Tag Archives: photographs

Buchlyvie War Memorial

Buchlyvie lies between the Highlands of Scotland and its more gentler Lowlands.  In years gone by the villagers would been wary of the ‘fowk from the Highlands’ who were known to come down and steal cattle from the local pastures.

Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh are within easy reach, as are the Trossochs and Aberfoyle.  Many inhabitants may commute to work but there are many who stay in the village and keep the services going i.e. The Buchlyvie Inn and the Rob Roy + the cafe, B & B, garage, shop, butchers and hairdresses to name but a few.

Buchlyvie War Memorial C Sklinar 2010

The War Memorial to remember  Buchlyvie men is situated on the edge of the village and sits proud in a small garden at a ‘T’ junction for all passers by to see.  The consists of a contrived rough cut stone set upon a few tiers with a wreath mounted above the names, surmounted by a cross.

So who is mentioned on the memorial ?  Robert Alexander ; Andrew McLaren (MacLaren) ; Willliam McLellan born in Huntingdon, Yorkshire and enlisted in Stirling ; Ronald J McOnie of Buchlyvie, with brown eyes and hair  and served with the Canadian Forces ; Archibald McVicar, son of Niven and Bessie and Alexander McIntyre who died of wounds and rests in one of France’s National Cemeteries.  I’ve only mentioned a few here but follow the link to read more.

Oh! and if you have any more information about these young men, please let me know and I’ll add it the the page.

To read more about Buchlyvie young men who fought and laid down their lives click here

Luss War Memorial

The village of Luss is known to many of us as it was featured in the 1980’s TV Soap ‘Take the High Road’.

Luss 2010 by K M Sklinar

Luss, in early records was known as Clachan Dubh, the dark village due to its mountain setting.  Many of the village cottages were originally built to house workers in the cotton mill and slate quarries of the 18th and 19th centuries.  The homes have now been fully restored and Luss is  now a designated Conservation Village.

I am pleased to say that Luss is now by-passed by the A82 making the village a very nice place on the banks of Loch Lomond.

The War Memorial on School Road is set upon three tiers of stone with a simple cross bearing a sword, surrounded by a low dry stone wall.

Some of the names set in stone are :- Ludvic Colquhoun ; James Colquhoun ; Archibald McBeth and Robert T Hamilton to name just a few.

To see Luss War Memorial click here

Lumphinnan and Shandon War Memorials

A gazeteer entry for Limphanan describes it as follows :-

Lumphanan, a hamlet and a parish in Kincardine O’Neil district, S Aberdeenshire. The hamlet has a station on the Deeside section of the Great North of Scotland railway, 27 miles W by S of Aberdeen; a post and railway telegraph office; a branch of the North of Scotland Bank; an hotel; and fairs on the second Thursday of January, February, March, April, May, September, and December.

The village now has neither a church or a station but does have a golf course, a school and a fine War Memorial.

A Gazeteer entry for 1882 describes Shandon as follows :-

Shandon, “hamlet on north side of Gareloch, 5½ miles north-north-west of Helensburgh, Dumbartonshire. It took its name, signifying ‘old fort,’ from an ancient fortalice, now almost extinct; it has a post office, with money order and telegraph departments, under Helensburgh, and a Free church; and it is near the elegant modern mansions of Shandon Lodge and West Shandon. Pop. 291.

Shandon, however, just a few short miles from Rhu developed alongside similar settlements to form fashionable residential areas for the wealthy Glasgow merchants.  West Shandon House was one of these residences for Robert Napier and housed his vast art collection.  Another residence is Shandon House, built for William Jamieson c1849 and now a Grade B Listed Building .  The house and its grounds overlook Gare Loch – now owned by the MOD  the house has been a school –  a remand home.  But sadly the once grand fittings and plaster work are now in a sad state of decay as Shandon House has lain empty for many years.

The Shandon area is now, since the 1960’s, dominated by the Royal Naval Base at Faslane.

To have a look at the Lumphinnan War Memorial click here

To have a look at the Shandon War Memorial click here

Chantry Chapel, Wakefield – new events

Apart from the Chantry Chapel being one of the venues for the Wakefield Art Walk, which is held on the last Wednesday of alternate months from 5am – 9pm, the Chantry Chapel is a very busy ‘little treasure’.

In March, Kate Taylor, historian, writer and font of knowledge on  subjects including Wakefield and the Chantry Chapel, will be giving a series of FREE talks in the Chantry.

14 March The origins and growth of the Diocese
21 March Reorganisation, reordering and redundant Churches
28 March The changing role and status of women
Tea and Coffee are available and Donations to the Friends fund for maintaining the Chantry Chapel are always welcomed.

The month of May sees another series of FREE talks given by Kate

Mondays 14, 21 and 28 May 10.30am

A course of three talks on the History of the Diocese of Wakefield

In between all this there are a series of Open Days  – 25 April, 30 May, 29 August, 11 September from 11am – 3pm.  Interspersed with a Flower Festival and Cake Stall on July 9th from 10am – 4pm.

Cardross War Memorial

The war memorial at Cardross is a very magnificent tribute to the men from the area, but I get the feeling that the placement could have been better.

Yes, the memorial is roadside for all passers by to see and acknowledge  the  loss of the area but I feel that putting the memorial in a small gardened area or in a park would have given the large memorial more impact – such a large memorial for 8 plaques.    Did Cardross want to ‘out do’ the other villages or where they so proud they wanted the world to know ?

I have seen one picture of the memorial will a row of trees in the background, probably before the buildings were there, which did make the memorial look more ‘cumfy’ in its surroundings and less stark.

But one thing they should be proud of is the fact that a Victoria Cross was awarded to one of their own – one W H Anderson.

Other names on the memorial area :-  Hugh Caldwell ; Malcolm McKillop ;  W Beardmore Stewart and Adam Umpherston, to name a few.

Rhu War Memorial, Argyll & Bute

On a very sunny but chilly late November in 2010 we drove down the coast ending up in Helensburgh, but before we arrived there were a few little places to stop at on the way – Rhu being one of those places.

Rhu, had a population of 1,854 in the census of 2001

The village war memorial sits back from the road and just in front of the parish church and on a sunny day the memorial seems to shine. The memorial and the boundary wall are one of many listed buildings in the village of Rhu, including the Church,   graveyard  sundial and the boundary wall ; Glenarn House, coach house and garden house with the gate piers ;  Torwood Cottage + more.

Some of the names mentioned on the memorial are :-  J Maitland Downie ; William Limmond ; David Girvan ; Robert N K Barge ;  J D Oatts.

To have a look at the memorial transcription click here

Baldernock War Memorial

Just added the finishing touches to Baldernock War Memorial in Dunbartonshire.

We visited on an overcast day but managed to find a gap in the clouds and take the war memorial and a few headstones in the kirkyard.  In fact, I think we found the memorial by sheer fluke and that won’t be the first time that has happened.

It is a nice memorial, set on an island of grass and as it was a late November day there were poppy wreaths and a patch of poppy crosses.  To one side of the memorial is the old kirkyard and the other has a larger cemetery.

It’s funny, most of the time I quickly get out of the car, quickly take the memorial and the names in small sections to ease transcription, and then jump back in the car.  But, sometimes a memorial touches you in some small way, it could be where it is and the view is wonderful, it could be a name on the memorial or it could just be that the memorial feels good, nice and peaceful – Baldernock feels just like that!

Who is mentioned :- William B Tinto, HMS Defence ; Major  C E Higginbotham ; Andrew Douglas MacArthur Anderson of Tullichewan Castle and George Hannah, AIF to name just a few.

To visit Baldernock War Memorial click here

Strathblane War Memorial

As I have said in previous entries I can spot a war memorial at a few thousand paces and my family always make a joke that whenever I go anywhere, there always has to be an ulterior motive i.e. a memorial or a CWGC headstone.

Over the years I have uploaded a lot of transcribed headstone from all over the country including France and Belgium  and have still many, many more to start work on.

So, today I have transcribed Strathblane War Memorial and for the majority of men have given their entry extra information – you know who were their parents, where they lived and were they finally rest or are remembered.

Some of the men include :- John Y Barr who was the son of Prof. Archibald Blair ; Wilfred Blake Moyes the son of Rev. W B Moyes and his wife Clara who was educated at public school and later Oxford and William George Edmonstone the eldest son and heir to Sir Archibald Edmondstone.

There will be a few, well more than a few other memorials being uploaded within the next week or so all from around the Stirlingshire, Dunbartonshire, Fife and Argyll and Angus areas.

Have fun and happy hunting

Digitised Australian Newspapers

Have just found this website and thought you may enjoy having a look around aswell!

So, do you have ancestors in Australia, if you do, have a look.  The date range of the newspapers and magazines starts around 1800 and goes up to the mid – late 1900’s – but there are big gaps. A seperate page lets you see at a glance what the coverage is.

What did my couple of minutes mooching find ? I searched for convict, sorry but the first thing that came to mind and I found this :-

John Horace Hays an habitual criminal who escaped from Yatala labour prison near Adelaide on Wednesday afternoon has so far succeeded in eluding the systematic efforts of the police to recapture him (Northrn Territory Times Tuesday April 15 1930.

And, our Outlands correspondent writes :- Mrs Arthur Turner of Oatlands had received the sad news that her husband, Private Arthur Turner, had died of wounds in France.  Much sympathy is felt for her and the little children (The Mercury, Hobart, Saturday 27 January 1917.

Also, there is mention of Baden Powell in one of the 1900 issues where is in South Africa.

I did searches for a few family names that I know were in Australia and did come up with some interesting information.

But, and most things have a ‘BUT’ don’t they and so does this site, very good as it is.  The niggle is that the information, the pages have been scanned using possibly OCR and as we know if the print is off a little an ‘o’ can become an ‘e’ or an ‘a’ can become an ‘o’ and some letters are left blank.

But, yes there is another one and quite a good one this time – the site gives you the option to edit the text translation, now isn’t that good and makes it easier for people who follow you to find the family or entry they want.

The site is quite easy to work your way round, and probably like me, you will wander.

Well done, Australian Trove, and I look forward to visiting again and finding lots of empty years being filled in.

Who Are You ?

Who are You ? How many times have you looked at a photograph and asked that question ? From my experience I can say 100’s if not 1,000’s.

I’m not a betting person but I will guarantee that you will have gathered, inherited or bought photographs of people, not always related but you have wondered…. Who Are You?

Donald Curtis, probably taken in Africa – the Curtis family new the Riach people from Urquhart and Lhanbryde, Moray.

My mum for instance, she served in the ATS during WW2, being posted to Nottingham and Burntisland just across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh.  During her time in the ATS she collected lots of photographs of young men and women all serving their King & Country.  These wonderful pictures showing happy times during an unhappy period in our history are not only part of my family history but are important socially aswell.

These photographs, all in wonderful black and white, either have no information or simply ‘love Willie’ or ‘regards Joan’. But, who is Willie and who is Joan – mum knew who they were, where the photo was taken and when, so why would she bother to write names, places and dates on her ‘memory’ photograph?

So, what to do with all these photographs of her time in the ATS, her youth in the Urquhart area of Morayshire and her work as a housekeeper to Miss Kynoch in Fochabers, plus photographs of a friends son who was now married, had a son and lived somewhere in Africa, possibly South Africa.

A Gallery, a big gallery, that was the idea, with images scanned and questions posed on each picture.  Then I was given access to a local historians collection of photographs –  two very large shoe boxes to be precise, full of thick cards and some of the backs, beautifully decorated, were more interesting that the actual photograph on the front.  Some of these photographs had names and dates on the reverse.  The photographers studios were worldwide.

How to gather all these photographs in one place that seemed to make sense and make it easy for visitors to search and peruse.  I decided to divide in to areas i.e. Bradford, Leeds, Canada, Morayshire etc.

To view this collection of Who Are You’s visit WhoAreYou and enjoy !