The Craig

Craig Dunain was the lunatic asylum, the mental hospital, the 'nut house' for the Highlands of Scotland. There is no doubt that many people were incarcerated here for great lengths of time, often spanning decades because they were deemed in some way 'unfit' to care for themselves. A man called Angus Macphee spent fifty, yes fifty years here, and kept himself sane by weaving objects from grass and other natural fibres. He spoke not a word to a soul in all that time.

I was a patient at Craig Dunain in the nineties when things were different; they only wanted me for a week. Now the place is derelict, as if all its sadness has come out in the glassless windows and the empty towers. One end of this leviathan of a building has been turned into flats. Hence the photo. I wouldn't want to live next to a century of hurt.

Sorry if I sound emotional. Just writing this has been emotional for me.