Surprises

I was in Linlithgow tonight speaking at a meeting on Brexit organized by the “Yes West Lothian” Group. It was lively and with great questions and despite it having been a long day ( I left Argyll at 6.00 am ) I greatly enjoyed myself .

Coming back by train I arrived at Linlithgow Station with a few minutes to spare and was immediately fascinated by this mural which dominates the interior of the building on the east bound side. I assumed it was of the annual Riding of the Marches but when I looked it up later the provenance of its artist , Mary Louise Coulouris, is even more fascinating than the subject. She connects this station with Hollywood and Greece and her picture has the vibrancy of both influences. You can read more about her here : https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/feb/02/mary-louise-coulouris

In addition to discovering that intruiging story I then had a nagging thought somewhere in my mind that there was some connection of the station with photography and I checked that too. I must have read about it ages ago because Linlithgow Station was indeed the first railway station in the world to be photographed - a picture taken in 1845, three years after it opened by the great pioneer David Octavius Hill.