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 South Colinton located South West of the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally sited within a steep sided glen on a convenient fording point on the Water of Leith, and expanding from there, Colinton's history dates back to before the 11th century. Robert Louis Stevenson spent the summers of his childhood at the manse in Colinton when his grandfather was the village's Parish Minister; the philanthropist James Gillespie; and architects Sir Robert Rowand Anderson and John James Burnet, all lived in the village.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of shops, vintage cars and people in Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland. Eighteenth century Dalmellington was a small rural village with some 500 inhabitants, but the modern way of life was already taking shape. Good quality coal was being produced from surface workings and sent down the turnpike road to Galloway. The town grew after Watt`s engine had made deeper mine workings feasible, and the completion of the railway in 1858. Apart from the coal mining, there were 8,000 sheep and 800 black cattle on the hills, and plans were afoot for the spinning and weaving of wool. These plans resulted in two woollen mills which flourished for a time in the following century. The two mills employed about 30 people between them. The yarn from the largest was disposed of wholly to the Kilmarnock carpet manufacturers until the proprietor of the mill added a carpet factory with eight looms constantly at work. The yarn spun in the second mill was also manufactured on the spot, into blankets, into plaid, packing cloth. There were also about 40 weavers working from home. Although by the 20th Century mining was the dominant industry, workers had to travel to outlying areas. Eight pits producing around 124,000 tons a year were operating in the 1940s. 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.
Old travel Blog photograph of a classroom and dining hall at Belmont Camp, Meigle, Perthshire, Scotland. In 1939 the Camps Act was passed. This set aside money for the construction of around 25 Centres in England and Wales and a further 5 in Scotland. This was a Department of Health initiative and the intention was that young people from the cities would spend some months at these Centres, eating well and enjoying the fresh, uncontaminated country air. Building work began immediately using high quality Canadian cedar wood and construction of the Centres in Scotland was entrusted to the Scottish Special Housing Association. The 5 Centres constructed were Belmont Centre at Meigle, Broomlee at West Linton, Dounans Outdoor Camp at Aberfoyle, Glengonnar at Abington and Middleton at Gorebridge. Each of the 5 had a capacity of around 250 young people plus other accommodation for staff and teachers.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of a horse and cart, people and houses on Brae Street in Methil, Fife, Scotland. During the first half of the 20th century Methil prospered as never before. But, as had happened over a century earlier, boom time was shortly followed by bust. The 1950s and 1960s saw a dramatic drop in the output of the Fife coal fields, and one by one the pits began to close. The whole town suffered. Many other industries, like the docks, engineering and transport relied heavily on coal, and collapsed. Unemployment levels shot up, the once busy shops began to close and many of the buildings fell into disrepair. Brae is a Scots word for a hill.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of the Peebles Brothers Shop on the High Street in Monifieth, by Dundee, Scotland. Monifieth remained a small village, comprising a number of turf huts until the early 19th century. In the eighteenth century, the economy of the parish was mainly dependent on agriculture. Other industries included quarrying and weaving within the home. During the 19th century, the village gradually expanded following the introduction of larger scale industries to the area, including manufacture of machinery for flax mills in 1811. James Low and Robert Fairweather had set up their foundry in the village at the start of the nineteenth century and in 1815 developed the first carding machine for flax tow in the area. With the growth of the textile industry in Dundee and Angus the business grew rapidly, and, by the late nineteenth century, James F Low & Co Ltd was producing a wide range of machines used for the processing and spinning of jute, flax and similar fibres. As well as building machinery for local use, the firm attracted orders from across the world and by the 1880s the Monifieth Foundry employed about 300 workers.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
