Old Photograph Trinity Street Church Greenock Scotland

Old photograph of the interior of Trinity Street Church in Greenock by Glasgow, Scotland.



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Old Photograph Henry Bell Monument Helensburgh Scotland

Old photograph of the Henry Bell obelisk monument on the esplanade by the seafront in Helensburgh, Scotland. Henry Bell, born 7 April 1767, died 14 March 1830, was a Scottish engineer known for introducing the first successful passenger steamboat service in Europe. He was the fifth son of Patrick Bell and Margaret Easton. He was educated at the local parish school and was apprenticed to a stonemason in 1780. Three years later, he was apprenticed to his uncle, a millwright. He later learned ship modelling in Borrowstounness and in 1787, pursued his interest in ship mechanics in Bell's Hill with the engineer Mr James Inglis. This was followed by several years in London, England. He returned to Scotland around 1790, and moved to Glasgow, where he worked as a house-carpenter. His ambition was to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and become a civil engineer, and to this end he joined the Glasgow corporation of wrights on 20 October 1797. In 1808, Bell moved to the modern town of Helensburgh, on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde, where his wife undertook the superintendence of the public baths, and at the same time kept the principal inn. In 1812 he built his steam boat the Comet, with an engine of three horsepower. The Comet, named after a great comet which had been visible for several months in 1811, was built by John Wood and Company, at Port Glasgow which lies three miles to the east of Greenock, as adjacent towns on the south bank of the River Clyde as it widens into the Firth of Clyde. The Comet made a delivery voyage from Port Glasgow 21 miles upriver to the Broomielaw, Glasgow, then sailed from Glasgow the 24 miles down to Greenock. Bell died at Helensburgh in 1830, aged 62.



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Old Photographs Moy Hall Inverness Scotland

Old photograph of Moy Hall, near Inverness, Scotland. The original Castle of Moy stood on an island in Loch Moy but in 1700 a house was built at the north end of the loch and has been the home of the chiefs of Clan Mackintosh since the fourteenth century. It was here that Charles Edward Stuart was entertained in 1746, by Lady Anne Mackintosh, a Jacobite supporter. Her husband, the clan chief, was fighting for the Government Army. Prince Charles escaped capture here. Lord Louden's government soldiers were sent from Inverness, to halt his progress. Lady Mackintosh, secretly informed about the planned capture, arranged for four of her men to hide by the roadside when the government troops approached. Setting off their pistols to fire one at a time, they were to shout for the clans of MacDonald and Cameron to advance, thus tricking the government army into thinking they had stumbled into the whole of the Jacobite Army. The trick worked, and Lord Louden's troops speedily retreated. The event is known as The Rout of Moy. The house was accidentally burned down in the time of Aeneas, the twenty-third chief. He had Moy Hall built in 1800. It was rebuilt in the 1870s by architect John Rhind who added the tower and two large wings. The Hall had sixty rooms. During the 1950s the building was found to have dry rot. Despite remedial treatment it was finally demolished and a new, much plainer house, designed by Gordon Gunn of George Gordon and Company was built in 1957.

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Old Photographs Victoria Road Glasgow Scotland

Old photograph of Victoria Road in Glasgow, Scotland. Victoria Road runs northeast from Queen's Drive, opposite the main entrance to Queen's Park.

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Old Photographs Gilnockie Tower Scotland

Old photograph of Gilnockie Tower located two miles North of Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. This Scottish tower is situated on the west bank of the River Esk. It was built around 1520 by Johnnie Armstrong, famous Border outlaw and younger brother of Thomas Armstrong of Mangerton. In 1528, the tower was burned by Sir Christopher Dacre, English Warden of the Western Marches, and in 1530 Johnnie and 50 followers were hanged by James V, after being tricked into joining a hunting party. The tower was rebuilt, but was damaged again by English raids in the 1540s, only to be rebuilt again. In 1978, the tower was a roofless ruin, when it was bought by Major T.C.R. Armstrong-Wilson, who undertook a full restoration. The tower now houses the Clan Armstrong centre.

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