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 travel Blog photograph of the Robertson family from Carnoustie, Scotland. The town is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast in Angus. It was founded in the late 18th century, and grew rapidly throughout the 19th century due to the growth of the local textile industry. It was popular as a tourist resort from the early Victorian era up to the latter half of the 20th century, due to its seaside location, and is best known for its associations with golf.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of the Devlin family from Dundee, Scotland. The discovery that the dry fibres of jute could be lubricated with whale oil, of which Dundee had a surfeit, following the opening of its gasworks, to allow it to be processed in mechanised mills resulted in the Dundee mills rapidly converting from linen to jute, which sold at a quarter of the price of flax. Interruption of Prussian flax imports during the Crimean War and of cotton during the American Civil War resulted in a period of inflated prosperity for Dundee and the jute industry dominated Dundee throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Unprecedented immigration, notably of Irish workers, led to accelerated urban expansion, and at the height of the industry's success, Dundee supported 62 jute mills, employing some 50,000 workers. Cox Brothers, who owned the massive Camperdown Works in Lochee, were one of the largest jute manufacturers in Europe and employed more than 5,000 workers.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of John Grieve from Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Langholm, also known colloquially as the Muckle Toun, is on the River Esk and the A7 road. The town grew around the textile industry, but is now best known as the birthplace of Hugh MacDiarmid and Thomas Telford, and the ancestral home of Neil Armstrong. A branch of the Carlisle, England, to Hawick railway line to Langholm was completed in 1864, but closed 100 years later. Langholm is the traditional seat of Clan Armstrong.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland Travel video of old photographs of Galashiels, Scottish Borders of Scotland. Robert Burns wrote two poems about Galashiels, " Sae Fair Her Hair " and " Braw Lads ". The latter is sung by the some of the townsfolk each year at the Braw Lads Gathering. Sir Walter Scott built his home, Abbotsford, just across the River Tweed from Galashiels. The Sir Walter Scott Way, a long distance walking path from Moffat to Cockburnspath passes through Galashiels.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph Of Andrew Brown from Denny town located seven miles West Falkirk, Scotland. Formerly in the county of Stirlingshire. It is situated 7 miles west of Falkirk, and 6 miles north east of Cumbernauld, adjacent to both the M80 and M876 motorways. Denny is separated from neighbouring village Dunipace by the River Carron. Until the early 1980s, Denny was a centre for heavy industry, including several iron foundries, brickworks, a coal mine and paper mills. Thomas Bain was born in Denny on December 14, 1834. He was a Canadian parliamentarian. He was the son of Walter Bain, and migrated to Canada with his family when he was three years old. They settled on a bush farm in Wentworth County near Hamilton, Ontario. He was elected to the County Council in the 1860s and became Warden. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1872 federal election as a Liberal. He was re-elected on six subsequent occasions, serving as a Member of Parliament for 28 years before retiring in 1900. In the House, he usually spoke on agricultural issues, and became Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Colonization in 1896. In 1874, he married Helen Weir. When the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, James David Edgar, died unexpectedly in July 1899, Wilfrid Laurier asked Bain to become the new Speaker for the remainder of Egar's term. Bain served as Speaker until the House was dissolved for the 1900 election in which he did not run. After retiring from politics, Bain became President of the Landed Banking and Loan Company and the Malcolm and Souter Furniture Company. He died in Dundas, on January 18, 1915, Ontario at age 80. Carl William Dunn Kirkwood was born on 30 April 1929 in Denny. He was the son of iron jobbing moulder William Kirkwood and his wife Ellen. He completed his schooling in Scotland and then served in the British Army in Malaya and Singapore from 1946 to 1948. He worked as a jobbing moulder, in Australia in 1955. He was soon active both in the Moulders' Union and the Labor Party's Preston branch. In 1970 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the member for Preston. He became spokesman on local government immediately, adding lands from 1976 to 1977 and dropping his front bench role entirely in 1981. Kirkwood retired in 1988. The railway station opened in 1850 on the Caledonian railway branch line from Larbert, and closed to passengers in the 1930’s although it was still used as a freight line until the 1960’s. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
