I meant to photograph the Minton foor tiles in Rochdale Town Hall’s foyer but there were people making it difficult to get the whole pattern in, both when we entered and on the way out so I didn’t. They are beautifully set into large squares whose perimeters contain various royal mottos such as “Dieu et Mon Droit” (used by the UK monarch outwith Scotland) and “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit” the ancient one of the Scottish kings usually uttered in Scots as “Wha daur meddle wi’ me?” or as I translated into Glaswegian to our friends from Rochdale who’d taken us there, “Don’t mess wi’ me, pal.”

A small portion of the tiled floor can be seen in my photo of the staircase in my Rochdale Town Hall, Stained Glass post. Other images can be found here.

The ground floor vaulted ceiling is a bit Islamesque:-

One of the function rooms has a magnificent hammer beam ceiling:-

Along with decoration:-

And a similarly magnificent fireplace:-

Wood panelling on the walls:-

Wall decoration:-

I liked these internal doors:-

And the old signage:-

There’s even decoration in the corridor to the toilets:-

As well as the Ensign Ewart Memorial there are four other memorials to British (make that Scottish) regimental involvements in various wars. Three of them can be seen on the right and one on the left in this view of the castle from the esplanade.

The first was erected in 1861 to the memory of the 256 men from all ranks of the 78th Highlanders (78th Regiment of Foot) who died during the Indian Mutiny. Pity about the traffic cone in the foreground!

The second was erected in memory of the men of the Scottish Horse who died in the South African War (the Second Boer War.)

The thinnest one is to the memory to the men of the 72nd Highlanders who died in the Afghan War 1878-80. That was the Second Anglo-Afghan War. (Despite “Never Invade Afghanistan” being Harold MacMillan’s first rule of politics there have now been no fewer than four Anglo-Afghan Wars.)

The Memorial on the south wall of the castle Esplanade is to the Gordon Highlanders who died in the Second Boer War, the South African War, 1899-1902.

This detail shows a fine stag’s head.

The entrance to the castle itself is flanked by statues to Scotland’s two great warrior heroes, Bruce and Wallace,and surmounted by the Royal Emblem (the Lion Rampant) and motto, Nemo Me Impune Lacessit.