Touchstones Plate 17: Between Aberfoyle and Stronachlachar, The Trossachs

I love signs posts. They are scattered throughout Scotland and when you get off the motorways and onto the smaller roads the styles become unique to an area. The first time I taught at Inversnaid Photography Center I noticed these particularly unusual two-faced signs along the road from Aberfoyle heading west towards Inversnaid and Loch Katrine. They intrigued me because they were such substantial structures found along a pretty insubstantial one-lane (and sometimes two) road. When I inquired about them no one could explain their presence or solid design. Each time I visited Inversnaid I stopped and photographed them, always trying to find a new way to see them.

The markers themselves are made of cast iron with the name of the village you are heading towards and the village you just left lettered on brass plates on the side. As you can see they are angled so both sides can be seen at the same time. The remaining signs are spread at irregular intervals along the B829 from Aberfoyle to Stronachlachar. This one rests eight miles from Aberfoyle and Stronachlachar in the Queen Elizabeth Forest.

At one point I was told that these signs had been made for Queen Victoria’s planned visit in 1859. She was to come to the area to officially open the new Lake Katrine Water Project. In 1856 the House of Parliament has approved the building of this project to supply Glasgow, a city of 80,000, with fresh water. It was considered an engineering marvel of its day and the Queen’s visit a testament to its importance. It is believed that the markers were put in place to allow her majesty to know precisely where she was during the journey to the site. Rumor has it that the Queen never made the trip down this road but the markers continue to guide travelers today.

Touchstones Plate 26: Queen Elizabeth Forest, Aberfoyle, The Trossachs

Beyond this stretch of markers the B829 runs through the Queen Elizabeth Forest, a part of the Trossachs, Scotland’s newest National Park. What is now the B829 was once a road built by the British army. The English garrisoned troops in this area after the uprising of 1745. The fort was built near Loch Lomond and this road built as an improvement over the trails that lead through the woods. Much of the land around the tree had been clear-cut but for some reason this behemoth had been left alone. It had a presence that required I make its portrait. I love the moss-covered base that seems to create a lap, holding a delicate covering of shamrocks. Like the stones I had photographed around Scotland this tree had a presence of history. In the editing and sequencing of TOUCHSTONES, it kept appearing in the “keep” pile. It made a nice compositional companion to Plate 27, a water passage from a Viking era gristmill. The tree is up front and center with the surrounding forest as background players. In the Click Mill image, the stonework and grass lead the eye back to the black hole of the waterway. Together they speak of an earlier time and of history moving past.