LONG ago, when education triumphed over budget cuts, the enlightened folk at Glasgow City Council bought up a number of Scotland's great houses to use as outdoor education facilities.

Castle Toward, outside Dunoon, was one such haven. Built in 1820 by Kirkman Finlay, former Lord Provost of Glasgow, as his family's country house, it was bought by the council after the Second World War.It provided a base for residential art and music classes for city kids, many of whom had never been outside Glasgow before.

These budding artists were trying their hand at landscape drawing.

Today, the local community is fighting to save the castle from sale, so that future generations of kids can enjoy the same opportunities as they did.