"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

28 January 2006

Each week the Scottish Snippets Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather, flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are so many such graphics worth including that a separate "colour supplement" is created so as not to totally overload the Newsletter. Here is this week's crop!

Doulton Fountain



The sun was shining brightly (for once) on Wednesday when this photo of the magnificently restored Doulton Fountain was taken. The fountain was gifted to the city by Sir Henry Doulton to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee of 1887 and it was first unveiled at the Empire Exhibition held at Kelvingrove Park in 1888. It was then moved to Glasgow Green in 1890. Described as a "sculptural extravaganza" it celebrates Britain’s Imperial achievements and is crowded with figurative groups representing Australia, Canada, India and South Africa. There are national flora and fauna (South Africa's full size Ostrich, Australian sheep and Canadian Beaver), plus military and naval figures on all four sides, including a kilted highlander. Other decorations include gargoyles, lion masks, coats of arms and life-size girls pouring water over the figures below. At the apex, is a wonderfully detailed and lifelike statue of the queen empress herself (see also below).

Queen Victoria on Doulton Fountain


The whole assembly is the largest terracotta fountain in the world, with five tiers, rising 46 feet high and 70 feet across at the base – the third of the width of a football (soccer) pitch. It was largely forgotten (and neglected) on Glasgow Green until the 1990s by which time it was in a sorry state as a result of vandalism - and the fencing which attempted to slow the process of disintegration. Thanks to National Lottery funding and a realisation in the City Council that it had a tourist gem and the best surviving example of its kind on its hands, it was dismantled, restored and relocated to a position outside the People's Palace Museum on Glasgow Green in 2005.

Ships on the river Clyde

The sunshine evident in the pictures of the Doulton Fountain was the exception rather than the rule this week. So this picture of ships on the river Clyde at Yoker shows the leaden skies reflected in the steely grey of the water.

Snowdrops

These snowdrops encourage us with the thought that Spring is just round the corner - even if they are not fully opened. The picture was taken at Finlaystone Country Estate in Renfrewshire. The owners are so confident that they will have the usual masses of snowdrops in the woods in a few weeks time that their special "Snowdrop Sunday" is scheduled for 12 February.

Hammamelis

The unusual, bright flowers of Hammamelis (Witch Hazel) bring colour to gardens in the middle of winter. The crinkled petals resist the hardest of frosts and have a faint perfume.

Poinsettia

The vibrant colours of this Poinsettia were photographed - appropriately enough - inside the Winter Garden at Glasgow Green. There is a pleasant cafeteria there where visitors to the People's Palace Museum next door can warm up with a plate of hot soup and/or coffee and cakes, while admiring the plants.

Heather



Heather can flower at all times of the year and this one was making a bright splash of colour in Finlaystone Country Estate earlier this week.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page



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Where else would you like to go in Scotland?








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