I took dad along to the Douneside Open Gardens yesterday afternoon. It's just about 1km from his home at Alastrean, and in fact the McRobert family owned both mansions, which now, along with other land and buildings in the Tarland area, form part of the McRobert Charitable Trust. The gardens at Douneside are beautiful, with this infinity lawn and some lovely areas to wander. The vegetable gardens are quite fabulous.
The McRoberts were a family who were fortunate in many ways but so very unlucky in others. Sir Alexander McRobert was a self made millionaire from Aberdeen. He made his money in the woolen mills in Cawnpore, India. However, his first wife died relatively young and they had no family. He subsequently re-married - an American lady called Rachel Workman, a daughter of a prominent New England family. They had 3 sons. All 3 were killed. Their eldest son, Alisdair, was killed pre-WW2 in an aviation accident. The two other sons, Roderic and Ian were killed within 6 weeks of one another, both pilots, in WW2.
Lady McRobert outlived her husband and all 3 sons. Following her sons' death, she set up a charitable trust in their honour. The trust does a lot of good work in the local area today, so the family are certainly not forgotten. Alastrean is a beautiful care home, and Douneside a beautiful hotel and restaurant. Dad also reminded me that the McRobert Trust funded a landrover for the Braemar Mountain Rescue Team, in the late 60s.
Camera wasn't playing ball yesterday - for some very odd reason, it decided to give some images a purple tinge which I couldn't successfully remove. I therefore switched this one to black and white to deal with the problem! Clachnaben in the far distance (left).
How nice to have an outing with your Dad. That's lovely B&W.....a bit like the weather 🙄
And so interesting to read the history of the estate family etc.
b & w so suits this pic. Very interesting but sad narrative. The house we live in was built by the 'local' Lord of the Manor for when his eldest son needed his 'starter' home........he went to war in 1916 shortly after his marriage.....sadly he did not return. His widow lived here until the 60's. His Father built and dedicated a 'chapel style' building to him over a Holy Well in Menacuddle....which stands to this day in a beautiful spot about couple milles away. We occasionally visit and take him some plant or flower from 'his' garden.
It’s perfect in black & white as the grey layers are soft & pretty plus the ladies are a lovely focal point.
Out of tragedy comes good but what a sad tale for the family. Money is not important but was used here to help others in their son’s name. They will live on. A lovely day out for your dad.
I actually think this shot was meant for black and white. The layers of mountain, the open lawn, the people lost in the grandeur of it- all perfect components for black and white. fav!
@parisouailleurs Yes - I saw them standing there from toy seat in the marquee, and thought it made the perfect picture. I abandoned dad for a couple of minutes, whilst he drank his tea, and popped out to get the shot.
@casablanca I don't know what it is ... it's done it once before and then it reverts to 'normal' photography. Annoying, as you don't necessarily realise it's done it until you download ... I'm not 100% sold on this mirrorless camera. It thinks it knows better than I do!!! ;-)
July 9th, 2024
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How odd about your purple tinge! I wonder what caused that....
And so interesting to read the history of the estate family etc.
Out of tragedy comes good but what a sad tale for the family. Money is not important but was used here to help others in their son’s name. They will live on. A lovely day out for your dad.