Blairs College

You only need to look at Aberdeen's skyline of church spires to see that religion and the Reformations have played a major role in the shaping of the city as we now know it. As part of 'Shades of Grey' I have filmed around several of the cities kirks and religious sites but for me one of the most interesting has to be Blairs College just outside of Aberdeen.

Blairs, founded in 1829 when a local landowner, John Menzies of Pitfodels (1756-1843), donated his mansion and estate of 1000 acres to the Catholic Church. The house became a seminary for Catholic boys who wished to become priests. Blairs was the last in a line of what had been a series of small, secret seminaries established after the Reformation, where young men were educated in out-of-the-way places in the Highlands and Islands. Boys began their education in Scotland, then would usually go to one of the Scots Colleges in Europe to further their studies. Those who trained completely in Scotland were known as ‘Heather Priests’.

In 1986 the College closed due to falling numbers and economic circumstances. It was subsequently bought a number of years later by Muir Group who are currently looking at converting the building into a hotel /golf resort. For more information on the college go to the Blairs Museum website.

Back early in 2010 when I started researching for the film, one of the first places I knew I wanted to film was Blairs College. I was lucky enough to visit the site in 2008 as research for a potential arts outreach project, which for various reasons never got off the ground. While the chapel and museum collection had some curiosity value it was the original college which got me excited. The building has sat empty since its closure in the eighties and started to fall into dilapidation (probably not helped by much of the lead of the roof having been stolen over the years). The interiors are amazingly atmospheric and instantly make you recall a multitude of cinematic memories, from the old haunted house/horror films to every bordering school set film every made (in particular Lindsay Anderson's If...). While the vast majority of the furniture has now gone the odd remain fitting such as the dorm phones or an old rusted single cast iron bed frame instantly evokes presence through absence.

I was fortunate enough to be able to gain access to the site again last month, this time to film it for 'Shades of Grey'. While parts of the building have started to dilapidate more I was pleased to see that some areas remained the same. This time I was also lucky enough to be shown around by the manager of Blairs Museum, Ian Forbes. Ian was himself a pupil at the college so it was very interesting to hear his memories and realities of the site which now seems so strange and distant. Another interesting aspect to the visit was to find out the colleges recent growth in popularity with photographers. While I was not surprised that several art students have ventured up, I was intrigued by the amount of 'bride and groom' wedding photographs that have been taken in the old locker room. It seems the 'old ruin' photography aesthetic is making its way into the 'must have style' for any fashionable bride's big day. Unfortunately for all the style conscious Aberdeen brides they might have to look elsewhere for their dilapidation fix as the museum is now considering restricting access to photographers.

Thanks again to Ian for taking the time to show me around again.