Layout and Location - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 148

area were broken foundations here and there, especially on the
east end of the park, and the railway sleepers still heaped where
the canal sidings had been torn up. For over a decade the ground
had been clear, used only by the pigeon-fanciers and at night by
glue-sniffing children. When the contractors, Sportsworks Lim-
ited, began the landscaping of the hilltop, they found thousands of
empty adhesive tubes just under the grass.
The nineteenth century slicing away of the south side of the
hill had created a dramatic drop, with an almost unobstructed
view over the city center and south side to the hills beyond, and
it was this spot - the highest on the hilltop - which Ian Clair had
reserved for a viewpoint. If it wasn't the best place for the circle,
then there might be problems: I would need to find out in short
order just how many alignments were actually clear at that point,
and whether any other point was so much better that it might jus-
tify a change in plans for the new park at such a late stage. Since
the area assigned for the view point was towards the western end of
the hilltop, the Sighthill high flats were northeast from there and
posed a threat to the midsummer sunrise group of alignments.
Working on my own was becoming a problem, but now I had
a lucky break. John Braithwaite, an old friend with an impressive
mastery of astronomical instruments, left Templeton's Carpets
and asked if he could join the project. Since his skills were highly
needed and there had been no other applicants, the MSC again
agreed to waive the normal requirement that candidates over 24
years old should have been out of work for a year. Out-of-work
astronomers as such are not easy to find, after all, and John joined
me on May 9.
For day-to-day work on and off the hilltop, we felt that some-
thing more portable than the Miner's Dial was needed, and at that
we had a bit of a shock. District Council procedures were such that
to procure a pocket compass, we would have to fill out a request/
requisition; this would be processed and go to the main Parks
Department offices at Trongate. If approved, it would be passed
to the Finance Office, who would put it out to tender. When ten-
ders had been received and evaluated, in about 3 months an order
would be placed.
John and I excused ourselves and repaired to Charles Frank
Limited, where John's father had worked for many years and John