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Sam Callander

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that Sam Callander passed away peacefully in Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary on Friday 22 June 2012 after a short illness.

Followers of Maxwell will be very aware of the contribution made by Sam in tirelessly promoting the name and achievements of James Clerk Maxwell over many years. Anyone who visited Parton and in particular the small Post Office, where Sam would be behind the counter and they mentioned James Clerk Maxwell, would leave, often much later and much better informed about the life and doings of the great man! In 1989, Sam was instrumental in having a bronze memorial plaque erected outside Parton Churchyard where Maxwell is buried and more recently he became a Trustee of the Maxwell at Glenlair Trust.

R.I.P.

Continue reading »]]> Dr. Dick GOWEN accompanied by his wife Nancy paid a visit to Glenlair on Saturday to receive an update on developments and witness progress made since their last visit in 2009. Typically the Scottish weather was a bit disappointing, but fortunately stayed dry long enough for them to tour Glenlair House and the Walter Newall Farm Steading, which they had not seen previously. Henrietta treated them to one of her delightful lunches, before they headed back to ‘Auld Reekie’.

Continue reading »]]> A fancy dress party in honour of the 40th Birthday celebrations of one of our trustees, Angus FERGUSON and his wife Frances (subsequently also elected as a Trustee) provided a splendid opportunity for a return visit by Professor and Mrs James Clerk MAXWELL to GLENLAIR HOUSE. After all, they were about to enter their own original front door and could expect to yet again feast their eyes on those beautiful Minton Tiles so creatively designed and laid by James.

(Before you all email to say this wasn’t possible, poor old Mrs MAXWELL died in 1839, long before that part of the house was built! Just treat it as poetic licence!)

Continue reading »]]> On a wet and windy day 26 members of the IEEE braved the elements to visit Glenlair. After an early start from Edinburgh, they arrived at Glenlair around 1020 where they were greeted by the Fergusons and led inside Glenlair Lodge (the old servants quarters) where they were delighted to be offered tea, coffee and delicious freshly baked scones! Duncan then split the group in two and gave each in turn a tour of Glenlair House and the Visitors Centre, although sadly because of the weather conditions, a more extended tour of the gardens and farmyard was not possible. They departed just after midday to take lunch at Threave Gardens, a National Trust property near Castle Douglas. The remaining 24 members of the tour were due to arrive at Glenlair at 3 pm, but force majeure prevailed and they were forced to abandon the visit because the main road from New Lanark was blocked with fallen trees.

Continue reading »]]> Maxwell’s Equations provide a complete description of electromagnetic phenomena and underpin all modern information and communication technologies. They are named after James Clerk Maxwell, the Scottish physicist whose pioneering work during the second half of the 19th century unified the theories of electricity, magnetism, and light. The theory of electromagnetism was built on the discoveries and advances of many scientists and engineers, but the pivotal contribution was that of Maxwell. Today, Maxwell’s Equations are the essential tools of electrical engineers in the design all types of electrical and electronic equipment.

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Continue reading »]]> For the second year running Glenlair opened its doors to the public as part of the European Heritage Days programme (www.doorsopendays.org.uk). This provides an excellent opportunity not only to show what has been achieved here, but also to spread the word about James Clerk Maxwell to a wider audience not necessarily aware of his immense contribution to many of the things we take for granted in our modern sophisticated world. This year we were blessed with two glorious sunny days and visitor numbers swelled to an amazing 131 a 50% increase on last year. In addition to a 45-minute talk and tour by Duncan, tea and cakes were served and these together with the proceeds of a second hand bookstall helped us raise £321 for a local diabetes charity.

The visitor centre is now up and running with copies of pictures by Jemima Wedderburn, photos of Glenlair House through the ages together with a continuously running photo frame of work on the house and large files of papers and publications relating to Maxwell. Again as with last year, there was a lot of interest in the farm steading, especially now that the old stable for four carriage/shire horses has been cleared and an annotated collection of old tools including a butter churn put on display.

Continue reading »]]> With snow lying and permafrost deep into the ground, Joe Smith felt that it was an ideal opportunity to replace the missing lintel above the large south-facing window in the west wing, which has been supported by one of my acro-props since the middle of last year. His reasoning, sound as ever, was that the frost would hold the stones in place above the window, whilst he inserted a couple of concrete lintels. He duly arrived at 10 am in his Land Rover, complete with a trailer load of scaffolding, cement and a bag of sand warmed beside his fire overnight and accompanied by his trusty helper, Norman. By 1115, he was shouting for two 7-foot lintels and I was slipping and sliding down the front road in my Land Rover to collect a pair from Castle Douglas. Back by noon, lintels duly delivered and the job complete, equipment stowed and Joe departed at 4.45 pm! Not a bad days work at all.

Joe assesses the situation

New Lintels in place