Skulferatu #16 - Cammo Tower, Cammo Estate, Edinburgh

 

Lying on the outskirts of Edinburgh, as you head North towards South Queensferry and Fife, sits Cammo Estate.  This was once a private estate, but was bequeathed to the National Trust and then given to Edinburgh Council.  It is now maintained by the council as a wilderness park.

 

Cammo House circa 1900

 

The remains of Cammo House

 

In the estate there are the remains of Cammo House.  This was built in 1693 for John Menzies and at that time had fourteen bedrooms, four public rooms, a smoking room, a billiards room, bathrooms, a kitchen, a wash-house, a laundry, cellars, larders, pantries and servants' accommodation.  A surrounding park and landscaped garden were then laid out around the house. 

 

The house went through several owners before being bought by the Clark family.  In 1909 David Bennet Clark divorced his wife Margaret Maitland-Tennent and she and her son Percival kept the house.  However, shortly after the divorce Margaret dismissed the staff and moved into a caravan with her son.  The house was left, still full of valuable paintings and antiques.  Over the years it was completely neglected and was broken into on numerous occasions.  During the break-ins it was vandalised and damaged, with various valuables also being stolen.  In 1955 Margaret died and the house was left to Percival.  He lived as a recluse with a pack of around thirty dogs, which were given a free run of the house.  On his death in 1975, the house and the estate were left to the National Trust.  In 1977 most of the house was destroyed by fire and the remains were later pulled down, leaving only the door frame and lower wall.  In 1980 the house and the estate were given to Edinburgh Council by the National Trust.

 

Cammo House is thought to have been the inspiration for ‘The House of Shaws’ in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped.

 

On the estate there is also the very picturesque Cammo Tower.  This is a 19^th Century Water Tower built to supply water to Cammo House.

 

A view of Cammo Tower

Cammo Tower

A view of Cammo Tower

 

On my wanders around the estate, I left a Skulferatu in the wall of Cammo Tower with a view of the nearby hill.

 

Skulferatu #16

 

Skulferatu #16 in wall of Cammo Tower

Google Map showing location of Skulferatu

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are:

 

Latitude 55.954275

Longitude -3.321390

 

Skulferatu #6 - Polwarth Church, Greenlaw, Berwickshire

 

Polwarth Church

I remember this church from my childhood, as I walked out to it a few times with my Grandpa.  He worked in one of the nearby villages and would check on the church every so often to make sure all was in order.  Back then the key was kept above the main door so that anyone passing by could pop in to shelter or pray.  Useful when it was pouring with rain outside.  As a kid I was always fascinated by the two barred windows at the back of the church.  Sitting at ground level these windows gave a view into the crypts below, where on a good day, if you got your head into just the right position you could see some of the coffins inside.  Grandpa always said he would get hold of the keys for the crypt and show us down there, but never did.  No doubt if he had I would have been disappointed, as I was hoping to see stacks of skeletons everywhere rather than just and a few more crumbling coffins.

 

The first records of Polwarth Church are from 1242 when the Bishop of St Andrews, David de Bernham, consecrated the church and dedicated it to St Mungo.  The church was almost completely rebuilt in 1703.

 

In 1683, Sir Patrick Hume hid for four weeks in the crypt at the church after being implicated in the Rye House Plot. This was a plot to assassinate King Charles II and his brother.  His daughter, Grizel (Lady Grizel Baillie), smuggled him food while he was in hiding.  Hume and his family then fled to the Netherlands only returning to Scotland after the Glorious Revolution when King William of Orange took the crown in both England and Scotland.

 

The church closed in 2004 and was sold off by the Church of Scotland.  It is now privately owned.

Front view of Polwarth Church

Gravestone in the Churchyard

View of two coffins in the crypt

The Berwickshire poet, Robert McLean Calder (1841 to 1895) wrote a poem about the church and its congregation.  It is far too long and a little bit dull to quote in full, so here is one verse for your delectation –

 

What a quiet spot is the auld kirk-yaird,

That is a' thro' the week deserted,

Except when some mourner's wail is heard

By the grave o' some dear departed!

E'en noo on this joyous Sabbath morn

Nae jarrin' noise to the ear is borne,

For the talk is as meek as the faces worn

When they gang to the Kirk at Polart.

 

The full poem can be found at –

http://scotstext.org/roughs/robert_mclean_calder/robert_mclean_calder.asp

The Skulferatu that accompanied me on this trip was placed into a gap in the drystone wall at the back of the churchyard.

View from back of churchyard

Skulferatu #6

Skulferatu #6 left in gap in drystone wall

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are: Latitude 55.738498, Longitude -2.399870.

Map of location of Skulferatu

Skulferatu #5 - Barns Ness Lighthouse, Dunbar

There are many lovely walks around the coast of East Lothian.  One of these takes you from Dunbar and round to Torness Nuclear Power Station and beyond.  This walk takes you past Barns Ness Lighthouse, which sits just up from the sea on a large expanse of Marram Grass.

Barns Ness Lighthouse

Barns Ness Lighthouse and Cottage

The lighthouse was designed by two of the Lighthouse Stevensons, the brothers David and Charles Stevenson (both cousins of the author Robert Louis Stevenson).  It was constructed between 1899 and 1901 and was manned by two lighthouse keepers until 1966, when it was electrified.   Only a single keeper was then required.  The lighthouse was fully automated in 1986 and after a review of lighthouses, was deactivated in 2005.  It was sold in 2006 and the lighthouse cottage is now a holiday rental.

 

During the Second World War the lighthouse was machine gunned by a passing German plane, however it was not damaged by this.

A view of the lighthouse

I walked out to the lighthouse from Dunbar on a cold and sunny afternoon.  The sky was a pale blue with white and grey clouds skiffing through it, while the sea was a still and calm blue black.  All the colours of winter coming into their own.

Skulferatu #5

Skulferatu left at base of lighthouse tower

I left a Skulferatu at the base of the lighthouse where if faces out to the sea.

Google Map showing location of Skulferatu

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are – 

Latitude 55.987216

Longitude -2.445305.

 

Skulferatu #4 - Granton Harbour, Eastern Breakwater, Edinburgh

 

I walked out from Leith to the Eastern Breakwater at Granton Harbour.  I took the path along the Water of Leith and then went down Trinity Path and on to Lower Granton Road, where I followed the coastline along to Wardie Bay.  The sun was out, but the wind was a raging howl.  The clouds above me zoomed over the sky, as if they were making up for the lack of aircraft in these Covid riddled times.  The tide was high, and the air tasted of the salt spray from the water.

Granton Eastern Breakwater from Wardie Bay 

The walk along the Eastern Breakwater is one I only discovered recently, as though I’ve passed it many times on the bus, I had always assumed it would be closed to the public.  Given that its rather exposed and the walk is a bit uneven, it will probably be closed for ‘health and safety’ reasons at some point in the future!

The harbour at Granton consists of three parts, the main harbour, Granton Harbour Breakwater and the Eastern Breakwater.  The main harbour is now mainly used by leisure craft and the Royal Forth Yacht Club is based there, the Granton Harbour Breakwater is closed off due to construction in that area, while the Eastern Breakwater is a popular spot with local fishermen.  However, the harbour once had a busy and industrious past.  It opened in 1838 and the construction was funded by the 5^th Duke of Buccleuch.  The lighthouse engineer, Robert Stevenson (grandfather of the famous author Robert Louis Stevenson) then oversaw the construction of the outer breakwaters.  These were completed in 1863.  The harbour became a port for the export of coal, the import of esparto grass, used in making paper, and a large fishing fleet was also resident there.

 

In 1847 the Edinburgh and Northern Railway operated a ferry service from Granton Harbour to Burntisland in Fife.  In 1850 they opened the first roll-on-roll-off railway ferry in the world and this allowed a direct rail link from Edinburgh to Dundee without passengers having to leave the train.  This service ended in 1890 with the opening of the Forth Bridge.

Warning sign at entrance to Eastern Breakwater

On the Eastern Breakwater I was blasted by the wind as I carefully made my way along the walkway.  There is a narrow walkway on either side of the jutting, uneven stones that make up the main part of the structure.  Here and there are rusting moorings and chains and there are a couple of small, crumbling buildings.  The buildings are both now sealed, but up until recently were open.  There was little in them other than discarded beer cans, fishing line and the smell of stale piss.

View along Eastern Breakwater

One of the buildings on Eastern Breakwater

At the end of the Breakwater I reached a white, box structure.  I don’t have a clue what this is, but assume it was a lighthouse of sorts at one point.  There I found a circular hole in the wall which was a perfect place to leave a Skulferatu.  So, I left one there.

End of the pier – Eastern Breakwater

Skulferatu #4

Skulferatu #4 in hole in wall in lighthouse

I then struggled back along towards the shore as the wind tried to whip my feet away from me and the low winter sun dazzled my eyes.  Overhead seagulls soared and screeched their eerie calls to one another.

Map showing location of Skulferatu

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are – 

Latitude 55.987863 

Longitude -3.220660.

The Skulferatu Project

I often go walking, either in my locality or on trips and travels around the UK.  On my walks I like to explore the places I am passing through and will often end up on paths with no idea of where I’m going or what I’m going to find.  Mostly I find dead ends or industrial estates, but sometimes I find real gems of places.  These places need not be beautiful or even of any historic significance, as I have often found inspiration in the decay of old industry, in the brittle stone of crumbling graveyards or the low hum and concrete landscape of a nuclear power station.  However, sometimes it is good just to lose yourself in the beauty of nature - on a beach, on a cliff walk, in a woodland, on a moor or up in the hills and mountains.

 

During the time of the Covid 19 pandemic, I got to thinking about the places I have walked around and the places I have visited.  Many times, I have picked up a pebble or a shell or something else as a memento of that place, as many others do.  What do I leave of myself in this landscape though?  Nothing other than the passing shadow of my having been there.  But how often is what we leave behind us the toxic trash of the brief time we enjoyed in that place?  The plastic water bottle, the crisp packets, the sandwich wrappers, the juice cans, etc.  The detritus we are all use to seeing on our beaches and in our beauty spots.  I wondered if there was a way I could leave behind a little of myself, something I had made, something neutral that would become part of that landscape, decay back into it, or even become a memento for someone else who had visited that spot.  I then came up with the idea of leaving behind something made of clay.  Something small and unobtrusive.

 

I was pondering on what I could make, especially given my limited skills, while I was out for a walk along the coast.  My route took me past an old church and there I wandered through the graveyard.  Many of the graves dated from the sixteenth century.  As I wandered around, I noticed that several had very primitive carvings of skulls on them that were really nothing more than an oval head, two round holes for eyes, a triangle for a nose and a line for the mouth.  Even I could make something that basic.  Thus, the idea for the Skulferatus was born.

Skulls decorating gravestones at Cramond Kirk and Melrose Abbey

The Skulferatus are all made of clay using a few simple implements to create the eye sockets, nose and mouth.  I experimented with a few looks and found the one pictured below worked the best. 

Skulferatu design

Batch 1 of Skulferatus left to dry

 

Once made the Skulferatus were left to dry before being fired in a kiln at 1200℃.  This hardens the clay and means they are now basically stone.

To be fired the Skulferatus were placed, rather aptly, inside a head by Ronnie Fulton.

 

A Skulferatu after being fired in the kiln.

 

Now that the Skulferatus have been created I will be occasionally leaving them at places I visit.  When I do this, I will take a photograph of the area, a photograph of the Skulferatu and a screenshot from Google Maps, showing the location it was left.  These photographs, along with the GPS coordinates will be posted on this blog and also on Instagram.

 

Thanks to Esther Cohen and Ronnie Fulton from Tantallon Arts and Crafts Studios https://tantallonstudios.com for providing support in creating the Skulferatu pieces.

All articles and photographs on this blog are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.