Saint Peters Seminary, Cardross

james73 · Saint Peters Seminary, Cardross

Flickr Set.

James H

ex-tobester

Heres a few from me too

ex-tobester

Its dark, dank and creepy, no its not UG, its st peters

It was busy up there today 2 other groups in looking round.

This is our lot...

The future's bright...

The 5 monks...

Stuball

At least I can now say that I have been there

Fjord

OK! now you've lost your St Pete's virginity now sit back and watch this amazing colour film from when it was still in use

http://uk.video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=408355

Stuball

james73

Outstanding. Thanks for the link Fjord.

James H

ex-tobester

(Go West, this is what we're gonna do, Go West)

(Together) We will love the beach
(Together) We will learn and teach
(Together) Change our pace of life
(Together) We will work and strive

AND

PUSH, dammit PUSH

Oh what fun we have on a UG day oot.

Alex Glass

That second photo is almost great Tob

But your choice of songs leaves a lot to be desired.

Stuball

I'm sure to go to hell now after climbing onto the high altar

Fjord

Stuball

The stagnent water in it is putrid with fcuk knows what in it

ex-tobester

Who? What?, When? Where? and Why? (werent we invited to that bbq?)

Fjord

Stuball

dickyhart

xxx zos xxx

From my last visit there

ex-tobester

james73

Urban Splash set to save modernist icon

19 October 2007

By Rory Olcayto

"St Peter’s Seminary owner presses for firm proposal

Developer Urban Splash is considering a bid to save one of the most
important modernist buildings in Scotland, St Peter’s Seminary in
Cardross.

The firm, which has recently begun work on the redevelopment of grade
II* listed Parkhill estate redevelopment in Sheffield, confirmed this week it
was “really interested” in acquiring the grade A listed building, which
earlier this year was placed on the World Monument Fund’s watch list of
the planet’s 100 most endangered sites (News June 15 ).

The 1960s building by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia — which will feature in an
exhibition on the firm at Glasgow’s Lighthouse architecture centre next
month — has been derelict since the 1980s and is the subject of a
conservation study by Avanti Architects. It is expected to recommend the
buildings are given a new use.

But the Archdiocese of Glasgow, which owns the building, warned that
similar proposals in the past had foundered, and called on the developer to
make a firm offer."

James H

xxx zos xxx

ohhhh nice one, lets see if they get it

Ronnie

Stuball

I'm actually going up there tomorrow morning, but its for a band photoshoot

Wee Minx hasnt been either, so I dare say we'll organise a wee trip up again soon

ex-tobester

Yeah be good idea to get more up before we lose it

xxx zos xxx

Funny I was wanting to go up as well

Stuball

Well the demand is there.... now we just need to work out a date when everyone is free

ex-tobester

1st Nov? Maybe

xxx zos xxx

Aye, is that a Thrursday???

Stuball

the 1st of Nov would be a 'not a chance in hell' for me

ex-tobester

31st oct before the night wander? Apart from that ill not be available until 10th Nov.

AlanM

I'd quite fancy going out there too. 1st Nov seems ok after that I'm looking at after 12th Nov

xxx zos xxx

Any time before the end of November would be ok, after that it gets a little mucky and hard to reach

Me being a dosser, I can go anytime

xxx zos xxx · St Peter's Seminary, Cardross

Right I'm taking the lead and asking if anyone wants to go or a wander round. I wanna do it before it gets too mucky and slippy.

Anyone volunteering???

Fjord

Not been up there for a few years so count me in

Stuball

BBQ on the Altar?

xxx zos xxx

well you can freeze doin it,,,actually no i'm a cook freak,,you carry the stuff, i'll cook it

Stuball

Anyone want to help me find the secret gardens? Probably nothing to see, but thats not the point :)

xxx zos xxx

aye i'm up for that

falseface

Ronnie · Yes, indeedy, thanks James. And I *might* be free on 11/11/07.

xxx zos xxx

Good Ronnie, hope you are free!

xxx zos xxx

Is 11am ok for everyone on Sunday???

The weather is to be overcast but dry. We can meet at the main Gatehouse before walking up.

Ronnie

I'm really sorry, but I am now unfree on Sunday.
Maybe the next time

james73

Neither am I - roped into helping my sister move house.

Who the fcuk decided on a sunday anyway?

James H

ex-tobester

So here's the list so far

Zolita
Tobester
Stu?

Anyone else

ex-tobester

'Im sorry, but your car failed its MOT, it had faulty brake lights'

Nature wins (top of the stairs)

The Monks

Fjord

Mind the Gap

Fjord

xxx zos xxx

nice work for a norwegian

Stuball

xxx zos xxx

Well if you fell I wasn't catchin you!

Found these two weird ppl while I was there

xxx zos xxx

I just found this on the memory card,,,,it kept me laughing

Forgive me father for i have sinned

HollowHorn

So, what did youse think? Impressed?

xxx zos xxx

I love the place, I used to live close by and have been more than a few times. But maybe I'm just weird!

Poor place is looking worse though, but hey maybe the new owners will do something great

ex-tobester

You are weird Zos, my 4th visit i love the place, better now ive seen the garden

james73

xxx zos xxx

no comment

ex-tobester

Haw ill slap[ the back of ur legs for that.

BTW send me the bill for the repair Zos

falseface

ffs. wheres the ugly stick now

xxx zos xxx · The Tea & Scones St Peters trip - Sunday 30th March

A thread for the pics we took

I had to say this was my fav

UG_admin

Very good, but where's the pictures of tea, cream and scones? I need food pron

xxx zos xxx

no chance i walked all that way for these!

Unh@ppyb@st@rd

wee one or 2 from me

xxx zos xxx

bored and being made to watch Wrestlemania

xxx zos xxx

poodiecat

Picked up my films today

St Peters through a plastic lens & double exposed

Zolita and Unhappy Bastard - can you spot them?

xxx zos xxx

UG_admin

Look, enough with the architecture and arty shots, show me fukkn scones or I'll lock this thread

xxx zos xxx

AlanM

Well done on getting on the Beeb Zolita

xxx zos xxx

ta alan

Fast Eddie

Just made it here at the weekend. Very interesting, both the building and seeing another group there who turned out to be a family (complete with 6 or 8 year old child). Must be a local family attraction, nice to see them starting young though. :)

Much better condition than i expected having seen glasgow zoo after only a few years.

some pictures up on flickr.

cybers

Stuball

That last picture has me wondering.... where about is it? Curious posts in the wall with an conduit behind it. Jeeze, I've been there so many times and still see new bits

Alex Glass

Great photos Minx

Stuball

Have you any idea how bloody heavy that thing is? Took 3 of me :)

John

Brilliant Stu

wee minx

That is so good Stu

Digitographer

Fab. But if you added another ten of you, you coulda recreated the Last Supper! lol ..

cybers

Hoi Put that feckin pool table back....

Digitographer

Having always been desperate to visit St Peters, I finally took a trip to Cardross at the weekend. The place was fairly easy to find; I walked up Carman Road and saw what I guessed was the entrance, a large fence on the left of the road, past the golf course, with a few thoughtfully placed large gaps at either side. Then it was a walk up through the woods, following the path. By this point I thought I was (literally) on the wrong track until I finally turned a corner and there it was.

Going inside was, initially at least, a bit creepy - primarily because I had no idea who or what I might find there. As it turned out, in the several hours I was there, I didn't see another soul, living or dead. No neds, jakies or yoof teams to be found anywhere. Thankfully. The real concern was the state of the place - what a mess! My footing was very careful the entire time, for fear of going through a floor. As noted elsewhere, the concrete facade is not as solid as it once was - on the top floor, the balustrade surrounding the external gallery is coming away from the building and moves if you touch it, which wasn't really such a good sign. That and the lack of flooring in various parts reminded me that falling five floors onto concrete really wasn't to be recommended. It was odd seeing photos of the college taken in 2003 - the degree of damage since then is astonishing. The teaching block roof is almost entirely caved in and that made entering that part of the site impossible. Also, the convent roof has collapsed, making that unsafe also. Well, when I say 'unsafe', I suppose I mean 'more unsafe' - the whole place is quite treacherous if you don't keep your eyes open. Particularly with all the water that has collected in various places. I initially thought Coia and Co had decided a swimming pool in the main Chapel was a good idea. Sadly, the Altar has been badly damaged, heavily covered in graffiti and is badly chipped.

Up on the top floor of the main building, you get a much better idea of what the cells would have been like - the fixtures are still present in a few, with concealed lighting and a whole TWO electrical sockets in each one. And one room was painted a lovely shade of orange. It's a pity so much of the original wood (along with the skylights and anything else covered in copper) was missing. All the same, the rooms were clearly fairly small. And I read online from one former occupant that the whole place was exceptionally cold and draughty and not particularly pleasant to live in, no matter how many awards it may have won. The views from the top of the building were amazing. It was only after the visit, when I did a bit more research on the net, that I discovered there was originally a dry moat and a bridge - I had seen the thick chain where the bridge is, but it made little sense at the time. If you do visit and feel the urge to visit the upper floors, don't use the central interior staircase - use the fire stairs at the far end of the building, which give safer access to all the floors. Talking of which, I had to laugh that the fire stairs encircle the boiler and chimney - which, you would imagine, would have been the most likely place for any fire to have started, making the stairs a little redundant.

All in all, I'm very glad that I went and saw the college - despite believing that concrete is ugly, it is thanks to the use of so much concrete that the shell of the building remains standing. I can't help thinking that the Church has no particular interest in the place and would probably be quite happy if it just fell down one day. It can't be demolished, various fires have caused only partial damage, and there is the question of what can you actually *do* with the place now? Not very much, really, I suspect. It was built for a particular purpose and to make it at all useable for anything else would cost a fortune; and it's too far out of the way to make that realistic. Which is a pity.

As a recent article in the Lennox Herald (2 January 2009) reports -

Fjord

Pity about the gatehouse there was potential for grand designs in that building although the river running through the basement might have been a major project on it's own.

Stuball

Stuball

The Hidden Gardens

mrsam · Never found the hidden gardens

Blimey this site just gives 'n' gives

james73

Mr Sam, I cant see any of you pictures from last night.

James H

mrsam

Sorry had a clean out of photobucket account will rectify be re uploading if you want!!

Anything specific you wanted to see?

Mr Sam

james73

mrsam

http://s723.photobucket.com/albums/ww239/crumblingruins/St%20Peters/

Link to pictures!!

james73

Joy at bid to save landmark building (Evening Times)

CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating a National Lottery grant that could help save
a derelict seminary described as being of world significance.

They hope the £45,600 cash injection, reported in yesterday's Evening
Times, will be the first step towards saving the "massively important"
building.

St Peter's Seminary, near Cardross, Dunbartonshire, was built in 1966 to
train priests, but it closed in 1980.

Vandals and the weather have taken their toll and the massive, concrete
building is now derelict and unsafe. The dramatic black marble high alter
has been smashed and the seminary set on fire.

The building, which is still owned by the Catholic Church, is A Listed but
was recently added to the 100 most endangered sites list in the World
Monuments Fund.

On Tuesday, the Scottish Arts Council's National Lottery Public Art Fund
awarded NVA, a Glasgow based environment arts charity, £45,600 to
draw up a plan to create "significant" temporary and permanent art works
at the seminary and in surrounding Kilmahew Woodlands.

NVA has been working closely with property developer Urban Splash for
the past year to explore a variety of ways of transforming the building
and 120 acres of semi-ancient woodlands The grant has been widely
welcomed by fans of the historic building, who hope it is the first step
towards restoring it.

James H

Fjord

I'd let the NVA do their thing and then spend lottery millions making it impenetrable with a solid 50 foot fence blocking it off to only but the true explorer.

Tarting it up will only detract from it's ruinous charm.

Stuball

Whats the picture on the left?

james73

Stuball

You'd think they'd use pictures..... oh, never mind :)

samscafeamericain

cybers

They did they used a priest and a catholic church...

They have never let the facts get in the way of a good balls up

darrel

finally took a look at it today my photos are here
http://darrel817.fotopic.net/c1707667.html

HollowHorn

The spunking cock has been painted over!

Fjord

katimac

I took a trip out there at the weekend, what an astounding place! It's a shame that it's been so taken over by graffiti - looks like there's nowhere safe from neds these days

Here's a film we took, much better with sound. We converted it to black and white because it made the graffit look less prominant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBKeo3e0LMc

Thanks for looking

John

Saint Peters Seminary, Cardross

St Peter's Seminary, Cardross

The Tea & Scones St Peters trip - Sunday 30th March

Never found the hidden gardens