Böcker av James Carron

Join urban explorer and photographer James Carron as he embarks upon a journey of discovery around the abandoned buildings and sites of Fife. Visit the kingdom's lost hospitals and asylums, the remains of once strategically important military installations concealed amid woodland, bleak opencast mine workings, a boarded up hotel and lost mansions and mausoleums, all with a story to tell. Many face an uncertain future but are preserved for posterity through descriptive text illustrated with dozens of striking yet haunting photographs and historical maps, ensuring that whatever fate brings, they will never be forgotten.

When signalman James Tinsley arrived late for work on the morning of May 22, 1915, he could scarcely have imagined that just 16 minutes after taking up his role at Quintinshill Signal Box, on the west coast mainline north of Carlisle, he would be deemed responsible for Britain's worst railway accident. With the local train that he had ridden to work on from nearby Gretna parked on the up mainline outside the signal box, he threw the signals, allowing a train packed with soldiers bound for Gallipoli to proceed south, and an express to thunder north. The troop train collided first with the local train and, just minutes later, the express ploughed into the wreckage. In all 227 people died and 246 were injured. Most of them were soldiers and many perished or were maimed in the ensuing inferno. Tinsley and his colleague George Meakin were blamed and the only explanation Tinsley could offer was that he 'forgot' about the local train. Using contemporary accounts, newspaper reports and official documents from the time to build a detailed picture of events, this book examines the Quintinshill Rail Disaster from the perspective of those caught up in it. It follows Tinsley and Meakin through the judicial process, questioning whether others should have joined them in the dock, and remembering the many who fell at Gretna on their journey to fight for King and country in the Great War.

James McRory Smith lived for over 30 years at Strathchailleach, one of the most remote cottages in the Britain Isles. Standing in the shadow of the squat stone structure, it is hard to imagine a more isolated spot. The building sits alone in a vast tract of empty, featureless terrain to the south of Cape Wrath, in Sutherland. There is no access road, no running water, no electricity and no telephone. Yet James McRory Smith survived here, battered by the elements and devoid of human company. His story is a fascinating account of a man pitting his wits against the wilderness, enduring endless isolation and existing, for a large part, off the land. James' lifestyle belonged to a bygone age, yet he lived it in the 20th century, turning his back on the luxuries and conveniences of the modern world.This revised and updated biography provides readers with an inspiring account of a modern day hermit. It offers a rare insight into an alternative way of life, one that is far removed from the norm. At a time when people are becoming increasingly concerned about consumption and consumerism, and their impact on the environment, James McRory Smith's story demonstrates the practicalities and challenges of the frugal, self-sufficient lifestyle many people dream of. However, this is not intended simply as a social history, is also a true-life story of adventure and survival.Revised and updated 2020.

The Mounth Roads is the collective name given to a network of old rights of way - long established tracks and trails that traverse the Mounth, a broad upland at the eastern end of the Grampian Mountains, in north-east Scotland.Crossing mountains and hills and weaving through glens, they were historically vital links from Aberdeenshire, in the north-east, to Angus and the Mearns, in the south, for marching armies, cattle drovers, shepherds, itinerant farm workers, traders, whisky smugglers, tinkers, and thieves. Most ultimately fell by the wayside in the late 19th century, the ancient byways superseded by modern highways and railways. Now they are the preserve of walkers, backpackers, and mountain bikers.This fully illustrated guide with colour photographs and maps describes walks along 11 of the old Mounth Roads, from the more challenging high-level Monega Pass, Capel Mounth, Mounth Keen, Firmounth, Fungle and Tolmounth - better known as Jock's Road - to the lower, more easterly Stockmounth, Builg Mounth, Cryne Corse, Elsick Mounth and Causey Mounth. All are described in detail and their rich histories revealed.

Welcome to Scotland... Not to the Scotland of glossy tourist brochures, airbrushed landscape photographs, coach parties, visitor centres and woollen mill cafes, but to a nation of secret, treasured places, free of crowds and tartan trappings. Here, we veer off the well-trod tourist trail and wander down backroads and byways to reveal the country's unusual and offbeat attractions, quirky curiosities and hidden gems, secluded and less well-known spots that await discovery. Of the 50 attractions listed in the book, most can be visited at any time of the year, day or night, with no booking required or admission charged. So, whether you want to wish upon an ancient stone, spend the night in a Royal lodge or hermit's bothy, drive an alpine road, climb a manmade hill, spot gnomes all at sea, descend into a pagan canyon or see where oil rigs go to die, pack a bag and enjoy the journey...

The landscape of Scotland is littered with lost communities, most emptied during the notorious Highland Clearances. But there was one abandoned village that dated from much later - the mid-1970s. It was called Pollphail and it was a legacy of the early optimism of the North Sea oil boom.Mired in financial scandal and branded an expensive white elephant, it was for decades, prior to its demolition, an uncomfortable reminder of the cost of failure. It differs from the historic lost villages of the Highlands and Islands, which were forcibly cleared of their residents, in that Pollphail was never occupied. No one ever lived here and there is no evidence to suggest anyone ever even spent a night under its roofs. The only long term occupants were the sheep, rabbits and bats that found their way in after the place was bequeathed to nature and the elements.Located on the southern tip of the Cowal peninsula, on the west coast of Scotland, Pollphail was built at the taxpayers' expense amid the early days of the North Sea oil and gas boom. It was designed to house an army of migrant workers.But the men never came and for over four decades this fully equipped company town lay empty. The reason was close at hand; less than half a mile away, at Portavadie, multi-million pound concrete oil platforms were to have been constructed in a vast man-made lagoon. But a sudden sea change left the venture high and dry. And the whole place was simply abandoned.Fully illustrated with photographs, maps and plans, this history charts the rise and fall of Portavadie and Pollphail from the mid-1970s to the present day, exploring the reason why the project failed so spectacularly and the legacy it left in its wake..

Angus is the historical heartland of Scotland, a county where the past has left an indelible mark on the present. This book features 40 walks, combining exploration of the county's stunning coastline where rocky cliffs and coves reveal swathes of golden sand, with gentle inland trails and more adventurous forays into the celebrated Angus Glens.