Tour Scotland Video Jimmy Shand Sculpture Auchtermuchty

Tour Scotland travel video of the Jimmy Shand statue in Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland. Jimmy Shand, born 28 January 1908, died 23 December 2000, was a Scottish musician who played traditional Scottish dance music on the accordion. Jimmy was born in East Wemyss in Fife, son of a farm ploughman turned miner and one of nine children. The family soon moved to the burgh of Auchtermuchty. Craig Reid and Charlie Reid better known as The Proclaimers, were born in Leith on 5 March 1962, and grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall, England, and Auchtermuchty. When they lived in Auchtermuchty they attended Bell Baxter High School in Cupar. Jimmy was the most famous band leader in Scotland of recent times and will have an enduring reputation as an acclaimed button-key accordionist, composer and ambassador of Scottish music and dance. A larger than life sculpture of the great man is located in Upper Greens, Auchtermuchty, Fife. Since the unveiling, the statue has been visited by many of his fans from all parts of the world.

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Old Travel Blog Photograph Golf Links And Marine Hotel North Berwick Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the golf links and Marine Hotel in North Berwick, Scotland. Golf has been played over the historic links golf course since the 17th century. North Berwick is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles north east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the nineteenth century because of its two beaches and sandy bays, the East, or Milsey, Bay and the West Bay, and continues to attract holidaymakers. Golf courses at the ends of each bay are open to visitors.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Man Fishing Harbour Girvan Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a man fishing by the harbour at Girvan in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The old town of Girvan stood on the left bank of the Girvan Water where its lowermost reach curves from South and straightens out westwards to finish its course to the sea. It was the seaward part of this reach that formed the original harbour. In 1794, while it was still unimproved, the harbour was considered reasonable, as its entrance gave from 9 feet to 11 feet of water at high tides and vessels were able to get out in all moderate winds. Profits accruing from a glut of herrings which occurred in the 1760s, as well as from the contraband trade, had resulted in the growth of what had previously been a very small town. By 1837 a quay on a very limited scale¿ was constructed, which improved conditions for the trade in coal and grain, and further improvement was contemplated. Further improvement was recorded in 1847. The harbour could accommodate vessels up to 10 feet draught, and Girvan ranked as a large fishing station, supporting 34 boats and 90 men.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Lyle Road Greenock Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Lyle Road in Greenock near Glasgow, Scotland. Named after Abram Lyle of the Tate and Lyle sugar company, who was Provost of Greenock when the road was built in 1878. Abram was born on 14 December 1820 in Greenock, and at twelve years old became an apprentice in a lawyer's office. He then joined his father's cooperage businesses and in partnership with a friend, John Kerr, developed a shipping business, making the Lyle fleet one of the largest in Greenock. The area was heavily involved in the sugar trade with the West Indies, and his business included transporting sugar. Together with four partners he purchased the Glebe Sugar Refinery in 1865, and so added sugar refining to his other business interests. When John Kerr, the principal partner, died in 1872, Lyle sold his shares and began the search for a site for a new refinery. Together with his three sons he bought two wharves at Plaistow in East London in 1881 to construct a refinery for producing Golden Syrup. The site happened to be around 1.5 miles from the sugar refinery of his rival, Henry Tate. The sugar refiners Abram Lyle & Sons soon merged with the company of his rival Henry Tate to become Tate & Lyle in 1921. Sugar refineries belonging to Tate & Lyle continued as a major industry in Greenock until the 1980s, then declining sugar consumption and a shift away from cane sugar led to closure of the last refinery in 1997. There is still a warehouse that was used in the past to store sugar in the town's Ocean Terminal. Abram Lyle was Provost of Greenock from 1876 to 1879. An elder of St Michael's Presbyterian Church in Greenock. He was a pious man and a strict teetotaller, who once declared that he would " rather see a son of his carried home dead than drunk. " Abram Lyle was the son of Abram Lyle and Mary Campbell. He married Mary Park, daughter of William Park, on 14 December 1846 and the couple had five sons and one daughter. He died on 30 April 1891 and has a large memorial in Greenock Cemetery. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Charabanc Edinburgh Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a Southern Circular Tourist Route Charabanc near the castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. A charabanc, often pronounced " sharra-bang " in colloquial British English, is a type of early motor coach, usually open topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "benched seats arranged in rows, looking forward, commonly used for large parties, whether as public conveyances or for excursions. It was especially popular for sight seeing or " works outings " to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year. The name derives from the French char à bancs, " carriage with wooden benches ", the vehicle having originated in France in the early 19th century.



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

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