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 houses on Fountainhall Road in Aberdeen, Scotland. The name Fountainhall first appears in Taylor's map of 1773. The ground there contained some of the old stone Fountains or Cisterns, used from 1706 as storage wells for the Aberdeen water supply, and the neighbourhood was spoken of as Fountainha. This, however, is not " Fountainhall, " but local enunciation of " Fountain-haugh, " or hollow.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of houses on Mid Stocket Road in Aberdeen, Scotland. Midstocket is named after the Forest of Stocket, which was a gift from Robert the Bruce to the people of Aberdeen in 1319. The income from the forests land formed Aberdeen's Common Good Fund. Midstocket Road cuts through the area and is generally seen as the focal point of the Midstocket Area. The streets between Midstocket Road and Westburn Road from Mile End School are considered to be in the Midstocket Area. Between Rosemount and Mile-End School is considered the Mile End area despite Midstocket Road passing through it.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of the train station in Penicuik, Scotland. The Penicuik Railway obtained its authorising Act on 28 June 1870. The Company's engineer was Thomas Bouch. The terrain was difficult, for the line followed the sinuous River North Esk, which runs between steep hillsides on both sides; the line crossed the River North Esk seven times in two and a half miles, and there was a viaduct and two tunnels. The line left the Peebles Railway at Hawthornden, and there were stations at Rosslyn and Auchendinny as well as Penicuik. The line opened for goods traffic on 9 May 1872 and to passengers on 2 September 1872. The Penicuik Railway was absorbed by the North British Railway, authorised by Act of Parliament of 13 July 1876 and effective on 1 August 1876. The line served several paper mills, and the attractive nature of the area encouraged residential travel by Edinburgh professionals. The line prospered for many years as an outer suburban branch, and for many years the railway was the only practicable means of residential travel to Edinburgh. The sixteen mile train journey from Penicuik to Edinburgh took about 40 minutes. Auchendinny station was closed on 5 March 1951, and the branch closed to passenger traffic on 10 September 1951. The last passenger train on the branch was a railtour on 29 August 1964. There were two landslides on the line in 1966, and at that time the only remaining traffic was an occasional goods train to Penicuik. The cost of the rectification considerably exceeded income, and the line was closed to all traffic on 27 March 1967.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Castle Law Hill, South west of Fairmilehead, in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh, Scotland. It is best known for the Iron Age hill fort on its slopes. The Castlelaw Hill Fort is the remnant of a stronghold of the Iron Age. When it was occupied the site consisted of three earthwork ramparts, ditches and timber palisades. The fort contained a Souterrain for the storage of agricultural produce. Gordon Childe undertook excavations at Castlelaw in 1932. The work focussed on the rampart, and showed that it consisted of a clay and timber filling, faced by stone.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of the cottage where the District Nurse lived in Bellshill, Glasgow, Scotland. In the late 1700s the parish of Bothwell, which encompasses modern Bellshill, was a centre of hand loom weaving with 113 weavers recorded. Only 53 colliers were listed. A hundred or so years later, these occupations had changed places in degree of importance to the area economy. With the introduction of new machinery in the middle of the 19th century, many cottage weavers lost their livelihood. Demand for coal to feed British industry meant that by the 1870s 20 deep pits were in operation in the area. The first mine to open, and the last to close in 1953, was the Thankerton mine. Others followed swiftly and rapidly increased the size of the town, even attracting a steady stream of immigrants from abroad, particularly Lithuania, so much so that the town is sometimes referred to as Little Lithuania. The rise in the migrant Lithuanian population led to the opening of The Scottish Lithuanian Recreation and Social Club within Calder Road in the Mossend area.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
