Toward Castle (2)
Old Castle Toward is in the grounds of the great house that replaced it, also called Castle Toward, which itself is long passed its glory days. The new "castle" was built in 1820 by Kirkman Finlay, former Lord Provost of Glasgow. As late as the 1920s it was still being extended and the gardens and woodlands improved. If those heady days had not come to a close as a result of the ever increasing cost of maintaining a great house in the 20th century, they certainly came to end when the 2WW broke out. Toward was requisitioned by the Navy, renamed HMS Brontosaurus, and used as a combined operations centre for training men in the techniques of loading personnel and armoured vehicles including tanks, onto all types of landing craft and in the management of beach landing operations and logistics on a beach-head.
After the war, the castles and 226 acres of ground were bought by the Corporation of Glasgow and used initially as a residential school for children recovering from illness or living in deprived home conditions. It later became available for residential education of children from Primary Schools all over Glasgow, and operated for 50 years as an outdoor education centre, during which time 400,000 children passed through its gates.
With the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1996, ownership passed to Argyll and Bute Council and such centres as this were threatened with closure. A rescue operation was mounted and a company, Actual Reality was formed, which kept the castle in use as an outdoor activity centre. There have been several attempts by the council to sell the estate, but all have met with fierce opposition. On 13 November 2009 Argyll and Bute Council closed the castle on the grounds that it was unfit for purpose. This followed directly Actual Reality's request to upgrade the fire protection system following an audit of the castle in co-operation with Strathclyde Fire Brigade.
There is something tragically symbolic of the age we live in about all this. For 50 years the place was all about the children that came here, now its all about 'Jobsworfs', the number of fire extinguishers available and whether there is enough money left to repair the roof after the Councilors have travelled overseas on "fact finding trips"!
Anyway, it wasn't the new castle I came to see, it is the old castle, which has quite enough tragedy associated with its history already.
Toward Castle (2)
Old Castle Toward is in the grounds of the great house that replaced it, also called Castle Toward, which itself is long passed its glory days. The new "castle" was built in 1820 by Kirkman Finlay, former Lord Provost of Glasgow. As late as the 1920s it was still being extended and the gardens and woodlands improved. If those heady days had not come to a close as a result of the ever increasing cost of maintaining a great house in the 20th century, they certainly came to end when the 2WW broke out. Toward was requisitioned by the Navy, renamed HMS Brontosaurus, and used as a combined operations centre for training men in the techniques of loading personnel and armoured vehicles including tanks, onto all types of landing craft and in the management of beach landing operations and logistics on a beach-head.
After the war, the castles and 226 acres of ground were bought by the Corporation of Glasgow and used initially as a residential school for children recovering from illness or living in deprived home conditions. It later became available for residential education of children from Primary Schools all over Glasgow, and operated for 50 years as an outdoor education centre, during which time 400,000 children passed through its gates.
With the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1996, ownership passed to Argyll and Bute Council and such centres as this were threatened with closure. A rescue operation was mounted and a company, Actual Reality was formed, which kept the castle in use as an outdoor activity centre. There have been several attempts by the council to sell the estate, but all have met with fierce opposition. On 13 November 2009 Argyll and Bute Council closed the castle on the grounds that it was unfit for purpose. This followed directly Actual Reality's request to upgrade the fire protection system following an audit of the castle in co-operation with Strathclyde Fire Brigade.
There is something tragically symbolic of the age we live in about all this. For 50 years the place was all about the children that came here, now its all about 'Jobsworfs', the number of fire extinguishers available and whether there is enough money left to repair the roof after the Councilors have travelled overseas on "fact finding trips"!
Anyway, it wasn't the new castle I came to see, it is the old castle, which has quite enough tragedy associated with its history already.