Old Photograph Loch Eriboll Scotland

Old photograph of Loch Eriboll, a nine mile long sea loch on the coast of Northern Sutherland, Scotland. This Scottish loch has been used for centuries as a deep water anchorage as it is safe from the often stormy seas of Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth. Around the shores of the loch are the crofting townships of Eriboll, Laid, Heilam, Portnancon and Rispond. Eilean Hoan island is located at the northern, seaward end of the loch and there are various small islets in the vicinity including A' Ghoil-sgeir, An Cruachan, An Dubh-sgeir, Eilean Clùimhrig, and Pocan Smoo. The Royal Navy have been frequent visitors to the loch, particularly during World War II. Portnancon, on the western shore of Loch Eriboll, was where the company of the HMS Hood spent their last shore leave prior to the Battle of the Denmark Strait, and there are stones arranged by sailors into the names of their warships, including Hood and Amethyst, on the hillside above the hamlet of Laid. It was nicknamed " Lock orrible " by the British servicemen stationed here during the war because of the often inclement weather. The largest island in the loch, Eilean Choraidh, was used as a representation of the German battleship Tirpitz for aerial bombing practice by the Fleet Air Arm prior to the successful Operation Tungsten in April 1944. The surviving 33 German U-boats, for example U-532 and U-295, formally surrendered here in 1945, ending the Battle of the Atlantic.



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Old Photograph Singer Clock Tower Scotland

Old photograph of the Singer Clock Tower in Clydebank by Glasgow, Scotland. This Scottish clock clock tower stood over the central wing of Singer's Kilbowie Factory, which in 1885 was the largest factory in the world, and had the capacity to manufacture 8000 sewing machines a week, employed 3500 people and manufactured sewing machines that were sent around the globe. Each face of the clock weighed five tons and it took four men fifteen minutes twice a week to keep it wound.



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Old Photograph Peterhead Prison Scotland

Old photograph of the prison in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Peterhead Convict Prison was built around 1888. It was designed to hold 208 prisoners and to be Scotland's only convict prison. Occupancy averaged at around 350 however, until peaking at 455 in 1911. Until the opening of this Scottish Prison, Scots convicts were transported to England to serve their sentences. The first convicts were received in August 1888.



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Old Photograph Faskally House Pitlochry Scotland

Old photograph of Faskally House by Pitlochry in Highland Perthshire, Scotland. Faskally Estate was the seat of the Butter family from it's purchase in 1778 by Mr. Henry Butter. The main house, which sits to the east side of Loch Faskally and two miles from the junction of the Garry and Tummel rivers, was designed by William Burn and built on the site of the old house, built about 100 years previously, in 1831 by Henry's only son Archibald. The family estate and newly purchased Cluniemore and Duntanlich estates were then passed to Archibald's eldest grandson, his son having predeceased him, in 1885. The then current Archibald eventually sold the estate in 1911 to his younger brother Colonel Charles A. J. Butter who owned it until it was sold to the Forestry Commission in the 1950s. It is now owned and run by a Christian trust.



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Old Photograph Windygates Fife Scotland

Old photograph of cottages, shops and people in Windygates by Milton of Balgonie, Fife, Scotland. Windygates is a small Scottish village and surrounding district in central Fife. It encompasses the villages, hamlets and estates of Wellsgreen Farm, Little Lun Farm, Woodbank Farm, The Maw, a former farming community, Cameron, Isabella, Smithyhill, Cameronbridge, Bridgend, Durie Estate, Duniface Farm, Haughmill, a former weaving community, Drumcaldie, The Meetings, confluence of Rivers Leven and Ore, Bankhead of Balcurvie, Fernhill, Fernbank, both former farms, Balcurvie Village, a former weaving community, Little Balcurvie, Hawthorn Bank, Kennowayburns and Windygates Village itself. Housing demands of the 20th century brought all of these, almost forgotten identities, together into a district now commonly known as Windygates. The Windygates Hotel at the village cross was originally a coaching inn, and there were toll gates at the cross until the late 19th century, when the village grew to accommodate the nearby Cameron Bridge Whisky distillery.



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