Long time readers of this blog will know of my interest in the International Exhibitions held in Glasgow (1888, 1901,) the Scottish National Exhibition of 1911 and the Empire Exhibition of 1938.

Hence I was delighted to see this painting of the main building by William J Kennedy of the 1901 Exhibition on display at the Hunterian Art Gallery when we visited:-

Charles Rennie Mackintosh submitted designs for some of that Exhibition’s buildings (as well as for the 1911 one) as noted in this :-

And of course this picture of Dumbarton Rock and the River Clyde was irresistible:-

Then there was this one by my favourite impressionist painter, Alfred Sisley, one of a series he painted of the church at Moret:-

Portrait of a child by Henry Rayburn:-

Not to mention a couple of Old Masters, The Entombment by Rembrandt:-

and the one that stood out from across the room, Head of an Old Man by Rubens. It’s absolutely stunning:-

This photo appeared on the DFC website on Christmas Eve. I don’t know when it was taken as it doesn’t often snow in Dumbarton, it being on the confluence of two rivers, but it looks lovely.

I saw this picture posted on a friend’s Facebook page a while back, and now I’ve shamelessly appropriated it. Superb.

Dumbarton FC Stadium and Dumbarton Rock:-

On 23^rd December 2022 Dumbarton FC was 150 years old.

To mark the anniversary several commemorations are taking place throughout the year.

One of these is a special set of strips (Home and Away) to be worn during this anniversary season. The Home top is a version of the iconic 1960s/1970s all white with a gold band enclosed by two black bands. The Away one is in blue to reflect the colours the club first played in back in 1872.

When my replica strips arrived I photographed them.

Home top front:-

Home top back:-

The picture on this is an aerial view of the present stadium and Dumbarton Rock:-

Away top front:-

Away top back:-

The picture on this one is harder to make out. It is an aerial view of Boghead, Dumbarton FC’s ground for 121 years between 1879 and 2000. Thee was no chance I wasn’t buying that one :-

The Queen’s Gallery lies over the road from the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, and close by Holyrood Palace. It has recently been refurbished and styled with a blonde wood.

Art Deco style lamp in niche by entrance to the Queen’s Gallery:-

Lower part of stairwell:-

Upper part of stairwell:-

Stair guard rail:-

Ceiling + Light:-

At the time we visited there was an exhibition of paintings illustrating the lives of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Painting of Scutari Monument at Great Exhibition. (The Great Exhibition is one of my interests so I had to photograph this):-

Similarly this painting by Edouard Hildebrandt of Dumbarton Rock and Castle was a must:-

Information card re painting above:-

The picture below, Dumbarton FC’s stadium in the shadow of Dumbarton Rock, appeared on an email I received from the club. (I get them as a result of signing up for club news.)

The stadium really has a wonderful situation.

On our visit to the town last March we also had a look in Dumbarton town centre. The Artizan Shopping Centre has seen better days. That day many of its premises did not have tenants. Covid can only have made that worse.

Some of the empty units had been brightened up though by having huge photographs of Dumbarton Rock pasted onto their frontages. These are crops of the photos I took of those huge photos.

The Rock is a beautiful sight, isn’t it?. And that’s a lovely sky.

This cracking shot of Dumbarton Rock and Dumbarton Football Stadium (aka The Rock) was posted in 2020 in a blog I follow:-

And this view was in a newsletter from Dumbarton FC:-

I’ve posted Footy Adventures’s video of Dumbarton Football Stadium from Dumbarton Rock elsewhere.

Now, in another video (posted on 7/1/21) he took advantage of the club granting him access to the ground (well there was no-one else around) and he’s very enthusiastic about the place.

He waxes lyrical about the surroundings but bemoans the fact the fans can’t see the Rock when they’re seated in the stand.

However from the stand there is a very good view of the range of hills known locally as the Long Crags but whose formal name is I think the Kilpatrick Hills, which also overlook the town and are scenic in themselves.

Posting this means I probably don’t need to inflict my own photos of the Rock on you all.

The First Kings of Scotland:

Someone on the football forum Pie & Bovril posted this video as seen on You Tube and made by a user called Footy Adventures.

It had great views of Dumbarton Rock and The Rock. Not to mention the town and surroundings.

PS. I can confirm that from Annbank (over the River Clyde,) Dumbarton Rock does look like a recumbent elephant.

Or Dumbarton Football Stadium from above.

The good lady took these while I was at the Play-off game vs Alloa Athletic, May, 2018.

The pitch:-

Teams line up:-

Part of Dumbarton Rock to right, Kilpatrick Hills (aka the Long Crags) in background:-

Closer view:-

More extended view:-