Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
paintings inside, among them two El Greco portraits and works by Murillo and Goya.
he house recently came under the management of the National Trust for Scotland
- a happy reunion, as it was in the upstairs smoking room in 1931 that the then-
owner, Sir John Stirling Maxwell, held the first meetings with the Eighth Duke of
Atholl and Lord Colquhoun of Luss that led to the formation of the NTS. he Trust
has made a deliberate effort to return the house to the layout and style it enjoyed when
the Stirling Maxwells were living here in the 1920s and 1930s. As a result, the
paintings
range from Spanish masterpieces in the morning room and some splendid
Dutch hunting scenes in the dining room to Sir John's own worthy but noticeably
amateur efforts, which line the upstairs corridors.
Generally, the rooms have the flavour of a well-to-do but unstuffy country house,
with the odd piece of attractive furniture and some pleasant rooms, but little that can
be described as outstanding. he servants' quarters downstairs, however, do capture the
imagination - the virtually untouched labyrinth of tiled Victorian parlours and
corridors includes a good
tearoom
in the old kitchen. Free tours of the house are
available from the front desk, or you can wander around at your own pace.
5
Holmwood House
61-63 Netherlee Road • April-Oct Mon & Thurs-Sun noon-5pm • £6.50; NTS
Four miles south of the city centre in the suburb of Cathcart,
Holmwood House
, the
finest domestic design by rediscovered Glasgow architect Alexander “Greek” homson,
has recently been restored and opened to the public. A commission by James Couper,
co-owner of a paper mill on the nearby River Carth, the house shows off homson's
bold classical concepts, with exterior pillars on two levels and a raised main door, as
well as his detailed and highly imaginative interiors.
One room upstairs is given over to a series of displays about homson and the history
of the house. Also on the upper floor is the
drawing room
- look for the white marble
fireplace and the night-time star decorations on the ceiling, which contrast with a black
marble fireplace and sunburst decorations in the
parlour
immediately underneath on
the downstairs level, which also features a delightful round bay window. Across the
corridor, the
dining room
has a frieze of scenes from the
Iliad
, along with a skylight at
the back of the room designed to allow the Greek gods to peer down on the feasts
being consumed inside. One unusual feature not designed by homson is the small
hatch cut in the interconnecting door between the dining room and the butler's pantry;
the house was last occupied by a sisterhood of nuns, who used the dining room as a
chapel and created the small hatch for use as a confessional.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
GLASGOW
an airport branch of VisitScotland in the international
arrivals hall.
Destinations
Barra (2 daily; 1hr 10min); Belfast (Mon-Fri
7 daily; Sat & Sun 3 daily; 45min); Benbecula (Mon-Sat 2
daily; 1 on Sun; 1hr); Campbeltown (Mon-Fri 2 daily;
40min); Dublin (3 daily; 1hr); Islay (Mon-Fri 2 daily, 1 on
Sat; 45min); Kirkwall (1 daily; 2hr); London City (Mon-Fri 4
daily, 1 on Sun; 1hr 30min); London Gatwick (Mon-Fri 11
daily, Sat & Sun 4 daily; 1hr 30min); London Heathrow
(Mon-Fri 18 daily, Sat & Sun 10 daily; 1hr 30min); London
Luton (Mon-Fri 5 daily, 3 on Sat, 4 on Sun; 1hr 15min);
London Stansted (Mon-Fri 5 daily, 3 on Sat, 4 on Sun; 1hr
30min); Shetland (Mon-Fri 2 daily, Sat & Sun 1 daily; 1hr
30min); Stornoway (Mon-Fri 4 daily, Sat & Sun 2 daily; 1hr
10min); Tiree (Mon-Sat 1 daily; 50min).
BY PLANE
Glasgow International Airport
Abbotsinch, eight
miles southwest of the city
(
T
0844 481 5555 or
T
0141
887 1111,
W
glasgowairport.com). Not to be confused with
Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which is 45 minutes away from
the city by train (see p.162).
Shuttle bus
The 24hr Glasgow Shuttle bus (20min; £7)
runs to the central Buchanan Street bus station every ten
minutes during the day.
Taxis
Airport taxis charge around £20 to the city centre.
Car rental
Car rental at the airport includes Budget
(
T
0844 544 4606) and Hertz (
T
0870 850 2677).
VisitScotland
Glasgow International Airport (daily
7.30am-5pm; Oct-April Mon-Sat same hours, Sun
8am-5pm;
T
0141848 4440,
W
visitscotland.com). There's
