Mackintosh at the Grand

Today the Mackintosh Tour continued with Director's choice. It was a stunning morning so I took the group up to the Townhead area of Glasgow where Mackintosh was born.

The tour started with an external view of Martyrs' School. Commissioned by the School Board of Glasgow and built between 1895 and 1898, by the architects Honeyman and Keppie. The Martyrs’ project shows the embryo of Mackintosh. It was probably the first time he was allowed some freedom of expression. As a bonus I took the group over to the Necropolis to view this fabulous cemetery. We then went into Glasgow Cathedral. Built before the Reformation and serving as the seat of the Bishop and later the Archbishop of Glasgow, the building is a superb example of Scottish Gothic architecture.

Our Mackintosh tour continued with a visit to Scotland Street School. The School was designed in 1903, built during 1904 to 1906 and was one of Mackintosh's last commissions in Glasgow.

We then drove over to the House for an Art Lover, where I took the group round this beautiful house. Built between 1989-96, based on the 1901 design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret. In 1901 they entered a competition to design a ‘House for an Art Lover’, set by a German design magazine, Deutsche Kunnst. After the tour we had a fabulous lunch in the Art Lovers Cafe.

After lunch we drove over to Helensburgh to visit The Hill House. This domestic masterpiece by Mackintosh was commissioned by Walter Blackie, director of the well-known Glasgow publishers. The shot is taken above the main entrance to the house. On such a fabulous day you could not be in a better setting. My group were in awe of the beauty they had seen today. More pleasures for them tomorrow.