The market town of Castle Douglas, beside Carlingwark Loch in the southern Scottish region of Dumfries and Galloway, is relatively new, though the area has been inhabited from prehistoric times and the Romans had a military base close by. In the fourteenth century, Archibald the Grim, the 3rd Earl of Douglas, built Threave Castle nearby. The town came into being thanks to fertiliser found in the loch and wealthy merchant William Douglas, who laid out the present town in 1792. Though his dr...

Dumfries, a market town in south-west Scotland known as the Queen of the South, is the administrative capital of the Dumfries and Galloway region and has a population of almost 32,000. Dumfries has a turbulent and sometimes bloody history with links to the Roman occupation of Britain, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s failed Jacobite uprising, the colonisation of America and imperialism. Most famously Scotland’s bard, Robert Burns, spent his final years in Dumfries with many places in the town havin...

East Kilbride Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the country. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of East Kilbride, the famous streets and the famous faces, and what they meant to the people of this area throughout the 19th and into the 20th Century. Looking beyond the exquisite exterior of these well-kept photos, readers can see the historical context in which they are set, and through the author's factual captions for ever...

Edinburgh Today – the influence of James Craig has proved to one of lasting merit. Look around the city today, and the pure symmetry and balance of his designs adds a timeless elegance to Edinburgh’s Georgian district. This is, in every sense, a city at ease with its history and special appeal. You don’t have to travel far in this city to realize there is one major visual reference in this city, and that’s the superb castle perched high on the hill. Everything tu...

You don’t have to travel far in this city to realize there is one major visual reference in this city, and that’s the superb castle perched high on the hill. Everything tumbles away from this most famous of landmarks. Countless alleyway and steep steps intertwine with tall terraces and imposing public buildings, constructed from rugged grey/green stone.Once through the pleasant parks that form a natural link between the old and new city, you are treated to imposing Georgian streets ...

The unique profile of Edinburgh was born of a marriage between nature's sculpture and man's architecture. The epicentre is Castle Rock - a volcanic plug - which constantly draws the eye from all parts of the city. Sloping down from it is a jagged outline of impossibly high medieval tenements lining the Royal Mile which is punctuated at the foot of the tail of glacial debris by Holyrood Palace. That Edinburgh is beautiful is not in doubt.It is a city blended in to the countryside, with the ...

Gillingham was once an independent and separate borough with its own character and personality, but in 1998 it lost this separate identity when it joined Chatham, Rochester and Strood to become part of the unitary authority of Medway Council. Today, Gillingham's High Street stretches from the railway station to Medway Park. The original settlement of Gillingham stood on the bank of the River Medway where today there is the Strand leisure park. Together with neighbouring Chatham, Gillingham...

Langport is an ancient market town in the heart of the Somerset Levels. Set in a rural landscape of rivers, moors and hills, it owes its historical importance to its strategic position at a crossing point on the River Parrett. The town is encircled by the river on one side and the more populous parish of Huish Episcopi on the other. The medieval Hanging Chapel and the former buildings of Kelways Nurseries illustrate the area's religious and commercial roots. The area's quiet atmosphere bel...

The name Chislehurst literally means a stony place in the woods. These woods are very much apparent today. Chislehurst is surrounded by National Trust woodland, Scadbury Park and the unique central feature of the Chislehurst Commons, which is conserved as open space in perpetuity by Acts of Parliament. The Chislehurst Caves, where many thousands of Londoners sheltered during the Blitz of the Second World War, are also a key tourist attraction. The arrival of the railway in 1865 sparked the...

Edinburgh has long had a proud and distinctive identity as the capital city of Scotland. Throughout its history it has been renowned as a home of science, education, literature and culture, and today the city hosts the world-famous Edinburgh Festival every year. It’s the home of the Scottish Parliament and is a leading financial centre. Its beautiful architectural heritage, with the medieval Old Town alongside the elegant Georgian New Town, is matched by its remarkable natural setting, wit...

London Then and Now – People and Places takes an amazing cross-section of vintage photographs of London from the 1850s through to the 1960s, and pairs them up with the same view as it looks today. The great tourist destinations are all included: Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Houses of Parliament, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, the British Museum, St. Pauls Cathedral and Hyde Park, along with classic London pubs, famous theatres, the grand stations, and Carnaby S...

Inverkeithing was created a royal burgh in the twelfth century owing to its importance as a port and its strategic position on the King's Highway linking north and south. This strategic position owed much to its proximity to its wee neighbour of North Queensferry at the northern end of the Queensferry Passage. From the time of Queen Margaret the Queensferry Passage, now replaced by rail and road bridges, has been a vital artery of traffic.Inverkeithing, now bereft of other former industrie...