Calderglen cliffs in winter sunshine...
Shoved the weekend together cos both days we took the kids out to have a look at the sad non-remains of Calderwood Castle. That end of Calderglen seems sadly ignored, although obviously much loved by the locals and their dogs. In particular on Sunday we met a huge black beastie called Rocko. His owner claimed Rocko was a Newfoundland, but I’m thinking canine-bear cross. He was 10 stone 8 of gorgeousity. Even Zebra Boy almost clapped him and he is terrified of dogs. Meanwhile Daughter wanted to take him home as a hottle bottle.
.. or crocodile creeping through the woods?
Anyway, the kids had a wonderful time with dirt and water and mud. We wandered down to the river to skim stones and along past the terrace and tried to figure out where the front door of the castle would’ve been. I think the largest part of the building was actually constructed from the river up to what’s now the level of the path, but in the old photos there still seems to be a fair bit of masonry at the top.
Why did the great move to New Town have to end history in EK? Well they tried, but it hangs on, just. The terrace is still there, even if it’s graffiti’d and overgrown. HB says that when ‘e were a lad, he could wander along the top of the terrace. My kids can’t do that. It’s a shame that we lost so much before we realised what we had.
There’s a sad photo posted by calaterium which shows the final destruction of the octagonal tower. If we could go back to 1951, could we stop it? I doubt it. It was too dangerous by then, but it’s a lesson to be learned. What other bits and pieces of archaeology are lying around our feet, with most ordinary mortals unaware of their existence?
Remains of drive leading up to the castle
And the thing is that although the castle is gone, there are all kinds of markers to its presence, from the terrace, to the exotic flora, to the mausoleum, to the stone in the drive. More could be done to promote awareness of this stuff. Why not have a treasure hunt – what to look for along the trail. Guides to the amazing geology, and trees, and waterfalls, and crumbling masonry. Let’s celebrate what we have left, and educate our kids about what’s there.
Thankyou for your kind words.
The last photograph has been taken at the point where the western end of the 18th century mansion extension was built after the original castle collasped. A further late 18th century building was built to a little further west. Nobody knows what this part looked like, but the 1840’s extension stood on its site.
The front door to the newer 1840 work visible in most of my Flickr photos, stood roughly 15-20 feet SW of the wooden sign.
My book, due to be published in coming years will represent a 900-1000 page comprehensive guide to the district. I am going to do my damdest to rejuvinate the Estate before my final days, so rest assured someone is fighting to recover what really is all still there if you dig deep enough.
If you look and explore enough it is amazing what is still there, more than once described as the ‘loveliest of western glens.’