‘Corner’stone of Elder Park library, which is also located in the SE corner of Elder Park, in Govan, Glasgow. It was opened in 1903, by the infamous Dunfermline born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie.
Paradoxically, it was Mrs Isabella Elder, widow of the renowned Glaswegian shipbuilder and engineer, John Elder, who actually funded the building of the library. Andrew Carnegie, never actually opened, any of his many grand Glaswegian Carnegie libraries.
I’ve only just realised, that “Corner” was last weeks WordPress challenge, but this post also fits in pretty well with this weeks Photo Challenge, ‘structure’. Most people see the old library, and think it looks nice, but many don’t notice these wonderful stone engravings.
Eye For A Pic 
I love to find the engravings and interesting turnings on old buildings and other structuers…for some reason I always think of gargoyles when I see them.
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Me too Kathy, gargoyles really fascinate me! But as a kid, they used to terrify me! Lol! 🙂
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Gorgeous building. They don’t build ’em like this anymore.
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Thank you MS, I certainly agree with you about older buildings, not only were they much more elegant, but they built them to last too!!! 🙂
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I love the architectural detail and also the way weathering has colored the stone over time
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Thank you Mary 🙂 The colour of the stone is due to the fact that the sandstone (the yellow/orange blockwork) was deposited from eroded down mountains, that would have consisted partly of igneous rocks rich in iron and magnesium minerals. These minerals would have remained fairly inconspicuous in the original sandstone, but once they became exposed to the air, the iron oxidises to iron oxides (like rust), and creates these wonderful earthy colours 🙂
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Beautiful photos of this special architecture, Andy. Thank you for showing the stone carving. 🙂
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Thanks Amy, the Victorian/Edwardians certainly knew how to build back then! Just wish we, as a society, would build such places these days.
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Now that’s a proper library!!! Lovely shot of the stone carving. I love the architectural detailing on older buildings. So much work and talent going into making something beautiful.
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My sentiments exactly Su!!! 🙂
Just a shame that most our libraries now have very few books in them!! I’ve said it many times before, I wish that our society nowadays would build properties to last, rather than to maximise their profits. It would be great if we could become a nation of quality stone masons again 🙂
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👍 I think NZ will have to be a country of steel and timber buildings. Masonry isn’t great in earthquakes. We’re in the process of requiring all our public and commercial buildings to become earthquake code-compliant. It’s so expensive for many owners that they will probably end up demolishing old buildings and starting again. Hideous thought!!!
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I can see the logic to that Su, even if it does mean lots of not so beautiful buildings, in the end, peoples safety should be paramount. Mind you, it’s not like NZ has suddenly been ‘infected’ by earthquakes, and if the older buildings have stood up so far, it sounds like various developers may use the legislation for their own benefits, rather than for the safety of the population!
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There is definitely truth in that Andy! But I think too that researchers were surprised that neither the Christchurch nor Kaikoura earthquakes conformed to patterns they’d seen before, so even buildings that have “stood the test of time”
Interestingly, the effect of last year’s Kaikoura earthquake in Wellington was mainly on newer mid-rise commercial buildings. Quite a few have had to be demolished.
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That’s fascinating Su, that the latest earthquakes are somehow different to the previously recorded ones, no doubt something connected to the depth at which they are getting triggered, which maybe changing due to the weight of all the buildings on the surface – of course, it could be something else entirely, I’m certainly no expert in seismology!
I’m not surprised that last years Wellington earthquake mainly affected newer mid rise buildings, the legislation on such buildings is no doubt not as strict as it would be for high rise buildings. And I know from over here, most the higher buildings which were built in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s have already been demolished, and we don’t even have any ‘proper’ earthquakes!
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J > Thinking about ‘architectural’ photos i’ve taken over the years, I have a feeling that details of external/projecting corners (indoors or out) are disproportionately represented! They are very often a condensed expression of the style and value of the building, whether that be a the projecting quoins of a farm building in the north of england, or a gargoyle on a Borders ruined abbey.
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I must admit, I love that condensed expression of style, and it’s amazing how few people notice anything that’s above eye level Jonathan 🙂
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Looks like such a historical building…lot’s of stories within there. 🙂
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It is a wonderful old building Lorelle, it would be wonderful to have a time machine, and to go back and meet the various people that have used the library over the years 🙂
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Wouldn’t that be awesome. Like ” Back to the Future””!!!😝
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Lol!!! 🙂
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I like the creativity you bring to your posts. You really DO have an eye for pics; I understand why you picked the username you did.
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Thank you very much Imani 🙂
It was my wife that came up with the name, she’s the truly creative one, especially with words 🙂
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I like too much your picture of corner of Elder Park Library.
It remembers me the Sorbonne University (Paris).
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Thank you very much Carlos, hopefully Sorbonne University is a good place to you 🙂
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