Boeing 727 Cockpit Displayed in Syracuse Airport Terminal

Boeing 727 Cockpit Displayed in Syracuse Airport Terminal In the passenger terminal at Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Onondaga County, New York, can be found the cockpit of a retired Boeing 727 along with several other components of the old jetliner. The cockpit section, undercarriage and a short length of fuselage all came from a Boeing 727 aircraft built in 1970 for Eastern Air Lines. The airliner was later leased to Pan American World Airways from 1989 and 1991 before passing to its last owner, Amerijet International, a cargo airline based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The fuselage cutout offers a glimpse of the 727’s seating and luggage configuration, while the flight instruments remain installed behind a perspex sheet. Since the type’s introduction on February 1, 1964 with Eastern Air Lines, 1,832 Boeing 727s have rolled off the production line. The last 727 was built in 1984, though a number of airframes remain in limited service for cargo and private passenger transport. A number of retired Boeing 727s have been repurposed as offbeat houses and hotels. At Syracuse Hancock Airport, meanwhile, the plane parts add an interesting diversion on the lower level of the quiet passenger terminal.

The Abandoned Hunger Circuses of Ceaușescu’s Romania

The Abandoned Hunger Circuses of Ceaușescu’s Romania Impressed by the mobilisation of North Korea’s Juche ideology during his 1971 visit, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu embarked on his own programme of “systematisation” several years later in the field of urban planning. From 1974, Ceaușescu’s communist regime instigated the partial or entire demolition of cities, towns and villages, reconstructing them in accordance with his vision for an independent socialist society. The move was partly intended to bring modern conveniences to the countryside and stem the flow of rural Romanians to the cities. But the destruction of many historic buildings, especially churches and monasteries, raised concern in neighbouring countries, and forever altered the built environment. In rural areas, strict guidelines governing agricultural plots often negatively impacted subsistence farming, and a number of larger infrastructure projects were abandoned after the Romania Revolution of 1989. Among the country’s strangest ruins were the so-called hunger circuses, great unfinished food markets whose skeletal forms rose from the landscape. The abandoned hunger circus pictured above stood in Rahova, a Sector 5 neighbourhood of southwest Bucharest, Romania’s capital and largest city. The strange domed ruin, located to the west of the Dâmboviţa River, was among a series of identical buildings designed during Ceaușescu’s systemisation programme. There’s an irony to the name, of course. The colloquial use of “circus” came from the circus-like domed architecture of the buildings, but the term soon came to be used as a source of ridicule due to the communist government’s policy of exporting the bulk of the Romania’s agricultural produce to pay down foreign debt. What had been conceived as giant “complex agroalimentar”, or food hypermarkets and public refectories, had come to be associated with hunger and scarcity. When Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena were executed on Christmas Day 1989, only two hunger circuses were up and running. One is near Bucharest’s Unirea Shopping Center and another now forms part of a public market in the city’s Delfinului area. The shells of other abandoned hunger circus ruins stood incomplete around the Romanian capital for years, amid a sea of rusting construction equipment that lay equally derelict. Most would later be redeveloped. But perhaps the final irony is that most of these ill-fated communist-era structures would be completed after the 1989 Romanian Revolution, forming the heart of western-styled shopping malls. They include City Mall and Plaza România in Militari, and Bucharest Mall in Vitan. One abandoned hunger circus now houses a university. The Rahova hunger circus (top), meanwhile, was partially demolished soon after the photograph was taken in 2006. In its place stands the modern Liberty Center Mall (above), which also incorporates an indoor ice rink and 3D cinema.

10 Unfinished Structures Around the World

10 Unfinished Structures Around the World

There’s a romance to things that are incomplete and unfinished. Maybe the different possibilities allow our imaginations to paint something grander than it ever really could have been. Maybe it’s just the nostalgia us humans seem to have for lost projects and unrealised dreams. Whatever the reason, it’s hard to deny that such failures are endlessly fascinating. Here are 10 unfinished structures from around the world that will likely never be completed. Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS)When somewhere has a name like “Thailand’s Stonehenge”, it’s hard not to feel your anticipation rising. What sort of mystical place could possibly justify such a beautiful name? Sadly for fans of the Druidic and the New Age, the name given to the remnants of Bangkok’s Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS) is heavily ironic. Originally started in 1990 as a way of connecting the airport to the city, it was abandoned in 1998 with only the concrete pillars already built. Sticking out of bushes and scrubland beside roads, the pillars so resemble standing stones that some wag decided to rename them after Stonehenge. Like many projects in the region, BERTS was ended by the Asian financial crisis of 1997. As the economy went into freefall, the government was forced to abandoned all hope of ever completing it. It was reported in 2013 that sections of the unfinished structure would be demolished to make way for a new railway on the same route. As Venezuela has its Torre de David, so neighbouring Colombia had its Torre de la Escollera. Built in the magical colonial port city of Cartagena, the tower would have risen above every other building in Colombia, topping out at an impressive 58 floors. It was daringly slender, a design choice that may have contributed to its early demise. Two years into construction, a tropical storm struck the city. The winds twisted the unfinished structure so badly that there was little option left but to abandon the partially-built residential tower. The Torre de la Escollera wound up standing empty for the best part of a year before Cartagena’s authorities finally tore it down. All that remains now are photos of this peculiar time; the skeletal tower itself wrapped in blue plastic sheeting, like some strange ghost floating forlornly on Cartagena’s horizon. Cape to Cairo Railway Had it been completed, the Cape to Cairo Railway would be a journey to match the Trans-Siberian. Stretching over 4,000 miles from the very north of Africa right the way through to the continent’s southern tip, it would have passed through desert, through swampland, over canyons and across mountains on a journey unparalleled in world history. Dreamed up by Cecil Rhodes in the 19th century as a means of connecting Cairo to the British held southern states of Africa, the railway was never to be finished, perhaps for the simple reason that it was a bad idea to begin with. Competition from sea freight and the imperial ambitions of other colonial powers delayed the project. There were also practicalities in terms of the harsh and varied African geography, not to mention the economic woes of the Great Depression. The final nail in the Cape to Cairo’s coffin came with the decolonisation of Africa post World War Two. Yet, the railway wasn’t a total failure. About two thirds (the north and south sections) were built, and much is still in operation today. Woodchester MansionWoodchester Mansion is like a prop from Jonathan Creek, a ready illusion seemingly designed to confuse all who investigate its secrets. From the front, it appears to be an ordinary English mansion from the 19th century. But inside, things get seriously strange. There are no insides. When Woodchester was abandoned in 1873, only the outside had been completed. The unfinished structure is now a bizarre, empty shell. This gives the Woodchester Mansion an eerie feeling rarely found in such buildings. Walking inside is an experience both surreal and fascinating. The reasons for its lack of completion are vague and manifold. The owner, William Leigh, died; his family ran out of money; or maybe his architect moved to Algeria. Whatever the true reason for its lack of completion, the unfinished mansion stands today as a stranger place than even a ruin would have been. Centro Financiero Confinanzas Forget the fancy name. The Centro Financiero Confinanzas in Caracas, Venezuela, is better known by its nickname: the Tower of David (Torre de David). A derelict, unfinished skyscraper stretching 45 floors into the Andean sky, it was begun in 1990 but abandoned in 1994, when a banking crisis hit the Venezuelan economy. Intended to be a hotel, it soon unfinished structure something much more dystopian. A city-within-a-city, overwhelmed by squatters. At its height at the turn of the decade, the Centro Financiero Confinanzas was filled with some 5,000 homeless citizens of Caracas, living in the unfinished rooms that spiked up into the sky. Since the Tower lacked glass, this must’ve been a faintly-terrifying prospect, especially on blustery days when storms rolled in off the mountains. Although the government evicted the squatters in summer 2014, the unfinished building itself has been left to stand, a skeleton grinning over the city’s skyline. Villa Trissino (Meledo di Sarego) It’s rare for an unfinished structure to net itself a UNESCO World Heritage designation. But most unfinished buildings weren’t designed by Andrea Palladio. An architect who worked within the Republic of Venice, Palladio was the guy who brought Ancient Roman design principles to bear on the architectural style that came to be named after him: Palladian. His influence cannot be underestimated. As a result, even his unfinished buildings have been preserved for future generations, such as the Villa Trissino at Meledo di Sarego. Cracked and peeling away beneath the blazing Italian sun, its walls the same colour as the dry grass around it, the unfinished villa still cuts an impressive sight, all these years later. Left to go to ruin in the 16th century, it is today an important monument to one man’s genius, and the impact that genius had on our world. Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens We’re cheating a little with this one. The Temple of Olympian Zeus was indeed completed at one stage; what we see today are merely ruins left by the passing centuries. However, it wasn’t completed on schedule or even shortly afterwards. The temple was left as an unfinished ruin for nearly 650 years, a gap of time equal to that separating you from the Crusades, the Black Death, and Geoffrey Chaucer. The temple had been started in the strange period when ancient Athens experimented with being a dictatorship. When democracy was restored, people evidently regarded the Temple of Olympian Zeus the same way we today regard the building projects of North Korea or Communist Romania. It wasn’t until Emperor Hadrian came along in the 2nd century that it was finally finished. But less than a century after its completion, it was destroyed. National Monument of Scotland If you climb Calton Hill in central Edinburgh, an odd sight will greet you at the summit. Alongside the many grand monuments put up in the 19th century sits a ruin seemingly out of ancient Greece. Stone pillars rise up into the drizzly Scottish air, forming three quarters of a wall. But this isn’t some Hellenistic refugee. It’s the National Monument of Scotland, and it has stood unfinished since 1829. The unfinished structure was originally intended to honour Scots who died during the Napoleonic Wars. Unfortunately, construction began without enough funds in place for completion, and the project was terminated three years after it began. This caused uproar in the 19th century, with claims that Scotland was dishonouring its dead. But today, the National Monument of Scotland’s unfinished state only adds to the atmosphere of Calton Hill. Lyveden New Bield If Woodchester Mansion does its best to hide its unfinished state, Lyveden New Bield has no such hang ups. An unfinished summer house in Northamptonshire, it was started at the very dawn of the 17th century as a place Sir Thomas Tresham could escape to from his larger manor. Sadly, history would stand in the way of it ever being completed, as the Catholic Tresham family got swept up in the religious turmoil consuming Britain in the aftermath of Elizabeth I’s death. The year after the house was started, Sir Thomas died, and control of the project was handed to his son. Unfortunately, his son managed to get entangled in a little something known as the Gunpowder Plot, a state of affairs that resulted in his swift execution. With the family in ruins, the unfinished structure was also left to fall into disrepair. Eventually acquired by the National Trust, Lyveden New Bield stands as an empty monument to those turbulent times in British history. Foreshore Freeway Bridge In the middle of Cape Town is a bridge that goes nowhere. Jutting out from a stretch of freeway, it curves around to the left, before abruptly ending in a sudden drop onto the concrete below. Thanks to the road markings painted right up to the very end, it looks less like an incomplete bridge, and more like one that has had its second half snatched away. It is the Foreshore Freeway Bridge, and it’s Cape Town’s weirdest tourist attraction. The bridge was originally started back in the early 1970s, at a time when South Africa was still living under Apartheid. Although the unfinished structure was meant to symbolise the future of transport in the country, it wound up grinding to an abrupt halt when the money ran out (although urban legend says it was actually due to an engineering miscalculation which would have resulted in the bridge’s two ends failing to meet up). Fast forward to today, and it’s a minor icon of Cape Town. A number of ideas have been put forward over the years for the unfinished overpass’s reuse, including planting trees on it and transforming it into a linear urban park – rather like the Seoul Skygarden which opened recently.

Bogota’s Edificio Santalaia Among World’s Largest Vertical Gardens

Bogota’s Edificio Santalaia Among World’s Largest Vertical Gardens If you’re a fan of vertical gardens, you’ll love Edificio Santalaia, an upmarket residential building in the densely populated Colombian capital, Bogotá. Situated alongside embassies in the heart of the Rosales neighbourhood, affording it stunning views of the hills to the east, Santalaia’s facade hosts 85,000 plants, making it one of the world’s largest vertical gardens. Kurt from WebUrbanist wrote that the “extensive living facade system” represented “growth in the right direction, away from unrealistic tree-covered skyscrapers toward more sustainable and useful vertical greenery.” The verdant living system, which was developed by Ignacio Solano of Paisajismo Urbano and installed by Groncol, covers 33 square metres of the 11 storey building and is able to supply the annual oxygen needs of 3,000 people while filtering out heavy metals and other toxins. Oddity Central writes that the “stunning vertical garden was completed in December 2015, after eight months of planning, and another eight months of hard work. Today, it is often referred to as “the green heart of Bogota”, and acts both as an icon of sustainability, as well as a reminder of the important role that plants play in our daily lives.” It certainly looks cool, but vertical gardens are complex and require careful planning and execution in order to be effective. Drawing a distinction between “intensive” and “extensive” greenery, WebUrbanist suggests that Edificio Santalaia’s design may serve its residents well. “The recent trend of putting trees onto tall towers is problematic from engineering and ecological standpoints,” says the website. “‘Intensive'” greenery requires thicker layers of soil and more complex systems for watering, maintenance and structural support. ‘Extensive’ greenery, by contrast, provides many of the same benefits with lower cost and less wasted energy.”

The Belgian Steam Motor, Trialled in Chicago in 1892

The Belgian Steam Motor, Trialled in Chicago in 1892 I’ve always loved seeing illustrations of vintage transportation, and this chunky-looking contraption caught my eye as I trawled through the Commons. The decorative 19th century tramcar was known as the Belgian Steam Motor and crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to the USA to be trialled by the North Chicago Street Railroad. Unlike most streetcars of the period, which were electrically operated or cable-hauled, this one was – as its name suggests – steam powered, and it was heavy. “In January, 1892, the North Chicago road imported a steam dummy built in Ghent, Belgium. The car was of iron, 12 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, weighed 7 tons, contained 25 horse-power engines and cost $7,000. The improvement lay in a muffling of the exhaust steam. It was given a fair trial, but soon abandoned.”

The Ruined Australia Hall in Pembroke, Malta

The Ruined Australia Hall in Pembroke, Malta

All wars bring with them horrifying casualties, and the Great War was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. With it came an urgent need to care for the wounded, and in 1915 a small island in the Mediterranean found itself perfectly positioned for that purpose. Malta became known as the “Nurse of the Mediterranean”, and by the time the Armistice sounded in 1918, around 136,000 men had been treated there. The BBC looked into the numbers, and they’re staggering. Malta had 27 hospitals in January 1916, which cared for some 2,000 new patients each week. The record for a single day stands at a staggering 20,994 patients, who came under the care of hundreds of doctors and nurses working tirelessly to save the wounded front line troops.It was in 1915 that Australia Hall was built at Pembroke, a town in the country’s Northern Region. As the name suggests, it was built by the Australian branch of the British Red Cross as an entertainment venue for convalescing Anzac soldiers. It’s function wasn’t merely to distract wounded soldiers as they recovered from their physical injuries. It also saw to their mental, spiritual, and emotional needs as well. According to The Times of Malta, the entertainment hall officially opened on January 16, 1916, with enough room to accommodate 2,000 people for stage productions, dances and other events. A library and reading room were later added, and after the war, in 1921, a projector was installed so that the venue could be used as a cinema. Providing soldiers with lighthearted entertainment was a big part of the care that Malta offered. Even after World War One drew to a close, Australia Hall remained a major entertainment centre until British forces left the island in 1979. But the years that followed were not so kind on the historic structure. Having passed into Maltese government ownership, the historic building was closed and became increasingly neglected. It was eventually gutted by fire in 1998, just two years after being formally recognised as a Grade 2 National Monument. The derelict, fire-ravaged Australia Hall was controversially sold in 2014 into private hands, and last year it was reported that Australia’s High Commissioner to Malta, Jane Lambert, was pushing for the century-old venue’s restoration. With only walls remaining, renovation would cost millions of euros and require in-depth planning. But as an important part of Australia’s national heritage, many are hopeful that a solution can soon be found.

Map Reveals Location of San Francisco’s Buried Ships

Map Reveals Location of San Francisco’s Buried Ships

We’ve covered our fair share of shipwrecks on Urban Ghosts, but the opening paragraph of Greg Miller’s June 2nd article for National Geographic takes abandoned vessels to a whole new level. In his feature, titled New Map Reveals Ships Buried Below San Francisco, the Portland-based science and technology journalist reports: “Every day thousands of passengers on underground streetcars in San Francisco pass through the hull of a 19th-century ship without knowing it. Likewise, thousands of pedestrians walk unawares over dozens of old ships buried beneath the streets of the city’s financial district. The vessels brought eager prospectors to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush, only to be mostly abandoned and later covered up by landfill as the city grew like crazy in the late 1800s.” Miller explains that the city’s eastern edge, at the foot of Market Street, was once an area of water called Yerba Buena Cove, where numerous vessels were moored for often-dubious purposes during the California Gold Rush. The shoreline then extended to the site of the landmark Transamerica Pyramid, and the 19th century scenes have been described by historians as a “forest of masts”. Over time, some of these ships were abandoned and buried in Yerba Buena Cove.It’s now documented that the spectral remains of various abandoned vessels are still present beneath the city streets, but the circumstances of how they came to be there may come as an additional surprise. The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park has now created a map of their location (top), based on additional discoveries made by archaeologists since the buried ships were first charted more than half a century ago (see above). Richard Everett, the park’s curator of exhibits, told Greg Miller that during the Gold Rush, prospectors were so eager to reach California that all manner of vessels were employed to take them there. Having reached San Francisco, and with no cargo awaiting collection in port, crews would often leave their ships where they were moored as they, too, set out in search of gold.While some ships in Yerba Buena Cove were abandoned, others were repurposed, including the whaling ship Niantic, which was converted into a warehouse, saloon and hotel before burning to the ground in 1851. Its ravaged hulk, which now lies beneath the corner of Clay and Sansome streets, later became the foundation of another hotel. Meanwhile, other now buried ships were deliberately scuttled in a bid to exploit a loophole in 19th century property law. Miller writes that ships could be sunk in order to lay claim to the land beneath them. “You could even pay someone to tow your ship into position and sink it for you. Then, as landfill covered the cove, you’d eventually end up with a piece of prime real estate.” Needless to say, shootouts weren’t uncommon as property was cemented and scores were settled. Perhaps the strangest of all San Francisco’s buried ships is the Rome, “which was rediscovered in the 1990s when the city dug a tunnel to extend a streetcar line (the N-Judah) south of Market Street,” Miller writes. “Today the line (along with two others, the T and the K) passes through the forward hull of the ship.”

The Shattered Ruins of Iversky Monastery, Donesk

The Shattered Ruins of Iversky Monastery, Donesk When the War in Donbass broke out on April 6, 2014, it wasn’t long before the Iversky Monastery was closed due to the nearby fighting. It had only opened in 2001 after four years of construction, and by 2015 it was almost entirely destroyed. Most of the shelling that ravaged the young Orthodox church came from the Ukrainian Ground Forces as they fought against the Donetsk People’s Republic during the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport, which lies immediately to the north. Available information indicates that the Iversky Monastery’s residents had been evacuated before much of the damage was done. The interior of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church building was mostly destroyed, its bullet-ridden exterior walls left as a stark reminder of the violence and devastation that Donetsk witnessed throughout the War in Donbass. In October 2015 Donetsk People’s Republic leaders announced plans to repair the shattered Ukrainian Orthodox Church building, including its bell tower, convent building and monastery gardens. But last year Essence of Time reported that the abandoned Iversky Monastery remained derelict. Nevertheless, in early 2016 a service was held amid the ruins commemorating the Panagia Portaitissa, the Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary. A good number of worshippers attended. The site also reported that even the nearby cemetery became caught up in the fighting, as soldiers turned it into a minefield. Some of those soldiers who fought there in 2015 were at the service. A reminder that life – and faith – goes on.

Here After: Craig & Karl Turn Abandoned Petrol Station into Pop-Up Arts Venue

Here After: Craig & Karl Turn Abandoned Petrol Station into Pop-Up Arts Venue

Artists Craig & Karl have added a welcome splash of colour to an abandoned petrol station in London’s White City, transforming the forgotten structure into a multi-coloured canvas. ‘Here After’ is a nod to brightly coloured television test cards and lies in a district of London with strong connections to British broadcasting, located between the BBC’s former headquarters and the corporation’s original Media Village.designboom writes that “the previously unused site has been given new life through the addition of vibrantly painted stripes and colourful geometries, which wind and bend around former pumps and the station’s back wall.” The intervention is the first stage of a broader project to regenerate the disused gas station as a fully fledged pop-up art venue in England’s capital and most populous city. “We view this project as the petrol station’s second life, or ‘wonder years’, which led us to use the words ‘here after’ as a reference to heaven or utopia,” said the duo. They added: “Now that the petrol station has fulfilled its duty, so to speak, it’s free to enjoy itself.” Craig & Karl are Craig Redman and Karl Maier who, despite being based on different sides of the Atlantic (London and New York), “collaborate daily to create bold work that is filled with simple messages executed in a thoughtful and often humorous way.” According to designboom: “Craig & Karl have adopted this particular palette and composition in order to echo the unique history of the site… In an almost chaotic fashion, ‘Here After’ blends the duo’s signature stylistic cues with nostalgically-familiar television test signal patterns.” This isn’t the first abandoned petrol station turned art canvas that we’ve reported on. Several years ago Dublin-based urban artist Maser brought a forlorn filling station back to life, while the ‘Quilted Gas Station‘ in New York was a commentary on global oil dependence.

The Oslo Tramway Museum (Majorstuen) in Pictures Last month we documented 15 abandoned Oslo Metro (T-bane) stations, from full rapid transit facilities to older light rail and tram stops. It’s sad in many ways to witness these transportation relics disused and slowly deteriorating, but in the pleasant Majorstuen neighbourhood, on the west side of Norway’s capital, their story has not been forgotten. The Oslo Tramway Museum, which was established in 1966 by the non-profit membership organisation Lokaltrafikkhistorisk Forening (LTF), has built an impressive collection of trams, tolleybuses and other vehicles through its mission to preserve the history of the city’s T-bane, tramway and trolleybus systems. It also operates a heritage tramway in the village of Vinterbro, to the south of Oslo. Situated within the original Depot 5, the Oslo Tramway Museum is a transport enthusiast’s dream. The historic shed houses some 25 beautifully restored trams alongside around 10 buses. The museum is connected to Oslo’s modern tramway via a line to Majorstuen station, and regularly runs heritage services along the city streets. This stunning series of photographs by Bjarne Melsom (under his Flickr name amatørfoto) takes us in amongst the retired vehicles in all their vintage splendour.

10 Offbeat Tourist Destinations in Scotland

10 Offbeat Tourist Destinations in Scotland

he UK’s northernmost country is nothing if not beautiful. It was among these great, grassy glens, deep, mysterious lochs, and wild highlands that some of Britain’s greatest poetry and stories were dreamed up. The capital Edinburgh is a cultural powerhouse, while its biggest city Glasgow is a gritty place of history and revelry. There is a reason Scotland is one of the most-visited countries on Earth and, trust us, it isn’t the weather. But not all tourists are interested in the same things, and not all tourist sites are created equal. Rather than run you down the well-trodden path, we’ve collected a list of some alternative, offbeat Scottish tourist destinations that we thought would appeal to our readers; from the obscurely great to the greatly obscure. The Italian Chapel (Orkney) From hoax history to the real deal, the Italian Church in Orkney is a relic of one of the 20th century’s most-significant conflicts. In World War Two, a group of Italian POWs found themselves shipped to distant Orkney to work on an Allied construction project. When Italy surrendered in 1943, the POWs were given new freedoms. Was there anything they wanted? They were asked. A Catholic church, they said. To everyone’s surprise, the commander of their prison camp agreed. Created from two Nissen huts joined together, the bare-bones church wound up becoming a hymn to Italian craftmanship. The Italian prisoners of war worked day and night to fashion an attractive front for their church, to build an altar; a font, pillars. By the time the war ended, Orkney had become home to a Catholic church as small as it was beautiful. As for the POWs themselves, they had literally only a handful of weeks to worship in their finished building, before being shipped out to return home, leaving only their memories behind, wrought in stone. The Fairy Glen (Uig)Every now and then, nature conspires to create a small slice of the world that seems – for whatever reason – unworldly. You can see this with the Wave in Arizona, or Cappadocia in Turkey. Or, you can see it with the Fairy Glen above Uig on the Isle of Skye. A gently windswept, soft, grassy land of rolling hillocks, tiny pools and indefinable magic, the Fairy Glen looks like something from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Interestingly, there are no known local tales of fairies that might have given this place its name. It seems someone simply looked at it one day, and said something like, “Oh! That looks like someplace fairies might live. Let’s call it the Fairy Glen!” Amusing as this is to imagine, there’s no denying that the landscape is enchanting. Sat among its sleepy hills at sunrise, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were looking down on the court of Titania herself. Paisley Witches Memorial (Renfrewshire) If you happened to glance at your feet as you walked through a specific intersection in Paisley, you might just find yourself face to face with one of Scotland’s least-known monuments. A tiny metal horseshoe in a bronze plaque surrounded by cobblestones, the memorial seems almost like an afterthought. But it marks a grim period in Scottish, and Christian, history. It was here, in 1696, that the last mass-execution for witchcraft took place in Western Europe. The story is equally as depressing as that of the Salem witch trials. After an 11-year-old girl claimed she had been bewitched, 35 local people were put on trial using her testimony. Although only seven were convicted, they were all sentenced to death. Catherine Campbell, Agnes Naismith, Margaret Lang, Margaret Fulton, James Lindsay, and John Lindsay (this last boy aged only 11) were all garroted on this spot, while another man, John Reid, committed suicide before the execution date. Since then, the spot has been marked with a horseshoe (or several horseshoes, as the originals kept going missing); a reminder of the terrible tragedies that accompanied the last of Europe’s senseless witch panics. The House of Automata (Findhorn)We mean it in the nicest way possible when we say there’s something creepy about the House of Automata. Located in the village of Findhorn, it’s about as aesthetically far away from the quaint surroundings as its possible to get. Inside, blank, unseeing eyes gaze out at you from row upon row of glass cases; model dogs and grinning cats and bug-eyed children, frozen in time. Like walking slowly through a dark room filled with mannequins, passing them is highly disconcerting. And then the creatures start to move… We’re joking about that last part, naturally. But in this tiny, appointment-only museum, it seems a terrifying possibility. A world-beating collection of classic automata (moving, mechanical toys rendered to look like humans that were hugely popular in the 19th century) decorates the walls, drawn together from all round the world. You can even drop in and buy a piece. Ascog Hall Fernery and Gardens (Argyll & Bute)On the very edge of the dramatic, storied Firth of Clyde lives one of Scotland’s oldest, strangest life forms. Discovered in the wreckage of the ruined Victorian fernery at Ascog Hall, this giant King Fern is thought to be over one thousand years old, and reaches three meters into the air. While the numbers are impressive, the tale of its discovery is even more so. At some point in the past, an ornate fernery was paid for, constructed from wrought iron and glass, filled with statues… and then left to rot. Collapsed, forgotten, its existence was a mystery to the owners of Ascog Hall. Even as it went wild, the glass ceiling shattered and the paths became ensnared in creepers. All other ferns died… except for this one. Now holding pride of place in the restored fernery, it continues to watch over this corner of Scotland, as it has watched over different parts of the world since the days of William the Conqueror. Surgeons’ Hall Museums (Edinburgh)“A collection of body parts in jars?” We hear you ask. “What fun!” It’s true that the Surgeons’ Hall Museums’ exhibits can verge on the gruesome, if not the downright shocking. But, unless you’re exceptionally squeamish, this is still somewhere in Scotland that’s worth your time. Not least for the incredible history on display here. For 500 years, the Royal College of Surgeons has operated in Edinburgh, often placing Scotland at the very forefront of medical advances. In that time, the institution has built up a formidable collection of medical curiosities unrivalled almost anywhere else on Earth. Then there’s the supporting documentation. One item on display is a letter by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, naming the College’s Dr. Joseph Bell as the inspiration for his greatest character: one Sherlock Holmes. Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre (Glasgow) The weird and wonderful Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre in Glasgow, ScotlandRegular readers will know we’re big fans of upcycling, repurposing, and just about anything that creatively deals with waste products the world no longer wants. The Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre in Glasgow might be the purest expression of this we’ve yet encountered. A whirling, clanking, twisting, hypnotic dance of carved figurines, recovered scrap and repurposed objects, all moving in demented, light-drenched mechanical harmony, the theatre is as much a visceral experience as it is an offbeat tourist destination. Originally made in St Petersburg in the 1970s and 1980s, the collection claims its clockwork marvels are telling human stories about the relentless struggle against the cycle of life and death. That may be the case, but for most visitors, the sheer, joyous rhythm of it all is what will suck you in. It’s like stepping into an automated world directed by Nightmare Before Christmas-era Tim Burton and designed by a mad Russian hermit, with all the strangeness and surreal wonder that description implies. John Buchan Story (Peebles)Scotland has produced many fine writers over the centuries. But for pure adventure stories, shorn of the uneasy ambiguities of Robert Louis Stevenson, there is perhaps none finer than John Buchan. The author of The 39 Steps was a writer who revelled in storytelling for storytelling’s sake. His novels feature mad dashes across the Scottish countryside, villains and heroes locked in a deadly game of wits, and escapist drama by the bucket load. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that in his constituency in the Scottish Borders, a small museum now recognises his contributions to British literature. Located on the narrow high street of Peebles, the John Buchan Story brings together a whole lot of ephemera, relating both to his writing and his time as Governor General of Canada. Buchan fans will be in heaven, and seeing where such an iconic novel gestated can be a reward all by itself. Camera Obscura & World of Illusions (Edinburgh)Finally, we couldn’t leave off Edinburgh’s Camera Obscura and World of Illusions. A family establishment dedicated to bizarre optical illusions, Camera Obscura treads a fine line between weird displays to entertain the kids, and moments of dark surrealism – like the spooky green holograms of sad clowns – likely to discomfort even the hardiest adult. For those less-interested in experiencing such things, the location of Camera Obscura is enough to justify the walk out there. Located on Castlehill in the Scottish capital’s bustling Old Town, visitors can approach from any number of routes, taking them deep into the beating heart of historic Edinburgh.The Blantyre Carvings (South Lanarkshire) Not so far outside Glasgow, there exists a strange collection of ancient carvings. Known as the Blantyre Carvings, they depict images of Jesus hauling his cross; of Christ crucified; of Roman soldiers and (it is speculated) explorer David Livingstone. First discovered in the 1960s, they were announced in the local press as holdovers from an ancient world, Scottish carvings that may have been thousands of years old. The truth is both more prosaic and more interesting than that. As you may have guessed from the mention of David Livingstone, the carvings are far from ancient. They aren’t even Victorian whimsies. They were carved in the mid-20th century by an eccentric local named Tommy Hawkins, who would work only when no-one was around, and leave in silence if anyone passed by. Why he carved his religious icons on this anonymous rock wall is a mystery. Yet his images show an artistic talent at work, one only boosted by the legend of the carver’s ancient origins.

Rare F-111B Interceptor Hulk Dumped in a Mojave Scrapyard

Rare F-111B Interceptor Hulk Dumped in a Mojave Scrapyard At first glance it looks like the bare, stripped-out hulk of a General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, the supersonic medium-range bomber that served the United States Air Force between 1967 and the late ’90s. And in many ways, it is; but this is an Aardvark with a difference, betrayed most noticeably by its shorter nose designed to allow it to fit on aircraft carrier deck lifts. The forlorn fuselage is actually the remains of an F-111B, the short-lived US Navy variant developed during the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) programme. The General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B was developed in tandem with its Air Force counterpart, the F-111A, to create a common fighter aircraft. The Navy requirement that the platform be able to carry the large AWG-9 radar and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, and outmanoeuvre an F-4 Phantom, necessitated a big, heavy airframe. (The USAF F-111A would later be adopted as a strike jet).General Dynamics had little experience of developing naval aircraft, and teamed up with Grumman, which specialised in carrier-based fighters. But development of the F-111B was plagued by excessive weight and an engine that didn’t produce enough thrust. As such, the aircraft was under-powered. In May 1968, Congress voted not to fund production, and the big interceptor was cancelled two months later. Realising the end was near, Grumman began studying alternatives. The company settled on its Model 303 design, which took the engines, swing-wing configuration, AWG-9 radar and Phoenix missiles from the F-111B. Grumman repackaged these into a smaller, lighter interceptor. Of course, everything is relative; the Model 303 would become the iconic F-14 Tomcat, the heaviest US fighter ever to operate from the deck of an aircraft carrier. F-111B Prototypes & Pre-production Aircraft Seven General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B airframes had been built and flown between 1965 and the 1969. The first five (numbered 151970 to 151974) were prototypes fitted with TF30-P-3 engines. No. 4 and No. 5 also had a lightened airframe in a bid to save weight. The last two (serial numbers 152714 (pictured top) and 152715) also had lightened structures and were powered by the improved TF30-P-12 engines. The first three prototypes were fitted with ejection seats, while the remainder sported crew escape capsules common to production F-111s. All five prototypes were either destroyed during testing or scrapped soon after. Only the pre-production airframes lingered on as the decades passed. F-111B 152714 remained in use for Hughes missile trials for a year after the programme ended. She last flew in 1969 and was stripped for parts in 1971. The empty hulk was spotted in a scrapyard near Mojave Airport, California, on October 8, 2008 (top). She may now have been scrapped. That leaves only the final F-111B, 152715, which has long languished in storage in a small boneyard at NAWS China Lake (here). Though the B-model’s tenure was short-lived, the F-111A evolved into a formidable strike aircraft and remained in USAF service until 1998. The Aardvark was also operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. When the RAAF retired its F-111s in 2010, they chose to bury them in a landfill rather than scrapping them.

The Fossil Grove: An Ancient Petrified Forest in the Heart of Glasgow

The Fossil Grove: An Ancient Petrified Forest in the Heart of Glasgow

Situated within the boundaries of Victoria Park in Glasgow, Scotland, is an ancient oddity that was uncovered during the late 19th century. The Fossil Grove was discovered in 1887 amid layers of sandstone and shale at an old quarry inside the Victorian park. The find, which includes the petrified stumps of 11 extinct Lepidodendron trees, marks the remnants of an ancient forest dating back 325 million years. A museum building has been constructed around the Fossil Grove to act as a viewing area and protect the ancient relics from the often-inclement Glasgow weather. Lepidodendron, also known as scale tree, is an extinct relative of club mosses. Fossilised Lepidodendron trees are said to have a regular feature of 19th century fairgrounds, exhibited by enthusiastic amateurs due to their reptilian appearance. (An artist’s impression of the ancient tree is shown below.) Today, the ancient petrified forest within Fossil Grove is a site of special scientific interest and a popular tourist attraction in Scotland’s largest city.