Old Travel Blog Photograph Policeman Marine Parade Road Millport Island of Cumbrae Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph a Policeman a horse and rider and houses on Marine Parade Road in Millport on the Island of Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde on the coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. During the development of the River Clyde as a main thoroughfare for goods, shipbuilding and smuggling, Millport was a strategic base for Customs and Excise. Several of the streets in Millport are named after crew members of the Revenue cutter Royal George. The Victorian era was a period of rapid growth, both in terms of population, governance, amenities and property. To the west and east of the old harbour, many fine Victorian and Edwardian villas were built, along with new tenements. These still form the backbone of the housing stock. Millport, along with Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, is famous with generations of daytrippers from Glasgow as one of the resorts visited going doon the watter, down the water, meaning taking a trip aboard a River Clyde paddle steamer. Millport has an 18 hole golf course, with views over the Arran hills and the Firth of Clyde. 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.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Old Travel Blog Photograph Scottish Horse Regiment Pitlochry Perthshire Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Scottish Horse Regiment in Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland. The Scottish Horse was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Territorial Army from 1902 to 1956 when it was amalgamated with The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry. It carries the traditions and battle honours of The Scottish Horse raised in South Africa in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War. The regiment saw heavy fighting in both the Great War as the 13th Battalion of The Black Watch and in World War II as part of The Royal Artillery.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Old Travel Blog Photograph Waterfall Glenturret Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a waterfall on the Turret Burn in Glenturret located three miles North West of Crieff in Perthshire, Scotland. Glenturret Wisky Distillery is hidden in this valley and its secluded location may have contributed to its early history as the site of several illicit bothy stills. The distillery was officially established in 1775, but the distillery had previously been under the control of illicit distillers, who sought to avoid paying taxes to England, since 1717. This early history has led to claims that Glenturret is the oldest distillery in Scotland. The distillery was originally known as “ Hosh ” and was originally owned by the Drummond family. It was taken over by John McCallum in 1845 till 1875 when Thomas Stewart took it over and renamed it Glenturret in its centenary year. The First World War saw the closure of the distillery, but following the war it reopened again under the Mitchell Brothers until 1921 when the great depression and prohibition in America saw it closed again. The buildings during this period were kept as storage by the Murrays of Ochtertyre. It did not reopen again to production till 1957 when it was revitalised by James Fairlie. Fairlie was a whisky enthusiast and his intention was to create a malt whisky created in traditional fashion and to preserve the craft of distilling. The distillery was bought by Cointreau in 1981 and from there passed to Highland Distillers in 1990. Burn is a Scots word for small river or stream.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Tour Scotland Travel Blog Photograph Of The Italian Chapel Orkney Islands

Tour Scotland travel Blog photograph of the Italian Chapel, Orkney Islands, Scotland. 550 Italian prisoners of war, captured in North Africa during World War II, were brought to Orkney in 1942. They constructed the Churchill Barriers, four causeways created to block access to Scapa Flow. 200 of those prisoners were based at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm. In 1943, Major T P Buckland, Camp 60's new commandant, and Father Giacobazzi, the Camp's priest, agreed that a place of worship was required. The chapel was constructed from limited materials by the prisoners. Two Nissen huts were joined end-to-end. The corrugated interior was then covered with plasterboard and the altar and altar rail were constructed from concrete left over from work on the barriers. Most of the interior decoration was done by Domenico Chiocchetti, a POW from Moena. He painted the sanctuary end of the chapel and fellow-prisoners decorated the entire interior. They created a front facade out of concrete, concealing the shape of the hut and making the building look like a church. Chiocchetti remained on the island to finish the chapel, even when his fellow prisoners were released shortly before the end of the war.



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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Old Travel Blog Photograph Road To Scotlandwell Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the road to Scotlandwell, Perthshire, Scotland. This Scottish village is one of the great historic sites of old Kinross-shire. Named Fons Scotiae by the Romans who passed this way nearly 2,000 years ago, the curative waters that bubble up through the sandy ground were used by Red Friars who maintained a hospital in the village between 1250 and 1587. Thousands of pilgrims came to Scotlandwell to take the water, the most famous perhaps being King Robert the Bruce who is alleged to have found a cure for leprosy here.




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

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.