UK STAINED GLASS NEWS in 2010

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Start at Waverley Station, in the heart of the city. Elbow your way past busking bagpipe players and begging squirrels and into Tourist Info (yuckily renamed Visit Scotland) and get a map and a bus timetable.
If you’re feeling fit, sprint to the top of the Scott Monument to see the view and a Ballantine window. Unless your interest in stained glass is really academic, miss out Cowgate with oldest in-situ glass in Scotland (though the building’s interesting).

Me, I’d go straight to the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle to see the Chapel (wonderful little Strachan windows, including Willie Wallace) and the war Memorial (large Strachans!). If you hear the one-o’clock gun, you’re dawdling and should be long gone.

Wander down the Mile – wetting the whistle at Deacon Brodie’s – and into St Giles. There are lots of stained glass windows there – Strachan, Spear, C Shaw, Burne-Jones, Ballantine. One of the most recent is the West window, replacing a crumbling Victorian one, to commemorate Robbie Burns. Bite tongue over appropriateness of a huge window to a serial seducer of women and abandoner of illegitimate children, and concentrate on the fine work by Icelander Leifur Breidfjörd.





After you’ve looked at them (don’t forget the clerestorey), off up the Bridges to Greyfriar’s Church to see the first pictorial glass to be installed in a Church of Scotland after the Reformation, with George Buchanan’s portrait. Also see the new Millennium window by Hogg. If time permits, go and see where wee Bobby was buried. Or zip across the road to the new and fabby museum. (Of course there’s stained glass there)

Next, hop onto a bus and go to Holy Corner to the Eric Liddell (of Chariot’s of Fire fame) Centre. There you’ll see some fine windows, including work by Duncan, Hendrie and Wilson. Resist the temptation to draw a bubble coming out of the woman’s mouth saying “Jings! How did ye get yer gown that white?”



Back down Lothian Road will take you to St Cuthbert’s. Pass the grave of Thomas de Quincey, the Opium Eater, and go in and see the Tiffany window, one of a handful in Scotland. Not his finest, but it’s interesting to see what was being done over the water.

Up to George Street and into St Andrew’s and St George’s, where you’ll see a fine Alf Webster (father of Gordon, one of top 20^th century stained glass artists in Scotland, but you don’t see his work on this tour.)

There’s also a good Strachan.

From there, nip along to the National Portrait Gallery and see the window depicting founders of the Society of Antiquarians. Painter and stained glass designer Noel Paton is one shown.



Back up to George Street, where on the corner with St Andrew’s Square is a building which was once the Caledonian Insurance Company. It could be called anything this week. The staircase windows are by Willie Wilson and depict scenes of Edinburgh life from the 1930s – lots of little whimsical scenes as well as rugged fishermen, miners etc.



By this time, you’ll be exhausted and ready to collapse over a stiff drink. Head for the Oyster Bar of the Café Royal and slump down in front of the windows by Willie Wilson’s Uncle Tom, showing Victorian sportsmen. Realise that you really should have got that bumper pack of slide film from Boots. You’ll need to come back…

Rona Moody