Marian Pallister – författare

Known as 'Britain's most beautiful shortcut', the Crinal Canal runs from Ardrishaig on Loch Fyne nine miles across the Kintyre peninsula to the west coast of Scotland. Designed by John Rennie after initial survey work by James Watt in 1771, the canal was opened in 1801, with further improvements made by Thomas Telford in the second decade of the nineteenth century.The canal was originally planned to save commercial ships having to make the long journey from the industrial region around Glasgow round the Mull of Kintyre to reach the west coast and Hebridean islands. By 1854, 33,000 passengers, 22,000 sheep and 2000 cattle had been transported along it. These days the canal is a popular route for leisure craft.In the book Marian Pallister tells the story of the canal from its origins to the present day, discussing how it was built, who built it, how it changed life in the surrounding areas, and how it has been used.

In Lost Argyll, Marian Pallister looks not only at the lost architectural heritage of Argyll but also at its lost industries, ferries, roads, bridges and archaeological monuments. Poltalloch House, for example, built in the 1840s as a monument to commerce and investment, lies ruinous, its owners having stripped it of its roof to avoid paying crippling rates; Campbeltown once bristled with distilleries until a cocktail of economic factors left it with only two whilst others have been subsumed into the modern townscape; little remains of even the jetties at Loch Awe and West Loch Tarbert, two of the busiest waterways in times past.This largely rural county has seen its fair share of forts, castles and mansions rise and fall. Some were destroyed in battle; others simply lost the financial battle to remain standing in the face of increasing taxation. Vernacular architecture has also disappeared: the houses of the fishermen and those in agricultural settlements crumbled in the wake of depredations, clearances, afforestation and government demands on landlords to house tenants in fitting conditions.In this fascinating yet poignant study, Marian Pallister introduces the many varied aspects of lost Argyll, showing how ancient and even relatively modern landscapes have changed inexorably, often with little thought for conservation or preservation.

The great travellers of the 17th century – Martin, Penant, Johnson et al – used the word ‘curiosity’ to mean many different things. They labelled as ‘curiosities’ people, plants, legends, historical facts and geological certainties. This book follows their example in a 21st century journey around Argyll and its islands. It is difficult to find an area of Argyll which is not curious in some way: archaeology, geography, geology and genealogy have all served to mark out this western fringe of Scotland as unique.Discarding those curiosities which it is all too easy to find on any journey through the county, Marian Pallister has looked extensively into places, people and events which are curiously layered, and has created a book that is overflowing with enchanting ‘curiosities’ and local histories.