Windows on Poltalloch

"When this large mansion, designed by William Burn to accommodate every wish and comfort of the many guests, was completed, its delights ranged from a huge glassed conservatory containing palms and dracenas to dozens of glass cases containing every species of bird native to Britain." (Hidden Scotland, Ann Lindsay, Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2006).

Silently falling
slipping backwards
sandstone to soil
raindrop to river
glass bird to raven
returning.

(woodpeckers /Helena Petre, 2014)


This vast frame must have been part of the conservatory of Poltalloch House, near Kilmartin, Argyll. We visited today for Derelict Thursday. The owner of the 4,000-acre estate is a cousin of a friend of my mother's, and all four wombled with us across the rain-sodden fields to view the ruins of what was once a fashionable Victorian holiday home, a sportsman's paradise for the Malcolms of Poltalloch and their many guests.


Two world wars, heavy casualties and a subsequent shortage of labourers to work the land took their toll on standards of living, and the son who was to inherit the property had no taste for such a large house nor the financing of scores of servants. Finally, The roof and lead were removed in 1958, when the cost of running the house became insupportable. Since then the building has remained open to the elements, with trees growing out every window, sprouting up from the cellars, and black-jacketed bales of silage shoring up up the walls.

CleanSteve appears to be writing a great deal, so I don't need to write any more about today's adventures. Late entry here by TML. I must thank Robin Malcolm for accompanying us onto his land, and giving so generously of his first-hand knowledge of Poltalloch house.