Wilderness. It is divided from Slioch by the deep trench of Gleann Biannasdail. Gleann Bianasdail is a valley in Scotland and has an elevation of 1391 feet. Gleann Bianasdail is situated north of Kinlochewe,

Sunset from Aultbea, Ross-shire

Ardessie Falls


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