'The Wallace Bandstand' on the Links at Nairn - Saturday 4th August
2007 and Tuesday 15th August 2006
Constructed in 1884 in honour of John Wallace, an eminent citizen of Nairn
who became a pioneer in the Victoria colony in
Australia (The Bandstand is constructed mainly of cast iron, with a lead
roof. It has just undergone several months of costly renovation, made possible
by a grant of £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, approved in August
2005. It had fallen into considerable disrepair in recent years and had,
moreover, suffered a certain amount of vandalism over the past two or three
years. It is an A listed structure. I took these photographs today because
the last scaffolding and renovation materials were removed from the structure
only this morning, after several months when it was fenced off for renovation,
just in time for this year's Nairn Highland Games scheduled for Saturday
19th August; the grass behind and to the left of the photographs is the Nairn
Cricket Pitch, with the clubhouse visible at bottom-left; the building where
I live is to the left of the photographs. The cricket field is laso used
for the Nairn Highland Games; the tall white pillars are only erected for
this event and will have been removed again by early next week after the
Games are over. It has been restored using the same colours as records indicate
were used when it was originally constructed, not the black colour which
was used in recent years. There are plans for the Bandstand to be used once
more by the community, for example musical performances during the annual
Nairn Jazz Festival and performances by the local military brass band during
the summer.)
Taken on 4th August 2007 - the floor of the Bandstand was tiled
a few months ago and this commemorative plaque has been placed in the centre
of the floor. At the beginning of this year, electrical cabling was laid
underground to the Bandstand so that flood-lighting could be installed; I
plan to add a night-shot when a suitable occasion arises as it looks most
impressive at night now.
Taken on 15th August 2006 - the three photographs below were taken
soon after the scaffolding and protective barriers had been removed when
the major renovation works had been completed, just in time for that year's
Nairn Highland Games, which were held the following Saturday.
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