Edinburgh castle

Think these pictures speak for themselves

Edinburgh castle as seen from Princes Street Gardens

Robert The Bruce statue, situated at the castle entrance

The stained glass in the great hall

Edinburgh castle with nor loch in foreground, around 1780

Coal mines

The late 18th century was the start of deep coal mining in the UK, with rapid expansion across the Uk. Northumberland and Durham were the biggest coal producers with their pits being a huge 300 ft deep.

Small groups of miners were working part time using shovels and other equipment to remove the coal, before the 1800s coal was left around the pillars to support the mine. This meant a huge amount of coal was left to prevent cave ins. Wood props were introduced to support the roof, the most important part of safety was the control of fresh air and explosive gases.

Old buildings

With the weather getting colder and the light getting shorter I managed to get take these to pictures when taking a drive. My plan at first was to take a look about for old derelict buildings, this is when I came across this building with a strange looking tree in front of it. Have a look and see what you think.

The Great Escape

The Great Escape had to of been one of the most audacious stunts to this day, 200 crew men attempting to escape Stalag Lult III ( a German prison camp) back in March 1944. The escape had involved many months of careful planning, this included digging the 330 foot in length tunnel for the escape. Wing commander Rees was one of the sole tunnellers who prepared the tunnel for the great escape. After the escape of 76 men, he proceeded to escape himself. But to his horror the tunnel was found.

For the tunnel to be successful and be undetected it had to be constructed roughly 9 metres under ground. The tunnel itself was very small, about 2 feet wide.
Larger areas were dug to house the air pumps for ventilation, workshop and staging post. The ventilation was designed using klim tins, hockey sticks and knapsacks. Each wall had been kept up with wood salvaged from the yard.

The biggest source for wood was from their beds, believe it or not. Tin milk cans supplied by the Red Cross were transformed into candle holders and shovels for scoping away the soil in the tunnel, the candles were made by skimming the fat from soup served in the prison camp, wicks made from old clothing. Very useful that would have been.

Electric lights were installed and fitted using the camps electric grid, small rails were installed so they could transport sand and materials more quickly. Most of these operations were used in old mining operations. There method for dumping sand was an old sock in their trousers, this meant the prisoner could walk about disposing of the sand.

Later on it got too dangerous to dump sand, so they started to dispose of it in their store room where they stored passports, compasses and maps for the escape. Not to forget the German and civilian uniforms.

With the tunnel complete they waited for a moonless night in March 1944, a night so they could escape under the cover of darkness. The escape began only to reveal a flaw, the tunnel was too short, It didn’t reach the forest as first planned. Although they weren’t discovered till the 77th man, when he was seen by a guard.

Following the escape the German guards found out how daring and extensive the escape was.

4000 bed board were missing
Disappearance of 90 beds
52 tables
34 chairs
1700 blankets
1400 Kilm cans

Oliver Cromwell

Born April 25th 1599 in Huntingdon, Oliver Cromwell was the son of Robert Cromwell. Robert Cromwell was the younger son of a knight, this meant he had little property and explains why Cromwell lived in poverty. His father was not yet a nobleman of wealth. Cromwell later married Elizabeth Bourchier.

Cromwell was made to make ends meet from the little he was given after his fathers death. He moved to St Ives in 1630 after the collapse of his business, things did pick up when his mothers brother died in 1637. He inherited some income and property.

Oliver Cromwell had the chance to socialise with powerful figures of court, due to his grandfather who lived a stately lifestyle. Cromwell made contact with London merchants and important figures through Sir James Bourchier.

Later Cromwell joined the parliament as the representative for his hometown of Huntingdon, he attended parliament of 1628-1629. He was the poorest MP and was so hyped up because of this status that he hardly made any contribution to the parliament. Mentioning this, Cromwell returned as the MP for Cambridge in 1640. He had a lot to say against royal policies and the Anglican Church. He wanted to increase the power of the parliament and he later called for parliament sessions to be held each year and to be able to decide whom the army generals would be.

The fighting started in 1642 when Cromwell was a minor cavalry commander. With Cromwell’s leadership qualities becoming stronger he became a Lieutenant general.

1645 brought all the parliamentary parties together, they couldn’t agree on who should lead the new army. Cromwell became temporary commander for 40 days, until 1647 brought full appointment of leader to the army. Meanwhile Cromwell was involved in some of the most important battles of the English civil war, this included his horsemen fighting at Marton Moor and Naseby.

Cromwell severely reprimanded other leaders who negotiated settlements with king Charles. In 1647 he was tested when Charles put a Scottish rising forward. He felt betrayed after he had defeated royal allies from Preston and Yorkshire. After Cromwell’s trial it was suggested Charles step aside to make way for one of this sons. Charles refused making Cromwell a very strong-minded speaker.

Charles later died, with people rebelling in favour of a new king. Charles II appeared in Ireland and Scotland, something Cromwell didn’t like. So Cromwell’s first port of call was to defeat Ireland, his reputation changed as Cromwell defeated Scotland. Charles II was defeated 1651 at the battle of Worcester.

With Cromwell growing sick and tired of the arguing and lack of reforming, he tried his luck with religious leaders as he was trying to push forward a blueprint for a Commonwealth. This didn’t go through because the other parties didn’t want to reform and work together.

Exasperation made Cromwell become Lord Protector, with Cromwell’s resistance Charles wasn’t to be made king, as Cromwell’s rule was with rigid social and religious laws.

Cromwell died on September 3 1658

Huntly Castle

Here stands Huntly castle, built where the Rivers Deveron and Bogie meet. Built in the late 12th century by Duncan, earl of Fife.

The first structure was wooden and built on a mound, in 1314 the castle changed hand and it was given to Sir Adam Gordon of Huntly. The handover was a forfeit due to breach of loyalties to the crown, it wasn’t until the early 15th century when the first stone tower was built. This was to replace the wooden structure burnt in 1452 by the Black Douglas family, while this was being repaired they constructed a palace on the south side.

By the 16th century, the 4th earl of Huntly, George Gordon, became one of the wealthiest men in the north east of Scotland.

Marie of Guise visited the castle in 1556. Marie of Guise was so impressed by the work on the castle, she felt he needed tamed to prevent threat. Later in 1562 at the battle of Corrichie, he lost the battle to Mary Queen of Scots. His castle was looted and further damage inflicted in 1594 when James VI blew up the old tower house

In 1597 earl the 6th was rewarded the title of Marques of Huntly, his aim was to rebuild the castle to make it fit for living.

Old farm tools

When I was out taking pictures last week with the digital camera, I came across this old looking piece of farm equipment, my first thought was?, it’s a plough and was pulled by cattle or horses years ago.

It’s very interesting to see things of the past still going about, these days you expect it just to rout, but the owner of this seems to of kept it well looked after and maintained.