Colin Templeton
In this episode of Biblioscapes in Discussion I am joined by Colin Templeton to talk about his book The Barracks.
An ancient stone wall encircles a 55 acre site in the north of Glasgow. Until the 1960s the land was occupied by Maryhill barracks, a location woven into the history of the city. During the first world war, it was home to a tank division. In the second world war it was briefly home to Hitler’s deputy Rudolph Hess, captured after his aeroplane crash-landed in Scotland.
Today, the wall protects the Wyndford, a sprawling brutalist housing estate still known locally as The Barracks. The area is dominated by four 26-storey point blocks. They project their shadows across the estate, in the manner of giant sundials. You can easily estimate the time of day by observing where the shadows fall.
