Old Photographs Main Street West Kilbride Scotland

Old photograph of shops, houses and people on the Main Street in West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland. West Kilbride, Scottish Gaelic: Cille Bhrìghde an Iar, a village in North Ayrshire, on the west coast by the Firth of Clyde, looking across to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran. West Kilbride is generally believed to be named after the ancient Celtic Saint Brigid of Kildare, often known as St Bride. There has been a hamlet in the area since 82 AD when the Roman general Agricola stationed 30,000 troops in the area of the village now known as Gateside. Roman roads can still be explored around the village to this day. Several buildings in the area date back to medieval times. Law Castle, situated at the foot of Law Hill, was built in the 15th century for King James III's sister Mary. Portencross Castle, thought to date from the 14th century, is situated right next to the sea at Portencross harbour, The town became known as a weaving and agricultural town, one of many Ayrshire towns specialising in potatoes. Since the town became linked by rail to Glasgow in 1878, it began to attract more visitors. Blog post of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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

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Old Photograph Greensands Street Dumfries Scotland

Old photograph of people and houses on Greensands Street in Dumfries, Scotland.



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

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Old Photograph Christmas Gift To Wounded Soldiers Dundee Scotland

Old photograph of a Christmas Gift to wounded World War One soldiers in a hospital in Dundee, Scotland. In the summer of 1914 war broke out in Europe and what followed was a world war on an unprecedented scale. Dundee gave an astonishing 63% of its eligible men to the armed forces leaving barely a street, house or tenement in the city unaffected. Blog post of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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

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Old Photograph Weavers Dundee Scotland

Old photograph of weavers in a Jute Works in Dundee, Scotland. With the advent of jute, and thanks to the Crimea War and the American Civil War with their demand for jute products, Dundee more than doubled its population in a period of some 20 years in the 19th Century. Such was the demand for labour that many of the dispossessed from the Highland clearances came for work. Many more from Ireland were shipped across to the West Coast and brought to Dundee in cattle trucks, where they were put into ready made slum dwellings built by the mill owners. One area of the Hilltown was known as Candle Land because the gas company refused to put in gas in case the occupants committed suicide. Because the demand for workers in the weving mills was mainly for women Dundee became a very matriarchal society. The women of Dundee were reputed to have the most beautiful hair in the whole world. This was because of the fact that after leaving the mill at night, they would spend so much time brushing the jute out of their hair. In complete contrast the mill owners lived mainly in Broughty Ferry, a suburb of the town which boasted the highest number of millionaires in the world at that time. Blog post of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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

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Old Photograph Liniclett Benbecula Scotland

Old photograph of a crofter, horse and cart and thatched cottages in Liniclett on Benbecula, Scotland. Benbecula is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the early 15th century Hugh MacDonald, third son of Alexander, Earl of Ross was the proprietor of " lands in Uist, Benbecula and Garmoran " although his tenure was opposed by Clanranald of Garmoran. By 1491 Clanranald were in possession of " nearly the whole of Uist and Benbecula. " Blog post of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.