The Way We Were

I have only ever seen small versions of this very old photograph of Balintore Castle. However, a friend recently sent me an A4-sized photocopy,  so I had it scanned for this blog and indeed for posterity i.e. so it doesn't matter if I ever lose the paper copy.

It was clearly taken shortly after construction as the subjects have a proprietorial pride in the building. I have been told that the man in the tall stove-pipe hat is the architect William Burn.

It is a delight to be able to zoom in on the detail for the first time by having a hi-res scan.

Things present then but absent now:

• pair of urns above entrance
• ball finial on low square turret
• lion rampant in shield above entrance

Things absent but present now:

• yews in front of building
• ballusters on wall to left of entrance tower 

I have recently discovered that the yews date from 1960's, as they are small in a 1960's photo and so are not an original planting. These are now for the chop! :-) The presence of a few balusters on the wall at the front nowadays (most have been removed) but not in this photo is a mystery. Perhaps, construction was not quite complete at the time of the photograph?

earliest known photograph of Balintore Castle