Old Photograph Crofter Carding Wool Isle Of Skye Scotland

Old photograph of a crofter woman Carding wool outside a cottage on the Isle Of Skye, Scotland. The purpose of carding is to separate and straighten the wool fibres. The result is wool that makes hand spinning easier. For carding, the wool was put between two flat boards with wire teeth which were scraped together. It was tiring work and the women’s wrists and arms would often ache. In the days before the spinning wheel was introduced, a spindle and whorl were used; merely a rod thrust into a disc of wood. The task was laborious, but being repetitive was often combined with other chores, like the herding of cattle or sheep.



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Old Photograph Crofter Drying Wool Isle Of Skye Scotland

Old photograph of a crofter drying wool outside a cottage on the Isle Of Skye, Scotland.



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

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Old Photograph Cotton Mill Stanley Perthshire Scotland

Old photograph of the Cotton Mill in Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland. John Murray, the 4th Duke of Atholl, decided, in the 18th century to harness of the nearby River Tay to power a cotton mill. Richard Arkwright, an inventor of cotton spinning machinery was persuaded by, George Dempster, when Dempster was visiting Cromford in Derbyshire, England, to come to Scotland to set up a cotton mill in Stanley as well as one at New Lanark. Stanley Mills, opened in 1787 and by its 10th year employed 350 people. The nearby village was built to house the workers of the mill.



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

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Old Photograph Building Skibo Castle Scotland

Old photograph of building Skibo Castle located West of Dornoch in the Highlands of Scotland. The first record of Skibo Castle is a charter from 1211. From its early history, the castle was a residence of the Bishops of Caithness. Skibo Castle remained the residence of subsequent bishops until 1545, when the estate was, as a tactical measure by the church, given to John Gray in order to reinforce its alliance with a powerful family as the threat of a Protestant uprising spread towards the north. In 1745, Robert Gray surrendered the estate. It was later bought by a relative who built a modern house before 1760. Its ownership changed frequently until 1872, when it was bought by Evan Charles Sutherland Walker, who extended the house and improved the grounds. However, the condition of the building had declined by 1897, when wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie took a one year lease, with an option to buy. In 1898 he exercised that option for £85,000. However its condition had declined so much by this time that a further £2 million was spent on improvements, including an increase in area from 16,000 square feet to over 60,000 square feet, plus the creation of Loch Ospisdale and an 18 hole golf course.



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

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Old Photograph Beekeeper Cupar Fife Scotland

Old photograph of a Beekeeper near Cupar, Fife, Scotland. A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Honey bees produce commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly, while some beekeepers also raise queens and other bees to sell to other farmers and to satisfy scientific curiosity. Beekeepers also use honeybees to provide pollination services to fruit and vegetable growers. Many people keep bees as a hobby. Others do it for income either as a sideline to other work or as a commercial operator. These factors affect the number of colonies maintained by the beekeeper.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.