Page 18 - Herioter 2020

Seeing deepens reminded us that the Wall is still a stage for Artists in
film and imagination.
understanding Seeing is to deepen understanding. The portrait visit
archaeologist at Vindolanda took us
in Wall trip through the process of identifying the In connection with their practical
studies on portraiture, pupils in two
butcher’s shop in the village outside
Part of the experience of going to the fort. There was also archaeology S1 classes had the opportunity to visit
Hadrian’s Wall is the journey, on which being done live as we looked over to the National Portrait Gallery during
we cohered as a cohort of Latinists on a the ongoing excavations at Britain’s September. Some pupils had visited
the gallery before, but for many it was
pilgrimage, and had the banter of a band ‘Pompeii’, as Vindolanda is often called.
of comrades. Its reconstruction of the Wall gave us their first visit. They were impressed
the sense of the height and scale of this with the building initially and amazed to
The Roman Army Museum saw us start 80-mile long structure. The temple of see such a variety of approaches to the
to understand the experience of the the Nymphs saw us pay our respects to subject, as they walked through the
feet on the ground. We competed to pull the genius of the site as seen in the group
on the bows of Syrian archers and to try photograph. The writing tablets gave us a exhibition, ‘The Modern Portrait’.
the weight of a Roman soldier’s armour. brief look into everyday life of the people Mrs Amanda Thomson
Then we sat back to fly across the who lived everyday lives. The catering in
Eagle’s Eye: Edge of Empire in a 3D film.
the café was better than the soldiers
We had our moment as Romans fared.
marching along the wall at Housesteads Mr Duncan Carnegie
on admittedly thin rations with 12 of
us in the same barracks. The unity and
yet the self-sufficiency of the soldiers
became clear to us. The temperatures
of the locale brought home to us of the
dislocated experience of the Roman
auxiliary soldiers from their native Syria S1 pay homage
or the Netherlands. The extensive sights
of the landscape that the Wall provided to artist Crowe
were inspiring and intimidating at the
same time and the Sycamore Gap 1TB and 1TS both studied
portraiture and painting in their first
block of art and design. Each teacher
Scramblers enjoy created critical analysis links with the
artist, Victoria Crowe, and produced
life on the edge work in class with a focus on mixed
media, composition and texture.
Beautiful weather and an enthusiastic We were then lucky enough to visit
group of experienced mountaineers the art exhibition in the City Arts
made September’s scrambling weekend
a joy. Saturday’s ascent of Curved Ridge Centre dedicated to Crowe’s 50
culminated in an hour of sunbathing on years of work in Scotland.
the summit of Buachaille Etive Mòr. The Martin Cunnane (below) managed
instructors at Hebridean Pursuits were to find a painting that seemed to
so impressed by the speed and ability contain a portrait that looked very
of the group that we decided to try for like him, which thrilled his classmates.
a longer and harder climb on Ben Nevis
in the morning. We scrambled up the Mrs Carole McGirr
magnificent Castle Ridge and still had
enough energy to descend by Ledge
Route. This is the first time a Heriot’s
school group has tackled any routes
on the ‘Big Ben’, but I am sure it won’t
be the last. Three of Scotland’s classic
ridges in one weekend and an excellent
chilli cooked by the students on Saturday
night. I’m looking forward to the next trip
already!
Mr Ed Watson

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