Friends of the Ochils Newsletter 16: Summer 2000The indications are goodTHE RATHER battered and weatherbeaten view indicator on the summit of Ben Cleuch will be familar to many readers, but less well known is a much earlier panorama taken from that same summit. The following article, describing in some detail the history of the panorama, was written by James A Parker (1864-1946) and first appeared on pp263-4 of the November 1940 issue of The Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal (Vol.22, no.130) under the title "The Ben Cleuch Panorama": The beautiful "View of the Grampian Mountains from the Summit of Benclach", which was drawn by Mr James Gardner and published by him in 1820, has never been described in the Journal, and the following notes about it may therefore be of interest. During the carrying out of the Principal Triangulation of the British Isles, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Mr J Gardner, who had been the Chief Draughtsman to the Board of Ordnance in London, was one of the most important observers. He took theodolite observations from no less than thirty-eight of the "Big Trig" stations. In 1817 (5th May to 6th June) he assisted with the measurement of the base line through the sandhills at Belhelvie, a few miles to the north of Aberdeen, and thereafter measured the angles connecting the ends of the base line to adjacent hills and so on to more important stations on the "Big Trig". In the following year he was on Ben Cleuch taking angles with the 36-inch theodolite from that important station, and it must have been at that time that he took particulars for his Panorama which he completed later and published on 1st January 1820, the engraver being Mr D Havell, 16 Howard Street, London. The drawing, which measures 6 feet 3 inches by 12 inches, shows the hills from just south of Ben Lomond to Beinn a' Ghlo, thus including an angle of about 95º. It is beautifully coloured and has, underneath, an outline profile giving the names and heights of the most important hills as then known. For artistic reasons the forms of the hills are somewhat exaggerated, but not to an objectionable extent. In addition to the coloured edition there was also one in black and white. In 1875 Messrs Maclure & Macdonald, of Glasgow, and Mr J Knipe, of Carlisle, published a reproduction of Gardner's Panorama in portable form. It measures 6 feet 3 inches by 8 inches, 4 inches having been cut away from the sky, and is cut into twelve sections, mounted on linen, folded, and bound in stiff covers. This reproduction was issued in two styles. The better one was, as regards the features of the hills, an almost exact copy of the original, and the colouring was well done, although not so pronounced as that of the original. On this issue Mr Gardner is only mentioned casually, in very small type, in a big footnote and not as having been the original designer of the Panorama. The other style is not nearly so good as the former, as the features of a great many of the hills have been very clumsily done, and the colouring is poor. On the outer cover of this edition it is, however, stated in prominent letters, "Drawn and engraved by Mr James Gardner of the Great Trigonometrical Survey". It is difficult to understand why there were two editions. Both are dated 1875. More recently there is, of course, the View Indicator on the summit of Ben Cleuch, which was unveiled on 14th June 1930. The chart of this, which does not contain an outline of the hills, was prepared by Mr D K Paterson, of Paisley, assisted by Mr Tom S Hall, of Renfrew. A copy of the chart, in the form of a folder, was published by the Town Council of Tillicoultry at the time. The above notes have been prepared from the records of the Ordnance Survey, a coloured copy of the 1820 Panorama in my possession, copies of the two 1875 editions, and the Tillicoultry Town Council's Folder. There is a framed copy of the coloured 1820 Panorama in the Library of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in Edinburgh. Parker was a leading expert on hills, views and indicators, having been instrumental - an appropriate term - in installing the view-finders on top of Lochnagar (July 1924), Ben Macdui (1 August 1925), Ben Nevis (1927), Tinto (13 September 1935) and even on the tiny and very wonderful Blue Hill (1929) on the south-western outskirts of Aberdeen. Parker is now best remembered for having been the third person to complete a round of Munros, on 19 July 1927 on Ben Hope (he had started on 19 July 1883 on Ben Lomond - a tidiness which betrays his lifelong love of precision). He died in Aberdeen on 28 September 1946, aged 82, but the location of his library and logbooks is currently something of a mystery. These would be invaluable for research purposes if found - for instance Parker knew that Wishach Hill near Huntly, climbed in July 1939 was his 1000th ascent of a 1000ft hill - and should anyone have any inkling as to their whereabouts then this writer would be delighted to hear from them (full contact details below). It will also be noted from Parker's article that we are closing in on the 70th anniversary of the unveiling of the Cleuch summit indicator, and to mark this event Ochils-lovers are invited to join the writer on top of Ben Cleuch at noon on Wednesday 14 June 2000. In the event of atrocious weather on the day, it might be best to phone and check whether the gathering has been postponed a few hours (01786 450047), but all being well noon will be the target time. Everyone welcome. Dave Hewitt(Thanks to the SMC Journal editor, Ken Crocket, for permission to use the Parker quote.) |