Old Photographs Railway Station Heriot Borders of Scotland

Old photograph of people outside the railway station in Heriot near Innerleithen in the Borders of Scotland. Heriot is a small village in the Moorfoot Hills south east of Edinburgh. Heriot had a railway and station from 1849 until the branch line closures instigated by Beeching caused the track to be uplifted in the 1960s. Places near to Heriot include Borthwick, Carcant, Crichton, Fala, Stow of Wedale.

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Old Photographs Scuttling Fleet Scapa Flow Scotland

Old photograph of the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, Scotland. On 21 June 1919, after nine months of waiting, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the German officer in command at Scapa Flow, made the decision to scuttle the fleet because the negotiation period for the treaty had lapsed with no word of a settlement, he was not kept informed that there had been a last minute extension to finalise the details.



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

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Old Photograph Egg Hunting Rousay Orkney Islands Scotland

Old photograph of an islander egg hunting on Rousay, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Most people on this small, hilly island about one mile North of mainland Orkney have always earned their living from farming and fishing. In the 19th century, records show there were also tradespeople supplying the needs of a rural community: blacksmiths and joiners, shoemakers and shopkeepers, with women doing dressmaking and straw plaiting. Throughout the century, Rousay's landlords demanded high rents from crofters, many of whom were made homeless in a series of clearances along the western coast, ordered by landowner George William Traill in the 1820s and 1830s. Rousay's population in the mid 19th century was over 900, but emigration following land clearances reduced that to 627 by 1900, and half a century later it had fallen to 342. Depopulation accelerated, and in the next twenty years the number fell to 181, its lowest ever. From the 1970s onward new families started to settle on Rousay: most came from the south, especially from England.



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

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Old Photograph Crofters Gathering Peat North Uist Outer Hebrides Scotland

Old photograph of crofters gathering Peats on North Uist, Scotland. North Uist in the Outer Hebrides was hit hard during the Highland Clearances, and there was large scale emigration from the island to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. The early emigrants from North Uist spoke only Gaelic and were fiercely Protestant and when emigrating almost invariably went to the same areas as relatives and others from their village or district had earlier emigrated, where they could be assured of receiving assistance, having people with whom they could converse in Gaelic until they learned English, and where a Presbyterian church was nearby.



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Old Photograph Black Watch Dundee Scotland

Old photograph of soldiers from the Black Watch in Dundee, Scotland. Wearing uniform for military service in Africa.



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

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