We’ve been to the New Era exhibition of Scottish Modern Art 1900-1950 at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two.)

It’s not quite as good as the previous exhibition True to Life (for which I see some of the links to the paintings are no longer working) but there is still some good stuff there.

More so in the first two galleries. The pictures became darker both in tone and appearance as the galleries wore on.

Stanley Cursiter’s “The Regatta” is particularly striking with its bold slabs of colour:-

Cursiter’s “Rain on Princes Street”:-

J D Fergusson is more usually reckoned a colourist but though not an official war artist he was allowed to paint Portsmouth Docks during the Great War.

Another evocation of war is in Eric Robertson’s “Shellburst”:-

So too does Keith Henderson’s “Camouflage Hangars and Gas Gong”:-

The caption for Edward Baird’s “Unidentified Aircraft over Montrose” is odd as it says the bridge at the lower left has since been replaced by a suspension bridge but the one depicted is clearly exactly of that type:-

William McCance’s “Study for a Colossal Steel Head” is very modernistic:-

This is a bridge on the road into Fortingall:-

As well as some Arts and Crafts houses –

some with thatched roofs

– the village has this idiosyncratic building:-

It also has a unique claim to fame. It is home to supposedly the oldest living thing in Europe, the Fortingall Yew, which can be seen to the left of the church in the link at the top of this post and here:-

The plaque informs us that The Tree Council designated this one of fifty Great British Trees, June 2002:-

The village of Kenmore lies at the foot of Loch Tay in Perthsire.

Main street left. Taymouth Castle gates are behind you in this view. You can just make out the War Memorial at the far end of the street in front of the kirk:-

Main street right:-

Main street reverse view. Gates of Taymouth Castle middle centre. The War Memorial is directly behind here:-

Looking down to foot of Loch Tay:-

Foot of Loch Tay:-

Near Kenmore a reconstructed crannog has been built out onto Loch Tay. Thsi is the view of Kenmore from there:-

The outflow from Loch Tay is the start of Scotland’s longest river, the silvery Tay. This lovely bridge spans it:-

River Tay at Kenmore:-

Looking towards (sea) Loch Ainort from near a bridge over Allt Coire Nam Bruadaram. An older bridge can be seen in the distance nearer the loch. The island of Scalpay lies across the sea water.

The older bridge in close-up:-

Allt Coire Nam Bruadaram from roadside:-

Allt Coire Nam Bruadaram looking towards Loch Ainort:-

Allt Coire Nam Bruadaram looking up the coire (corrie):-

From Kyle of Lochalsh we travelled over the sea to Skye – not in a bonny boat but via the bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh.

On the way on to Portree I spotted a lovely old bridge over the River Sligachan. I made sure to stop on the way back to photograph it.

It was an atmospheric day with mist shrouding the hills and rain making fitful appearances:-

Just off to the left there was a smaller bridge over a smaller burn:-

Reverse angle of old bridge. The newer bridge over the Sligachan can be seen through the first arch:-

The newer bridge:-

Kyle of Lochalsh is a village situated at the mouth of Loch Alsh, ten or so miles from Dornie and Eilean Donan Castle.

It is perhaps most famous for being the terminus of the Kyle of Lochalsh Railway line, which nominally runs from Dingwall but the trains go on to Inverness.

Kyle of Lochalsh Railway Station:-

The Station is effectively on the pier. Handy for goods traffic:-

Part of railway line:-

Signal Box, Kyle of Lochalsh, taken from same bridge as above:-

The village is quite small but as I recall represented the big bad wider world of fleshpots and the like for the inhabitants of the Applecross peninsula in His Bloody Project

The most impressive building in Lochalsh is the Lochalsh Hotel which has minor Art Deco leanings:-

Only a mile (or less) away is the Skye Bridge. (No need now to take a boat – bonny or otherwise – over the sea to Skye.) Skye hills in background:-

In the village there is a memorial in the form of a defused mine:-

Mine memorial inscription:-

As I said in my posts about it Eilean Donan Castle is situated very near to the village of Dornie in Wester Ross.

Below is a photo of Dornie from the castle. The bridge goes over the entrance to Loch Long and cuts a fair few miles off the trip to Kyle of Lochalsh:-

Dornie from the bridge over Loch Long:-

Part of Loch Alsh and hills from Eilean Donan Castle. Dornie is to right here. You can just see where the water was disturbed at the junction of Loch Long and Loch Alsh:-

Loch Alsh from Eilean Donan Castle, looking seawards, Isle of Skye in middle distance:-

Loch Duich from Eilean Donan Castle looking inland. Dornie is behind and slightly to the left of the viewer here, Loch Alsh off to right:-

This post’s title alludes to the one I made on Burns’s cottage.

This is the iconic Scottish Castle, Eilean Donan, by the village of Dornie in the Highlands at the junction of Lochs Duish, Alsh and Long. We visited it in the summer of 2016.

Closer View:-

Reverse view showing bridge to castle:-

Bridge to castle from the island:-

Newton Stewart has a lovely situation sitting by the banks of the River Cree:-

Unfortunately the river sometimes comes a bit too close. In this photo you can see work on flood defences at centre right:-

There is a lovely bridge over the river:-

It seems to be a good place for birds:-

Heron just to right of and above centre:-

The plant growth was making this chimney loook dodgy, though!:-

A small model of The Kelpies in Kirkcudbright. The originals are in Falkirk at The Helix. Bridge over River Dee in background.

Side view:-

Just along from the minin Kelpies is a memorial, “In memory of loved ones lost at sea.”