We went out at midday a couple of days ago for a walk. Felt like walking in a subterranean world. Extraordinary.
Deeply Wintry: Dunans clothed in snow
Tag: bridge
Topography at Dunans: Contour lines galore in this detailed examination of the landscape around the castle
GMGeomatics reported last week, and these are the results. I think you will agree that the detail here is astounding! I’ve included the legend to ensure you get all the detail. One thing I really like, is the movement from hot colours (high) to cool colours (low) – a nice intuitive visual touch.
The full pdf will be available on the Lairds and Ladies Archive.
Archive for Lairds and Ladies: Surveys, Plans, Drawings and Notes are all available for members of the Lairds’ and Ladies’ site
Much of the work that has been undertaken this year by our professional team has been funded by all the titles and merchandise that have been purchased through the Scottish Laird project. The archive we are publishing on the Lairds’ and Ladies’ site is a detailed record of the outputs of that work. There are drawings for works on the bridge, preparatory sketches of the plans for the castle, fly-bys from laser surveys (like the image above) and much else besides.
A preview of the present list is shown below and is available to members of the site here.
An Epic Turtle: Vitrified prehistoric turtle discovered in the upper reaches of the River Ruel at Dunans
On Saturday last, intrepid explorers made an extraordinary find in the River Ruel, just yards downstream from Dunans Bridge. On the sun-dappled riverbed, as if basking by a natural pool, the huge stone turtle was discovered by noted playwright and owner of Dunans Castle, Sadie Dixon-Spain. As she was later to remark, it is “an epic turtle”.
To purchase Sadie’s latest play, “The Alloway Rap”, please visit ScottishLaird.com
Making progress at #DunansCastle with our architect, surveyor and H&S consultant
Much discussion over the next stage of the work pending the consultation responses from Historic Scotland, Argyll and Bute Council, the Community Council, Development Trust and of course our Lairds and Ladies. During the afternoon we discussed the possible reasons for the round tops to the eight stanchions on the bridge (which you see in every photo of the structure). Robin, our architect, and author of the Conservation Plan (available here) thinks that they might have been designed to have obelisks or turrets atop. He made this quick, very rough sketch to outline the idea and I had to share it with you. Of course the reality is that it is unlikely they were ever built, and if they were they were taken down for good reason. More research may reveal the real intent.
After 5 hours of working through our plans we called it a day, or at least that was the intention – instead, Sadie launched into TWTC work and I, for my sins, went off for a three hour meeting with the Development Trust. It really doesn’t stop!
First Aerial Movie of Dunans Castle is over in 19 seconds, but shows spectacular potential!
Over the bank holiday we have been testing our new quadcopter mounted camera and this is a short excerpt of what we think will become an exciting and revealing tool for the restoration of the castle. We’re presently designing shots for a forthcoming ibook of the Conservation Plan.