Old Photograph St Margaret's Hope Naval Base North Queensferry Fife Scotland

Old photograph of St Margaret's Hope Naval Base by North Queensferry in Fife, Scotland. St Margaret's Hope was the place where the then Princess Margaret landed when, fleeing from William the Conqueror, her ship was blown off course and she, with her family, were give hospitality and protection by Macolm Canmore, her future husband. 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 Well Moffat Scotland

Old photograph of the Well in Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. From 1633 Moffat began to grow from a small village into a popular spa town. The sulphurous waters of Moffat Spa were believed to have healing properties. In 1730 these were complemented by the addition of iron springs. During the Victorian era the high demand led to the water being piped down from the well to a specially built bath house in the town centre, now the Town Hall. The well can be reached by following Haywood Road and climbing up Tank Wood the path at the end was the original route to the well. An alternative is to drive or walk up Well Road and eventually you will reach the Well Cottage and the car park for the well. When the water was first piped into town for the baths it was pumped uphill to a tank in the appropriately named Tank Wood, before travelling back downhill to the bath house. 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 Macbiehill House Scotland

Old photograph of Macbiehill House in Tweeddale, Scotland. This Scottish mansion house was built by William Burn in 1835, incorporated parts of an old tower house. It was demolished in the 1950s and nothing now remains. William, born 20 December 1789, died 15 February 1870, was a Scottish architect and pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style. A remarkably talented architect, he received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 80, a remarkable 60 years of prominence. He was born in Edinburgh, the son of architect Robert Burn, and educated at the Royal High School. After training with the architect of the British Museum in London, England, Sir Robert Smirke, he returned to Edinburgh in 1812. Here he established a practice from the family builders' yard. In 1841, he took on a pupil, David Bryce, with whom he later went into partnership. From 1844 he worked in London, where he took on his nephew John Macvicar Anderson as a partner. Burn was a true master of many styles, but all are typified by well proportioned simplicity externally and frequent stunning interiors. He died in London and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery just on the edge of the path to the North West of the central buildings. 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 Craigard Tearooms Arrochar Scotland

Old photograph of Craigard Tearooms in Arrochar, Scotland. Arrochar is a Scottish village located near the head of Loch Long in Argyll and Bute. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it is overlooked by a group of mountains called the Arrochar Alps. For over five centuries this area, the feudal barony of Arrochar, was held by the chiefs of Clan MacFarlane and before them by their ancestors the barons of Arrochar. The family is Celtic in the male line and native to their Highland homeland of tall peaks and deep lochs just above the waist of Scotland. The settlement was a key target for Viking raiders who took their boats two miles overland to Tarbet to attack the unprotected inland settlements at Loch Lomond before their defeat in 1263 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.

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Old Photograph Bridge Ballanoch Scotland

Old photograph of the bridge and cottages at Bellanoch located on the South West side of the Crinan Canal, Argyll, Scotland. The 9 mile long Crinan Canal connects the village of Ardrishaig on Loch Gilp with the Sound of Jura, providing a navigable route between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides. The canal was originally built for commercial sailing vessels and, later, Clyde puffers to travel between the industrialized region around Glasgow to the West Highland villages and islands. Now it is largely used by leisure craft.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.