Old Photograph Siller Hole Leven Fife Scotland

Old photograph of cottages and people in Siller Hole by Leven, Fife, Scotland. Siller Hole, meaning " Hollow place with poor land ", is now part of the town of Leven, it consisted formerly of the cottages and houses of workers at the Durie colliery. The Sillerhole Den was once the focus of much mining activity, with three coal pits and two ochre pits in the vicinity, commercial ochre production having begun around 1830. Sillerhole Den, which was also known locally as Spinkie Den, is now Letham Glen Public Park, named after the former land owner John Letham, who gifted the land to Leven Town Council for the purposes of making a public park, opened as such in 1925.



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Old Photograph Old Dock Grangemouth Scotland

Old photograph of the old dock in Grangemouth, South of Stirling, Scotland. The Old Dock was built under an Act of 1836. It was opened in 1843 as the first locked dock at Grangemouth. Originally a bustling port, trade flowed through the town with the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal in the 18th century. Nowadays, the economy of Grangemouth is focused primarily on the large petrochemical industry.



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Old Photograph Weavers Moffat Scotland

Old photograph of Weavers in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Moffat was a notable market in the wool trade, and this is commemorated with a statue of a ram by William Brodie in the town's marketplace. The ram was presented to the town by William Colvin, a local businessman, in 1875. From 1633 Moffat began to grow from a small village into a popular spa town. The infamous murderer and alleged grave robber William Hare may have stayed in the Black Bull Hotel during his escape to Ireland after turning King's evidence against William Burke. Robert Burns came for the waters and frequented the local bars.



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Old Photograph The Salvation Army Citadel Aberdeen Scotland

Old photograph of the Salvation Army Citadel in Aberdeen, Scotland. At the upper end of Castlegate, located centrally at the east end of the city's main thoroughfare Union Street, stands The Salvation Army Citadel, a castellated mansion, on the site of the medieval Aberdeen Castle. Castlegate was named after the site of the castle gates until their destruction in 1308. It is thought the original castle and fortifications were burned down by King Robert the Bruce in June 1308, during the Wars of Scottish Independence immediately following the Harrying of Buchan. Bruce and his men laid siege to the castle before massacring the English Garrison to prevent its use by the English troops of King Edward II. It is said the Scots showed no mercy but " slew every man who fell into their hands. " King Edward I, indeed, had already set the example of executing his prisoners, and it was not to be expected that the other side would fail to follow the same course. On 10 July 1308, English ships left Hartlepool to help the English garrison. However, by August 1308, Gilbert Pecche and the last troops had all been forced out of the city. Following the destruction of Aberdeen Castle, Bruce marched his men to capture Forfar Castle. Legend tells that the city's motto, Bon Accord, came from the password used to initiate Bruce's final push and destruction of the castle.



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Old Photograph Victoria Hospital Rothesay Scotland

Old photographs of Victoria Hospital in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland. The Robertson Stewart Hospital, now Victoria Hospital Annexe, was built in 1873 to designs by architect Mathew Hunter. This was built as an infectious diseases hospital on a site well away from the main population centre of the town where fresh air was seen as part of the cure. The nearby Victoria Hospital was designed by John Russell Thomson and built in 1897 with a maternity wing added in 1937 designed by R J Walker, Hardy and Smith. Professor William James Smith designed the Thomson Home to the north of Victoria Hospital Annexe which was built between 1921 and 1930.



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