Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

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Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby Gary Brown » Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:14 pm

This is a weird one but a family friend of mine said YEARS ago there was a turtle statue (largish in size) near the old bridge leading to Castlemilk Stables in what is now considered Castlemilk Park and Woodlands.

Do ANY of you have any idea if there was any truth in this?
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby Toby Dammit » Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:12 am

I was so intrigued by the notion of a turtle statue (and why on earth one would have been made) that I did a quick bit of research into it. It seems a statue of the rotund Shakespeare hero Sir John Falstaff "was originally situated in the grounds of Castlemilk House near Cathkin".

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I can find no info about other sculpture ever standing in the grounds, could the turtle memory be a bizarre miss remembering of the fat knight? Article about the statue here:

http://www.eastkilbridenews.co.uk/lifes ... -21711557/

and loads of stuff on a very active Castlemilk Facebook history page here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Castlemi ... 2021792052
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby Vinegar Tom » Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:11 pm

Thanks so much Toby. I was reading about the Falstaff statue earlier this week in "Rutherglen Lore" by W.R. Shearer (1922).
The book doesn't have a photo of the statue , so I had assumed it was swept away along with Castlemilk House and I wouldn't ever see what it looked like.

Looking at the photo though, it looks more like one of those ghastly 18th Century moulded things than a stone carving?

For what its worth, here are the relevent pages from the book ( which is a joy btw apart from the author's compulsion to denigrate socialists and the Labour Party in a town worthy sort of way ).

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Castlemilk Falstaff 1 by vinegartom40, on Flickr

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Castlemilk Falstaff 2 by vinegartom40, on Flickr
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby Toby Dammit » Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:26 pm

The plot thickens, I had plenty of time to return to the Castlemilk History Facebook page again today and spotted there was another sculpture originally right next to Falstaff, and it was of a sheep!

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The stone beast apparently represented Castlemilk's own distinctive brand of Ovis. You can see the Falstaff statue on the right of the postcard and Castlemilk House in the back ground. If there was something as eccentric as a sheep sculpture sitting there I do wonder if there ever was a turtle one placed by the lilly pond? Odd that there is no reference to such an amphibian character on the extensive Facebook history page. The lilly pond was drained in the late 1960's following a series of tragic children drowning accidents, one of the old buildings next to it had by then become an orphanage.

You're right Vinegar Tom about the apparent "cast" look of the Falstaff thing, no trace that a chisel ever touched it. Here's another pic of it, just keeking through on the left.

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If you want to see what it looks like in real life apparently it still exists! It is now at the Childrens Zoo at Calderglen Country Park at Torrance House East Kilbride. This photo was shot last year.

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A million thanks to all the original posters on the Castelmilk History Facebook page.
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby crusty_bint » Sat Apr 06, 2013 3:05 pm

monumental dumping ground, and turtle
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the necropolis, no idea if its turtle in question
here i go, it's coming for me through the trees
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby Toby Dammit » Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:34 pm

Great to see the beast, but why was it made in the first place?
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby Toby Dammit » Fri Nov 01, 2013 4:40 pm

Well, now I may be able to answer my own question thanks to Monumentale Torino's Facebook page. They posted a picture of a tortoise sculpture in their cemetery with the following blurb.

"Behold the turtle! Symbol of protection, because in case of danger it takes refuge in the shell, and immortality as it is a very long-lived animal. In some cultures it is believed that the Earth rests on the shell of a turtle, which is a symbol of the stability of the cosmos. The turtle itself can be considered a representation of the cosmos: the carapace is Heaven, the Plastron (lower shell) is the land and in the middle is the man."
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby Toby Dammit » Wed Jan 08, 2014 12:17 pm

More turtle statue madness.

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Spotted these ones in a park in Bologna last month. A succession of small bambini were led to them and plonked on their backs.
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby harleysinger » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:30 pm

Hi Guys, could this be the "Turtle" you are looking for, which was put in place along side the Ruins of Castlemilk House?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=403056989796219&set=a.403056809796237.1073741846.116432021792052&type=3&theater
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AKA Castlemilk History Facebook...
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Re: Castlemilk Park Turtle Statue

Postby harleysinger » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:32 pm

Thank you for your nice comments about Castlemilk History Facebook!!! :D
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