BEING of an age when time seems to fly, I fear that several man-made actions apart from the arrival of the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness are specially designed to speed up the process, all to our acute annoyance and frustration.
It was the clang of the letterbox lid which announced the unwanted arrival of the first of the seed and flower catalogues for 2025. All this at a time when I have still to harvest the first of the tomatoes on my balcony.
More insidious is the arrival, all within the same day, by design it seems, in all major stores, of announcements that the Christmas food menus are now available, backed up by individual email entreaties, with the hidden threat that if you do not place your order immediately you will likely be reduced to skeleton proportions by Hogmanay. All this and the September weekend hooley in Brodick has yet to take place.
To further enhance the speed of time, the aisles of every supermarket have been reduced to single, narrow passageways due to shed loads of high pallet loads of confectionery, some advertising a special street in an unknown town, all at the most advantageous prices.
The youth of the country are being bamboozled into the thought that Christmas is just round the corner and that woollen stockings should be placed at the end of beds. All the while we, the more mature, curse the advertising agencies for taking away our most precious commodity, that of a life where winter is months and months away and dappled light still reaches the sunny uplands.
In truth however, perhaps it does help to take away the abject state of the present world.
Robin Johnston, Newton Mearns.
• I FEAR I may have to boycott my local branch of the otherwise excellent store Home Bargains. They're selling Christmas trees and assorted associated decorations. It's September. I'm baffled once more.
Steve Brennan, Coatbridge.
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The key to quality buildings
I NOTE with interest Mark Smith's recent article ("Is this new block of flats really the best building in Scotland?", The Herald, September 21). It’s very encouraging that a social housing project is deemed of sufficient architectural merit to be shortlisted among other projects for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award 2024. I think this year’s shortlist is particularly strong, each a worthy potential winner, and I wish my architect colleagues and their clients the best of luck.
Personal preference is one thing but architectural accomplishment is another. What exactly is being assessed for such an accolade? What is meant by "architectural merit”? A building (it is usually a building) which addresses its key purpose well, welcomes its occupants hospitably and delightfully and has a tangible, crafted built quality where we come face to face with it, might be a good start. We all know such buildings and places when we encounter them; they are the ones we wish to return to again and again, even if we can’t always explain why. We might rightly ask then, why are such buildings the exception and why are more of the public buildings in Scotland not of "Doolan" quality? It’s a question particularly pertinent in Glasgow where recent and ongoing commercial developments are turning the city blander and more generic by the day.
The truth is, there are certain key conditions which need to exist for quality architecture to be created and delivered and commissioning a good architect is only one of them. It requires a combination of a visionary and ambitious client, thoughtful and tenacious architects and design team, a skilful and intelligent building contractor and (crucially) a realistic budget. Only with this combination can a shared ambition across all parties be fostered: a factor fundamental to the delivery of meaningful architecture. We architects spend careers developing and nurturing relationships and networks to help establish those conditions and to find those who will inspire us to excel in our work and deliver for the common good, even when many of these encounters begin as blind dates.
The purpose of awards such as the RIAS Doolan is to set a benchmark for the professions, industry, clients and the public, announcing that "things can be this good". The aim is to inspire all those involved in realising the buildings (not just architects) to go the extra mile and deliver a built environment which future generations will be proud of and which we can enjoy both now and perhaps return to again and again.
Christopher Platt, Emeritus Professor, Glasgow School of Art; Director, StudioKAP architects, Glasgow.
The brutality of the Romans
IT is good that Dr Fraser Hunter will explode some of the myths about Roman Britain stopping at Hadrian’s Wall ("Book festival to highlight what the Romans did for Galloway", The Herald, September 25), though many nowadays, from the BBC to southern politicians, appear to confuse Roman Britain with geographic Britain.
Scotland sadly knows little of its history, so I hope he brings up the siege of Burnswark hill fort, one of the most remarkable anywhere in the Roman world. A huge Roman army of 16,500 men under Lollius Urbicus (who crushed the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judea) were sent to pacify southern Scotland, and in the process they destroyed the Burnswark stronghold of the Selgovae with a barrage of lead bullets (as lethal as modern bullets) and other missiles. The Selgovae, with thousands killed or enslaved disappear from history; the Antonine Wall was established, but only lasted for 20 years. We may assume that other southern tribes, seeing the fate of their neighbours, became more amenable to Roman power.
Decades later the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus invaded Caledonia and conducted what can only be described as a war of extermination, though he was never able to fully subjugate Caledonia. The Romans were never the cultured bringers of civilisation that many portray them as, but were an deadly and efficient war machine intent on conquest.
GR Weir, Ochiltree.
Am I being left in the dark?
I HAVE read with interest recent correspondents expressing concerns around the UK and Scotland's future energy security, some expressing the view that the green/renewable sector are exaggerating the capacity for wind and other renewable sources to supply our demand for electricity. So I am sure readers will understand my concerns when I received a leaflet from SP Energy Networks headed "Preparing for a power cut". Inside this is a page headed "Emergency power cuts due to electricity demand shortages" which refers to three-hour power cuts on a rota basis across the country.
Should I be worried? Should I stock up on candles and retrieve the board games from the attic?
Billy Gold, Glasgow.
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