Old Photograph St Cuthbert Street Kirkcudbright Scotland

Old photograph of St Cuthbert in Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. This Scottish town lies South West of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, in the part of Dumfries and Galloway known as the Stewartry, at the mouth of the River Dee, some six miles from the sea. It was the county town of the former county of Kirkcudbrightshire, also known as the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.



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 Pier Dunoon Scotland

Old photograph of the pier in Dunoon, Scotland.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Tour Scoland Video Winter Sunrise Pittenweem East Neuk Of Fife

Tour Scotland Winter video of sunrise behind the harbour on ancestry visit to Pittenweem, East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Founded as a fishing village around a probably early Christian religious settlement, Pittenweem grew along the shoreline from the west where the sheltered beaches were safe places for fishermen to draw their boats up out of the water. Later a breakwater was built, extending out from one of the rocky skerries that jut out south west into the Firth of Forth like fingers. This allowed boats to rest at anchor rather than being beached, enabling larger vessels to use the port. A new breakwater further to the east was developed over the years into a deep, safe harbour with a covered fish market. As the herring disappeared from local waters and the fishing fleet shrank, this harbour and its attendant facilities became the main harbour for the fishermen of the East Neuk of Fife.

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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Tour Scotland Video Winter Sunrise Anstruther East Neuk Of Fife

Tour Scotland Winter video of sunrise behind the harbour on ancestry visit to Anstruther, East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Herring fishing remained a feature of the area until the mid 20th century when, after a record catch in 1936, the shoals mysteriously declined until the industry effectively disappeared by 1947. At one time, the town was well served by trains on the Fife Coastal Railway. The line was closed to passengers in 1965. Since the 1950s, Anstruther has been a summer tourist destination along with much of Scotland's beautiful East coast.

David Martin, born 1 April 1737, died 30 December 1797, was a British painter and engraver. Born in Anstruther Easter, he was the first of the five children of John Martin, born 1699, died 1700, Anstruther Easter's parish schoolmaster, and his second wife, Mary Boyack, born 1702, died 1783. He accompanied the portrait painter Allan Ramsay on his tour of Italy in 1756, having already been taught by him, and after returning became a student at the St Martin's Lane Academy in London, England. On 20 July 1771 he married Ann Hill, born 1743, died 1775, but all three of their children died in infancy.

Professor John Goodsir, born 20 March 1814, died 6 March 1867, was a Scottish anatomist. He was a pioneer in the study of the cell. He was born in Anstruther, the eldest son of John Goodsir, surgeon and his wife, Elizabeth Dunbar Taylor. John was baptised on 17 April 1814. His younger brother was Reverend Joseph Taylor Goodsir. His brother Harold Goodsir perished on the Franklin expedition. Aged 14 he was initially apprenticed to a Robert Nasmyth, a surgeon and dentist at 78 Great King Street in Edinburgh. He then studied Medicine at both St Andrews University and Edinburgh University, gaining a licence as a surgeon. He then moved back to Anstruther where in 1839 he wrote his first noted essay on Teeth.

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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Tour Scotland Video Winter Sunrise Railway Bridge River Tay Dundee

Tour Scotland Winter video of sunrise behind the Tay Railway Bridge on ancestry visit to Dundee, Scotland. The Tay Bridge carries the main line railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is 2.75 miles. The present structure is the second one on its site. From about 1854, there had been plans for a Tay crossing, to replace an early train-ferry. The first bridge, opened in 1878, was a single track lattice design, notable for lightness and low cost. Its sudden collapse in a high wind on 28 December 1879 was one of the great engineering disasters of history, and its causes are still debated today. The second bridge was a double-track construction of iron and steel, opened in 1887 and still in service.

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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.