Old Travel Blog Photograph Railway Bridge Tongland Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Railway Bridge in Tongland in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Tongland is a small village about 2 miles north of Kirkcudbright. It lies on the west bank of the River Dee near its confluence with the Tarff Water. The Dee is crossed down river by Tongland Bridge, a stone arch bridge constructed in 1806 by Thomas Telford. Joe Dobson, co-founder of Interflora was born in Tongland in 1875. In 1920, Joe, then at Leighton's Seedsmen and Florists in Glasgow, and nurseryman, Carl Englemann in Saffron Walden, Essex, England, were looking to increase their business. They knew of the Florists Telegraph Delivery Association, now known as Florists' Transworld Delivery, which had existed in the US since 1910, and applied to join as foreign members. In 1923 the UK arm of the FTDA was formed with 17 members. One of the straplines used in advertising was Flowers by Wire when the telegraph was actually used to communicate between florists. Later, telegrams were sent from member to member requesting deliveries to be made in the recipient florists area. In the original Interflora Directory, used by members, the longest established members could be recognised by their telegraphic addresses. This would be the only telegraphic address in that city to include the name Interflora. In the case of the founding members, their telegraphic addresses were " Interflora Glasgow " and " Interflora Saffron Walden ", respectively.



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