Old Photographs Dunure Scotland

Old photograph of cottages and houses in Dunure, Ayrshire, Scotland. Dunure village is located on the coast of the Firth of Clyde. Dunure Castle is the point of origin of the Kennedys of Carrick, who once ruled over much of south western Scotland and were granted the lands in 1357. In August 1563, Mary, Queen of Scots, visited the castle for three days during her third progress round the west of the country. One tradition is that the castle was built by the Danes and another states that the Mackinnons held the castle from Alexander III, as a reward for their valour at the Battle of Largs. 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.

Old Photograph St David Street Brechin Scotland

Old photograph of shops, people and buildings on St David Street in Brechin in Angus, Scotland. The town of Brechin stands beside the South Esk river, in the area of Strathmore set against the eastern Grampian mountains. Brechin was the site where in 1296 John Baliol handed over lordship of Scotland to King Edward I, represented by the Bishop of Durham. Brechin became a royal burgh in 1641.



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 Devorgilla Bridge Dumfries Scotland

Old photograph of Devorgilla Bridge in Dumfries, Scotland. The first bridge here, probably wooden, is said to have been built across the River Nith at Dumfries by Devorgilla Balliol some time in the 1260's. That bridge was swept away by a flood in 1621. The rebuilt 17th century bridge originally had nine arches, but on the reclamation of the eastern bank of river early in the 19th century the three eastern arches were removed, leaving the remaining six arches spanning a width of 163 feet.



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 Funeral Victims Railway Disaster Gretna Green Scotland

Old photograph of the funeral of some of the victims of the railway disaster at Quintinshill near Gretna Green in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The disaster occurred on 22 May 1915 near at Quintinshill, an intermediate signal box with passing loops on each side on the Caledonian Railway Main Line linking Glasgow and Carlisle. The crash, which involved five trains, killed a probable 226 people and injured 246 and remains the worst rail crash in the United Kingdom in terms of loss of life. Those killed were mainly Territorial soldiers from the 1/7th Leith Battalion, the Royal Scots heading for Gallipoli. The precise number of dead was never established with confidence as the roll list of the regiment was destroyed by the fire. The crash occurred when a troop train travelling from Larbert, Stirlingshire to Liverpool, Lancashire collided with a local passenger train that had been shunted on to the main line, to then be hit by an express train to Glasgow which crashed into the wreckage a minute later. Gas from the lighting system of the old wooden carriages of the troop train ignited, starting a fire which soon engulfed the three passenger trains and also two goods trains standing on nearby passing loops. A number of bodies were never recovered, having been wholly consumed by the fire, and the bodies that were recovered were buried together in a mass grave in Edinburgh's Rosebank Cemetery. Four bodies, believed to be of children, were never identified or claimed and are buried in the Western Necropolis, Glasgow. The cause of the accident was poor working practices on the part of the two signalmen involved, which resulted in their imprisonment for culpable homicide after legal proceedings in both Scotland and 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 Parish Church And Town Hall Rutherglen Scotland

Old photograph of the parish church and town hall in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The church was designed by the architect J J Burnet 1902 in Gothic style, the fourth on this site since the original foundation in the 6th century. The gable end of an 11th century church still stands in the graveyard supporting St Mary’s steeple. It contains the church bell 1635. Stained glass including a First World War Memorial. Communion cups dated 1665 are still in use. The churchyard occupies an ancient site, at its gateway two stone offertory shelters, and a sundial set above its entrance dated 1679.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.