Old Photograph St Michael's Church Dumbarton Scotland

Old photograph of St Michael's Church in Dumbarton, Scotland. Dumbarton is 15 miles from Glasgow. Saint Michael’s Parish was founded for West Dumbarton in 1946. The Foundation Stone was laid by Archbishop Donald Campbell on 23 November 1952. The Church, designed by J.A. Coia of Gillespie, Kidd and Coia, was opened two years later on 23 May 1954. The Church was built by L.K. McKenzie & Partners at a cost of £90,000. Building materials were still short at this time after the war so the original roof was of corrugated asbestos. This was replaced with copper in the early 1960s. The joinery work was carried out by Grants of Glasgow and each pew cost £27. Marble was installed by Toffolo Jackson of Thornliebank.



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Old Photograph Drummuir Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Drummuir Castle near Keith in Moray, Scotland. Drummuir Castle was built in 1847 by Thomas Mackenzie for Admiral Archibald Duff, whose distinguished career included service with Lord Nelson. The Duffs of Drummuir were descended from Duff of Clunybeg who died in 1674; and the Gordons of Park, to which property a Colonel Duff succeeded on the death of his grandmother in 1808. Admiral Archibald Duff died at Braemorriston, near Elgin, on the 9th day of February 1858 aged 84. Francis Jones, widow of Admiral Archibald Duff of Drummuir, died at Braemorriston on 21 December 1861 aged 74.



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

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Old Photograph Village Hall Cray Scotland

Old photograph of the village hall in Croy, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Croy is a former mining community situated 13 miles from Glasgow and 37 miles from Edinburgh on the main railway line between the two cities. The modern settlement of Croy as it appears today was primarily the result of a coal mine being established in the mid 1800s. This attracted a sizable population of Irish immigrants to the area seeking employment and is the reason for the villages strong Roman Catholic origins. On Croy Hill, to the north east of the village, are remnants of the Antonine Wall, built by the Romans between AD 142 and 144, including a fort and two beacon platforms.The fort is not visible on the ground today, but the Antonine Wall ditch is easily identifiable across much of Croy Hill. Croy Hill’s high position offers one of the best views of the surrounding landscape, including the Firth of Forth and hills of Fife to the east, the Kilsyth Hills to the North.



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Old Photograph Tea Room By Loch Lomond Scotland

Old photograph of a Tea Room by Loch Lomond, Scotland. The loch is featured in a well known song which was first published around 1841.
The chorus is:
Oh, ye'll tak the high road, and I'll tak the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.



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Old Photograph Burnside Mills Tillicoultry Scotland

Old photograph of Burnside Mills in Tillicoultry in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. One of the Hillfoots villages on the A91, which runs from Stirling to St Andrews in Fife. The burn, or small river, which runs off the Ochils and down through the glen into west of the village provided an attractive source of water for the early textile industry in Tillicoultry, being used for the washing and dying of wool. During the early 18th century a cloth known as Tillicoultry Serge was manufactured by weaving worsted with linen. By the time of the industrial revolution the burn was a recognised source of power, with the first mill being established in the 1790s. Many more textile mills were built along the burnside, by the 1830s, steam powered mills were introduced and by 1870 there were 12 mills employing over 2000 people. As the industry expanded, more workers were attracted to the village. The population of the parish, which had stood less than 1000 at the turn of the 19th century, had grown to over 4500 by the early 1850s.





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