Argyll Curiosities
Argyll Curiosities

Author: Marian Pallister

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd

Published: 2018-04-12

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 178885098X

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The great travellers of the 17th century – Martin, Penant, Johnson et al – used the word 'curiosity' to mean many different things. They labelled as 'curiosities' people, plants, legends, historical facts and geological certainties. This book follows their example in a 21st century journey around Argyll and its islands. It is difficult to find an area of Argyll which is not curious in some way: archaeology, geography, geology and genealogy have all served to mark out this western fringe of Scotland as unique. Discarding those curiosities which it is all too easy to find on any journey through the county, Marian Pallister has looked extensively into places, people and events which are curiously layered, and has created a book that is overflowing with enchanting 'curiosities' and local histories.

Cruachan
Cruachan

Author: Marian Pallister

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2015-07-16

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0857908618

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A history of the Scottish power station constructed inside Ben Cruachan beginning in 1959, and its effect on the nearby community. “Cruachan!” was the battle cry of the Campbells. In the early 1960s, the invasion of the 3,000 men who hollowed out Argyll’s noblest and highest mountain as part of a massive hydroelectric project could have annihilated the local community. Instead, the people of Loch Awe, Dalmally, and Taynuilt welcomed the invaders, embraced the project and emerged the winners. Fifty years on, an integrated community still lives under the Hollow Mountain, and the cry “Cruachan!” signifies a Scottish success story. In this book, based on interviews, media reports, court reports, and film archive material, Marian Pallister tells the story of the project—featuring the extraordinary experience of those who worked on the mountain as well as the effects on the local community of one of the biggest civil engineering projects ever to have been undertaken in Scotland. She also considers the long-term effects of the project, looking at how the community was changed by the experience.

The Crinan Canal
The Crinan Canal

Author: Marian Pallister

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0857909568

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Known as 'Britain's most beautiful shortcut', the Crinal Canal runs from Ardrishaig on Loch Fyne nine miles across the Kintyre peninsula to the west coast of Scotland. Designed by John Rennie after initial survey work by James Watt in 1771, the canal was opened in 1801, with further improvements made by Thomas Telford in the second decade of the nineteenth century. The canal was originally planned to save commercial ships having to make the long journey from the industrial region around Glasgow round the Mull of Kintyre to reach the west coast and Hebridean islands. By 1854, 33,000 passengers, 22,000 sheep and 2000 cattle had been transported along it. These days the canal is a popular route for leisure craft. In the book Marian Pallister tells the story of the canal from its origins to the present day, discussing how it was built, who built it, how it changed life in the surrounding areas, and how it has been used.