Old Photograph Melville Road Ladybank Fife Scotland

Old photograph of houses and people on Melville Road in Ladybank, Fife, Scotland. This Scottish village became a burgh in 1878, and became an industrial centre, with linen weaving, coal mining, and malting the principal industries in those days.



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Old Photograph Craigdhu Road Milngavie Scotland

Old photograph of car and houses on Craigdhu Road in Milngavie, Scotland. Milngavie is a Scottish town in East Dunbartonshire, on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Glasgow. Although known today as a dormitory suburb of Glasgow, the town grew from a country village within the parish of New Kilpatrick to a minor industrial centre in the nineteenth century with paper mills and bleach works on the Allander River to the north east of the town centre.[12] Some remnants of this industry remain today on the Clober Industrial Estate. The land surrounding the village comprised several estates with tenant farms, amongst them Barloch, Clober, Craigton, Craigdhu, Dougalston, Douglas Mains and South Mains. Stone built villas and semi detached houses were constructed for wealthy citizens to the east of the town centre and around Tannoch Loch when commuting to Glasgow was made possible by the opening of the railway which reached the town in 1863. After World War II a local authority housing scheme was built to the west of the town centre, housing many people relocated from Clydebank which had been badly bombed. The town grew with the addition of private speculative housing developments of bungalows and semi-detached homes at South Mains to the south of the town centre and around Clober, to the west, in the 1950s and 1960s. The Fairways estate was built, starting in 1978 and continued into the 1980s. The town centre was redeveloped to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. The central commercial streets were pedestrianised starting in 1974 and many buildings replaced. A superstore was opened on the fringes of the town centre in the 1990s. Residents launched a " tongue in cheek " campaign to bring the Olympic games to Milngavie in 2020.



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Old Photograph Whale's Jawbone North Berwick Scotland

Old photograph of a Whale's Jawbone in North Berwick, Scotland. The famous whale's jawbone on Berwick Law, ( a conical hill ) collapsed in June 2005 after rotting away, and was removed by helicopter, much to the surprise of North Berwick residents. A jawbone has stood there since 1709, the last one having been there since 1933.



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Old Photograph John Brown Statue Balmoral Castle Scotland

Old photograph of the John Brown statue on the grounds of Balmoral Castle, Scotland. John Brown, born 8 December 1826, died 27 March 1883, was a Scottish personal servant and favourite of Queen Victoria for many years. He was appreciated by many (including the Queen) for his competence and companionship, and resented by others for his influence and informal manner. The exact nature of his relationship with Victoria was the subject of great speculation by contemporaries, and continues to be controversial today. Brown was born in Crathie, Aberdeenshire, to John Brown and Margaret Leys, and went to work as an outdoor servant, in Scots ghillie or gillie, at Balmoral Castle, which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert leased in February 1848 and purchased outright in November 1851. He had several younger brothers, three of whom also entered the royal service. The most notable of these, Archibald Anderson " Archie Brown ", fifteen years John's junior, eventually became personal valet to Victoria's youngest son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Prince Albert's untimely death in 1861 was a shock from which Queen Victoria never fully recovered. John Brown became a good friend and supported the mourning Queen. The Queen gave him gifts and created two medals for him, the Faithful Servant Medal and the Devoted Service Medal. She commissioned a portrait of him. Queen Victoria commissioned a life-sized statue of Brown by Edgar Boehm shortly after Brown's death. The inscription on the base read: Friend more than Servant. Loyal. Truthful. Brave. Self less than Duty, even to the Grave. When Victoria's son succeeded to the throne he had the statue moved to a less conspicuous site on the estate.



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Old Photograph Cromwell Road Burntisland Fife Scotland

Old photograph of houses on Cromwell Road in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland. Burntisland is home to the second oldest highland games in the world starting in 1652. The Games take place on the third Monday of July, the start of the Fife and Glasgow fair fortnight, and a local market and summer fairground takes place on the same day. The town is also home to the eleventh oldest golf club in the world, Burntisland Golf Club, The Old Club, as it is known among its members. Although it is not a course owning club, its competitions are held over the local course now run by Burntisland Golf House Club.



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

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