The Melville Room
Regular readers of this blog will know I’ve visited a number of the many sites that were featured in the filming of the Outlanders series and this week has been no exception. I was in Glasgow twice, my first trip for a cyber conference and the second taking advantage of an invite to attend a meeting at Glasgow University.
The weather in Scotland this summer has been very dull and dreich, but that all changed and we have had cracking weather as we say here and Glasgow was no exception. I’ve lost count of the number of conferences I’ve been to, so I won’t spend time on this, other than I enjoyed it and attended interesting talks on critical national infrastructure and one on Artificial Intelligence from the BBC. What was really exciting about this week was my meeting at Glasgow University. It is the second-oldest university in Scotland after St Andrews and the fourth-oldest in the English-speaking world, having been established in 1451. In keeping with many of the places I blog about, there is a Mary Queen of Scots connection, namely she gave thirteen acres of land belonging to the Black Friars (Dominicans) to the University in 1563.
My meeting took place in the Gilbert Scott Building. Folk on Instagram will know this well, as images of it along with the arches separating the two quads feature on a regular basis. It’s quite a wow moment when visiting for the first time, and although I’ve been before it still gives me a thrill. I’ve used one image for this blog, though I took dozens more, and I recommend looking it up online if you can’t make it in person.
The meeting was taking place in the Melville room. This has been named after Frances Helen Melville, one of the first women to matriculate at the University of Edinburgh in 1892. The Universities (Scotland) Act in 1889, allowed women to graduate from universities in Scotland. Frances Melville graduated in 1897 with a first-class MA Honours degree in Philosophy.
On entering the staircase, there was a sign saying no photography and I respect that. I’m not sure why, but that’s the decision of the University. You feel you are stepping back in time. It’s magnificent. I see there are images online of the staircase, so again it’s worth taking time to check these out. If you are visiting Scotland and a fan of the Harry Potter series, and keen to see architecture that could have inspired the look and feel, then yes, the Edinburgh connection is a must for you, but what there is to see at Glasgow University, is equally impressive.
At the start of the meeting, I was informed I was in the room that was used during the filming of series three of Outlander. I was excited to hear this as I’ve visited many of the locations that have been used, and as a film fan, I’m always amazed how real places can be tweaked for fictional stories. (I haven’t read the books let alone watched the series other than most of series one, so hopefully I can get on with both activities at some point). The room has dark wood panelled walls, red carpet, high ornate ceiling, various portraits of past dignitaries, a large fireplace, and two large windows, each surrounded by a stone arch. It’s very much frozen in time, though there is naturally the trappings of the digital age, notably a large flat screen at one end. For our meeting a large table dominated the room, topped with a green cover. It was noted during the meeting the challenges we face in the public sector and attracting the necessary talent to come and work. We cannot compete with the salaries of the private sector, but being able to work in such surroundings is a selling point and for many of us a bonus. I’m looking forward to visiting again as there is still so much to see. I love museums, and I was only five minutes from The Hunterian, so that is on my list for next time.
The Fiction Factory 