Architectural story that’s written in stone
AN EXHIBITION tying together Glasgow’s great 19th century architects with their Kintyre works has opened. Campbeltown – Success in Stone was introduced to a Glaswegian audience by Efric McNeil, Glasgow Art Club’s (GAC) president and one of the prime movers behind its creation, on Friday last week.
The show runs at GAC until July 30 and will then be transported to Kirk Street Hall where it will be on display until August 20.
In a short speech, at the opening, Mrs McNeil said: ‘As someone who has spent her whole life coming and going to Kintyre, my soul is bound up in both this great city and the small town of Campbeltown.
‘I inherited a love of both the city and the Wee Toon, as Campbeltown is affectionally known, from my mother.
‘Following being elected president of GAC, I had a meeting with Campbeltown’s regeneration officer, James Lafferty, and thus the partnership of GAC and Argyll and Bute library service was created.’
The show is curated by Robert Ferguson, formerly of the National Trust for Scotland. He emphasised that although he had visited Campbeltown many times, it was working on these displays that let him find the ‘pulse’ of the place.
In addition, Mr Ferguson said the people in Glasgow seem uninformed about ‘this beautiful part of the world’ and urged them to visit.
Mrs McNeil said some of the images in the exhibition have never been seen by the public before. She added: ‘In the 1980s, my mother, as president of the Kintyre Antiquarian Society (KAS), received, from South Africa, a collection of photographs from a nephew of Thomas Lennox Watson, the architect. These photographs are a record of the building of Longrow South in Campbeltown in the early years of the 20th century.
‘We are very grateful to the KAS to allow their use.
‘They are of superb quality.
‘Additionally, in the early 1900s, Campbeltown was fortunate to have two brothers who were very interested in photography – the McGrorys.’
Their work was presented to Argyll and Bute Council by the McGrory family and provides a unique record of Campbeltown. At the exhibition, the slides are shown in a revolving visual display.
Mrs McNeil said: ‘Thanks must go to those organisations, including the Campbeltown Common Good Fund, who have supported us both in monetary terms and in kind.’
Volunteers are required to help run the Campbeltown exhibition which is open from 11am to 4pm each day and on two evenings, Wednesday August 10 and 17 from 7pm to 9pm.
Anyone interested should contact James Lafferty on 01586 559048 or email james. lafferty@argyll-bute. gov.uk or pop in to the Campbeltown CARS/ THI office at 3 Harvey’s Lane.