Old Photograph Fountain Gardens Paisley Scotland

Old photograph of Fountain Gardens in Paisley by Glasgow, Scotland. Fountain Gardens are located on the fringe of Paisley town centre with the main entrance on Love Street and another entrance on Caledonia Street. They were developed on the site of earlier gardens, the Hope Temple Gardens, which were created by John Love in 1797. John Love was a local manufacturer after whom Love Street was named. Hope Temple Gardens were formal gardens open to the public. They also contained a bowling green and the Hope Temple Museum. The gardens were put up for sale in 1866 and bought by Thomas Coats of Ferguslie, an industrialist who with his brothers ran the Paisley thread manufacturing company J&P Coats. Thomas Coats had the site redesigned by the landscape architect James Craig Niven of Glasgow. Niven's new design was a grand, geometric layout with broad walkways all leading to an ornate fountain at the centre containing statues of herons, dolphins and walruses. A major feature of the new gardens was the elaborate ironwork which included lamps, gates and railings. Coats also paid for ornate seats, drinking fountains, a cast-iron veranda, rock garden and alpine beds. A cottage for the park superintendent was built on the left hand side of the main entrance on Love Street. A sitting room for ladies was built on the right. A sapling taken from the original Wallace Oak at Elderslie, prior to the tree's destruction in 1856, was planted in the new garden. Legend tells that William Wallace hid in the tree to avoid capture by his enemies. The gardens were renamed Fountain Gardens and gifted to the public of Paisley by Thomas Coats. As Paisley grew in size and became more industrialised, Thomas Coats wanted to give the people of Paisley an open space which they could enjoy. The garden's inauguration took place in May 1868. A statue of Robert Burns was erected in the Gardens in the 1890s. The cost of the statue was funded from money raised by concerts given by the Tannahill Choir, which took place on the Gleniffer Braes. The statue is located next to the fountain and is reputed to be the finest Burns statue in Britain.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Tour Scotland Video Diesel Passenger Trains Railway Station Inverkeithing Fife

Tour Scotland video of diesel passenger trains in the railway station at Inverkeithing on ancestry visit to Fife, Scotland.. This station is popular with commuters travelling to Edinburgh from Fife. Journey times as low as 15 minutes are available to Haymarket as CrossCountry, East Coast and First ScotRail express services between Edinburgh and Aberdeen stop here. Some services between Edinburgh and Inverness also stop at Inverkeithing. Trains destined for Perth, Perthshire, Dundee, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath also stop at Inverkeithing. There is a once daily train to Glasgow Queen Street each morning, returning in the evening peak. East Coast services between Aberdeen, London King's Cross and Leeds call at Inverkeithing, as do CrossCountry services between Aberdeen and Plymouth, Penzance, England.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Old Photograph Shepherds Dairy Shop Glasgow Scotland

Old photograph of Shepherds Dairy shop in Glasgow, Scotland. The Shepherd surname is of Anglo-Saxon origins. It is usually an occupational name either for someone employed to tend and watch over sheep, or as a town watchkeeper. The derivation is from the pre 7th century word " sceap ", with either " hierde " a herdsman, or " weard ", a watchman. Occasionally the modern surname may derive from an occupational name for a "shipward". Thomas Shypward in 1432, and John Shipward in 1467 being listed in the register of the skilled men of the city of Bristol, England. There are at least ten variant spellings of the surname, ranging from Shepherd, Shephard and Sheppard to Shepeard, Shepheard, Shepperd and Shippard. Amongst the recorded examples of the name in the early surviving church registers of the city of London is the christening of Jone Shepherd on August 3rd 1585, at St. Mary's, Whitechapel, Stepney, whilst Samuell Shepard was an early emigrant to the American colonies, leaving London on the " Defence " in July 1635.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Old Photograph Golf Course Callander Scotland

Old photograph of golfers putting on the golf course in Callander, Trossachs, Scotland.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Old Photograph Lawn Bowling Green Largs Scotland

Old photograph of bowlers on the Lawn Bowling Green in Largs in Ayrshire, Scotland.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.