Tour Scotland photographs and videos from my tours of Scotland. Photography and videography, both old and new, from beautiful Scotland, Scottish castles, seascapes, rivers, islands, landscapes, standing stones, lochs and glens.
Old photograph of shops on Abbeymount in Edinburgh, Scotland. This is one of the older parts of the city, taking its name from Holyrood Abbey, a major historic religious site. The main east-west thoroughfare through the area is London Road, laid in the 1820s as part of the Calton development of the New Town. This superseded an older road to Haddington which still skirts the north side of the King's Park, now officially named Holyrood Park.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of the Medical School in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although the University of Edinburgh's Faculty of Medicine was not formally organised until 1726, medicine had been taught at Edinburgh since the beginning of the sixteenth century. Its formation was dependent on the incorporation of the Surgeons and Barber Surgeons, in 1505 and the foundation of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1681. Throughout the 18th century until the First World War the Edinburgh Medical School was widely considered the best medical school in the English speaking world. Students were attracted to the Edinburgh Medical School from Ireland, America and the Colonies by a succession of brilliant teachers, such as William Cullen, James Gregory and Joseph Black, the opportunities afforded by the Royal Medical Society and a flourishing Extra Mural School.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Dean bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1833, the four arched Dean Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford and 106 feet above the water level, was opened to carry the Queensferry Road over the Dean Gorge, almost at the sole expense of Mr John Learmonth Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The contractors were John Gibb & Son, from Aberdeen. Another intention of the new bridge was to open up the Dean estate to feuing. The side parapet of the bridge was raised in height at the beginning of the 20th century as a deterrent to suicides, which were very common here in the 19th century, being more or less guaranteed success. The change in stonework is still visible. Dean Bridge was featured in Ian Rankin's fictional book Strip Jack, in which a woman is found dead in the river underneath the bridge.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Loch Riddon, a sea loch which extends North from the Kyles of Bute, on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll, Scotland. The Kyles are split into the East and West kyles. The East Kyle, An Caol an Ear, runs from Rothesay Bay North west up to the entrance to Loch Riddon. Here at the northern end of the East Kyle are the Burnt Islands and the island of Eilean Dubh. The West Kyle, An Caol an Iar, runs from here south west, past the village of Tighnabruaich out to the Sound of Bute.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of a waterfall in Puck's Glen a river formed ravine near Dunoon, Cowal Peninsula, Argyll, Scotland. It comes under the Forestry Commission which highlights it as a feature of the Argyll Forest Park, itself within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, and describes it as " One of the most magical forests in Scotland, with a delightful trail along a rocky gorge. " The Benmore Estate, previously hunting grounds of the Campbells of Ballochyle, was improved by a succession of owners in the 19th century. Forestry plantation began in the 1820s, and extensive garden improvements were made from 1862 by James Piers Patrick. In 1870 the Greenock sugar refiner and philanthropist James Duncan bought the estate, and added the adjacent Kilmun and Bernice Estates. He arranged extensive plantings, including more than six million trees around the estate, and added paths leading up the Eas Mòr gorge for his visitors to enjoy the magical atmosphere of the glen, reminiscent of the mythological Puck, the character Puck in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Henry Younger of the Edinburgh brewer Younger's bought the estate in 1889, and with his son Harry George Younger made many improvements to the woods and gardens. In 1924, Harry George Younger presented the estates to the Forestry Commissioners.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
