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 a steam train railway shed in Killin, Scotland. Killin railway station was opened on 1 April 1886, the station comprised a single platform on the west side of the line. There were also three sidings on the same side. This station was officially closed on 1 November 1965, although following the Glen Ogle landslide on 27 September 1965, the service was suspended and replaced by buses until the official closure.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of steams trains working at Polkemmet Colliery by Whitburn in West Lothian, Scotland. Whitburn town is located halfway between Scotlands's two largest cities, being about 27 miles east of Glasgow and 23 miles west of Edinburgh. The town was once dominated by Polkemmet Colliery, a large coal mine, but this was closed as a result of damage by underground flooding during the 1984 miners' strike and never re-opened. The colliery buildings have gone, and the coal bings that once were prominent have now been removed. Work to dismantle Bing No 3, the infamous burning bing, started in August 2006 and was completed by February 2008. The last major outbreak of burning occurred in 1998.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of the Sir James Shaw monument in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. Sir James Shaw, 1st Baronet, born on 26 August 1764, in Riccarton, Kilmarnock, became Lord Mayor of London, England in 1805. From humble beginnings in a farming family in Ayrshire, he became a successful merchant and politician; he was a relation of the poet Robert Burns and used his wealth to support Burns's orphaned children. As Lord Mayor of London, he led the funeral procession of Lord Nelson in 1806, having established his right to do so and was created baronet twice, in 1809 and 1813. While later Chamberlain of London, he almost lost his own fortune due to injudicious investments, and died, exonerated, in 1843. Shaw was created Baronet, of Kilmarnock, in the County of Ayr by King George III in 1809, and re-created in 1813 by a second patent to include a future interest for his nephew. As such, he was appointed a Member of Parliament for London until 1818, but thereafter sat as an alderman until he resigned in May 1843. In 1831 he was also appointed Chamberlain of London, and was almost ruined as he inadvertently invested £40,000, then a huge sum, of city funds in fake Exchequer bills. On discovering his error, he began to liquidate all his property to repay the sum, but was cleared by a commission of enquiry. Shaw resigned all his positions in 1843 due to long term illness and died some six months later on 22 October. 1843. Shaw was unmarried, and normally his baronetcy would have become extinct on his death, but because of the second patent, the title passed to his nephew, John Shaw.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of the Commercial Hotel in Sandhead village located seven miles South of Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The old main road, named " Main Street ", runs through the village, but the A716 now bypasses it with a narrow and twisting carriageway. The village developed as a strip village with a smithy and a school by 1850, and the nearby bay was used for landing lime and later coal. The village school is situated above the village, and a little north of this is Balgreggan Motte which stands above the A716. The Motte was the first in a line of early castles along the eastern shore of the Rhins. The top was used by the Royal Observer Corps during the Second World War as a lookout point, but in earlier times the castle was made of wood and was inevitably burned to the ground by marauding forces. The village is located nearby to RAF West Freugh.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of the Badenoch Hotel in Newtonmore, Scotland. The village is only a few miles from a location that is claimed to be the exact geographical centre of Scotland. Newtonmore railway station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line. Newtonmore has been bypassed by the A9 since 1979. Newtonmore calls itself the Walking Centre of Scotland, referring both to its geographical location and to the great walking opportunities locally, like the Wildcat Trail. An extension to the Speyside Way could soon add Newtonmore to a Long Distance Route and it will become the new end to this trail.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
