Day 1: Travel and Traquair House
On our journey to Glasgow we made a break at Traquair House near Peebles which is the oldest continuously inhabited house in Scotland, its exact age is not known but thought to be around 900 years and is the home of the Stuart-Maxwell family. The house’s period interiors contain many fascinating objects and art works collected throughout its life. The principal feature of the garden is a substantial maze, fortunately no one was lost and all made it to Glasgow.
Day 2: Hill House and Kelvingrove
Our second day began with a planned visit to Hill House in Helensburgh. Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece designed for the Blackie family in 1902 is currently sheltered under a steel framed structure to protect it from the Scottish weather and allow the building to dry out while giving time for consideration of the best means for its long-term conservation. The beautifully considered and designed interiors however gleam with the care which the National Trust for Scotland lavishes upon it; it is as though the Blackies have only just moved out. Mackintosh’s genius extends not only to the layout and décor, with invaluable contributions from his wife Margaret Macdonald but also to the creation of cosy nooks and corners where family members could retire to read or study and a performance space on the first floor landing.
By popular demand the group spent the afternoon at the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. This wonderful institution has the most eclectic collection of any major gallery, from the ‘Glasgow Boys’ and Scottish Colourists paintings to a Pop Art sculpture of Elvis, a Mark VI Spitfire hanging from one of the gallery roofs and Salvador Dali’s show stopping crucifixion.
Day 3: House for an Art Lover
Our first destination was another Mackintosh house, this time his House for an Art Lover, constructed 68 years after his death from his design which first came to notice as an entry in an international competition held by a German interior design magazine. The idea to construct the house came from Graham Roxburgh, a structural engineer who had worked on the restoration of other Macintosh buildings, the design implementation was led by Professor Andy McMillan head of the School of Architecture at Glasgow School of Art who had to use great skill and knowledge of Mackintoshes work a the competition drawings were not complete or consistent. The building is used as an arts centre and events venue
Day 3: Free time
After our visit to the House for an Art Lover we returned to the city centre where members were free to make their own explorations; a number opted to visit the Tenement House, which shows a perfectly preserved example of the way many middle class Glaswegians lived until the middle of the 20th century, others opted for the Edwardian splendour of the City Chambers or the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art.
Day 4: The Burrell Collection
The Burrell Collection in Pollok Country Park
Sir William Burrell, a Glasgow merchant and ship owner gifted his extensive collection of art works of all periods and regions to the City in 1944, for many years some of it was shown at the Kelvingrove Museum but in the 1970’s and 80’s a new Museum was designed and built in Pollok Park to house the whole collection. The Museum has reopened after extensive refurbishment and alteration and it is a truly impressive setting for this amazing trove of artistic delights.