Old Photograph Ayton Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Ayton Castle in the in the former county of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. The original castle, a peel tower, had once been a stronghold of the Home family. This castle was captured by the English in 1497, and the nearby church was the scene of the subsequent negotiation of the treaty of Ayton, signed on 30 September 1497. The tower was replaced by a classical mansion, which burnt down in 1834. In 1851 William Mitchell-Innes commissioned James Gillespie Graham to build a this castle at Ayton in the Scottish Baronial style in red sandstone. Mark Twain visited the castle in 1873 and insisted upon buying the Dining Room fireplace mantel; it is now in the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, America, having been repaired and moved there after a fire that destroyed Twain's Stormfield villa where it had been installed.



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Old Photograph Coronation Celebrations Coldstream Scotland

Old photograph of the Coronation celebrations for the crowning of King George VI in Coldstream, Scottish Borders, Scotland. The coronation of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May 1937 and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date.



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Old Photograph Horse And Cart Duns Scotland

Old photograph of a horse and cart and people in Duns in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. This Scottish town was created a Burgh of Barony in 1490 by King James IV for John and George Hume of Ayton, and the townsfolk were given the right to hold a market every Wednesday, and to hold a week long annual fair between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. Duns suffered badly in cross border raiding and feuding, and was burned to the ground three times within 14 years, in 1544, 1545 and 1558 during the war of the Rough Wooing.



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Old Photograph Blood Rock Kintyre Peninsula Scotland

Old photograph of Blood Rock on the Southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula Argyll, Scotland. The site was once a fort belonging to the Clan MacDonald. Little remains of Dunaverty Castle now known as Blood Rock for the massacre which took place there. The Battle of Dunaverty involved a battle and the siege of Dunaverty Castle in 1647. The events involved the Covenanter Army under the command of General David Leslie on one side and 200 to 300 Highland troops under the command of Archibald Og of Sanda on the other. After the Battle of Rhunahaorine Moss, the remaining royalist army of Alasdair Mac Colla fled to Kinlochkilkerran, where a fleet of birlinns transported many of the troops to Ireland, while others fled to Dunaverty to be transported to Ireland as well as Dunyvaig Castle. About 200–300 men who could not be transported or did not wish to leave Scotland prepared to defend the castle. When the Covenanter Army arrived, they laid siege to the castle and made small raids against the forces inside. Once the attackers had captured the stronghold's water supply, the defenders–by now running out of water–requested a surrender on fair terms. After agreeing to surrender and leaving the castle, the men, women and children were put to the sword at the request of Reverend John Naves and Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll. However, a number of people appear to have survived the massacre, including Flora McCambridge, the infant Ranald MacDonald of Sanda, James Stewart and a MacDougall of Kilmun.



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Old Photograph Carron Iron Works Scotland

Old photograph of Trams filled with workers at Carron Iron Works near Falkirk, Scotland. The Carron Company was an ironworks established in 1759 on the banks of the River Carron. By 1814, the Carron Company was the largest iron works in Europe, employing over 2,000 workers, and it attracted many innovators. William Symington was an engineer for the Carron Company in the early 19th century, and the company made engines for his steamboats, the Experiment and the Charlotte Dundas. John Smeaton was a consultant for the company. Henry Cort experimented on methods to produce malleable iron, anticipating the puddling process. Benjamin Franklin visited the factory, leaving works and is said to have left a design for a stove, Dr Franklin's stove or the Philadelphia stove. The company produced pig iron throughout the 19th century, together with cast-iron products such as balustrades, fire grates, and the Carron bathtub. It ran its own shipping line, and produced munitions in both World Wars. It later became one of several foundries producing pillar boxes and was one of five foundries casting Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's classic Red telephone boxes. In the 1960s, it produced cast-iron rings to line the Tyne Tunnel under the River Tyne from Jarrow to Howdon and the Clyde Tunnel under the River Clyde from Whiteinch to Govan near Glasgow. The company diversified into plastics and stainless steel, but the works went into receivership in 1982.



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