4thGordons Posted 1 October , 2013 Share Posted 1 October , 2013 John / Richard (all!) I just picked up an interesting oddity - the well known photo of the Gordons parading in Beverley crescent (which has been featured here and is on Richards Bedford Highlander Blog) but this time as a stereoview. There is no indication of the manufacturer/printer or if there are others in the series - the back is plain black with no detail. Are you aware of other stereoview photos of Bedford during this time or is this perhaps a one -off? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 15 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 15 October , 2013 Hi Chris. I have a few stereo views by a George Geary from around this time, nice! Edit In actual fact the picture I posted some years ago is a stereo card ( I cropped it to a single view) it is Geary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Watt Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 Very interesting indeed, not least for the posters on the wall in the background of the last post. Incidentally, does anyone happen to have a list of the Blake and Edgar photos - they all seem to be numbered and while I have seen a fair few, would love to know what I am missing!! All the best Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 17 October , 2013 Share Posted 17 October , 2013 Wow that last Gordons one is GREAT! I have not seen that before. Any chance of identifying the battalion on the original? My great-grandfather (avatar) met my great grandmother (who was from Bromham) so obvious interest! Thanks for posting. Thanks also for the stereocard information. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 27 December , 2013 Share Posted 27 December , 2013 Hi all, Just catching up on things after several months absence! Good to see that this thread is still alive and kicking after all these years. Some great images recently added, I see. Patrick asked whether it would be possible to get a definitive list of Blake and Edgar images of the Highlanders in Bedford given that most of their photos are numbered. I asked the same question several years ago(!) and have come to the conclusion in the intervening time that it's probably next to impossible to know just how many images B&E captured of the Highlanders. B&E's numbering system seems to increasingly enigmatic the further one gets into to the period of the Division's time in town! I'm hoping to get the book finished (at last!) in time to coincide with the Highlanders' arrival in Bedford. Watch this space! Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 27 December , 2013 Share Posted 27 December , 2013 Here is a view of Prebend Street Bridge. To Master Thomas Cook. Alford Aberdeenshire F Coy 6th Gordons 11/10/14 From Daddy A minor correction, John, if that's okay? This photo was actually taken on Cauldwell Street railway bridge. The column is heading east and as it comes off the bridge it will arrive at the T-junction with Prebend Street. I seem to remember some time ago you shared a photo of a military funeral procession taken from this spot, or very close to it? The Prebend Street river bridge is about 200 yards north of the junction with Cauldwell Street. The building in the background on the right is part of the Britannia Works, an iron works which was famous for its ploughs and other agricultural machinery. The site was levelled to make way for housing in 2003, although the ornate corner-pillar still stands. The building which can just be made out on the left hand side of the picture is 'The Crown' pub. This stands at the junction of Cauldwell St / Britannia Rd. Bedford County Hospital (as it was then ... now Bedford South Wing Hospital) lies behind the line of trees on the other side of Britannia Road. Beyond the junction, Cauldwell Street becomes Kempston Road. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 27 December , 2013 Share Posted 27 December , 2013 Not sure about this one except it is by Blake and Edgar and is in Bedford Park, looks like ASC, the officer has an arm band of some sort.... Engineers maybe? Looks like a mobile workshop of some sort. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 27 December , 2013 Share Posted 27 December , 2013 No idea where exactly in Bedford but another by Blake and Edgar I think that the RAMC + Band was photographed on, or just off The Embankment in Bedford. I'll try and pinpoint the exact location in the next few days. I reckon the Band, at least, is that of the 3rd Highland RAMC (T) as several of the drummers and fife players (drummers would also play fife and bugle as required) seem to be the same ones who appear in a posed photo of the Band in their formal parade dress (i.e. kilts, sporrans and spats) which I have. Note that the musicians in the photo are in working dress (i.e. no kilts), although the pipers (out of shot) would be kilted. Gordon Highlanders, Bromham Road Bedford Wow! What a picture! These Gordon Highlanders in Bromham Road are seen heading out of town and are just starting to cross the railway bridge which crosses the mainline running up to the north of England from London St Pancras. As the soldiers come off the bridge they will come to the junction with Hurst Grove (leading in to Queens Park) on their left and Beverley Crescent on their right. The Gordons were billeted in Queens Park and Beverley Crescent in the first few weeks following the Division's arrival in town and were subsequently moved closer to the centre of town, being accommodated in the area of Lansdowne Road, Warwick Avenue, Conduit St. etc. Just before the Division left Bedford in May 1915, the 1/6th and 1/7th Black Watch joined its ranks and took billets in Queens Park, Bromham Road and Beverley Crescent. In the far background you see the cross road junction where Bromham Road, Ashburnham Road and Shakespeare Road meet. The substantial houses in the immediate background still stand and like so many of the grand old villas in town are now divided up into apartments / bed sits. I was born at No 5 Beverley Crescent in the early 1960s and could see these houses and the railway bridge from my bedroom window. When I was a small boy the grocer's shop (to which the advertisements are attached in the photo) still stood perched on a platform atop a sturdy structure of wooden stilts dug into the slope of the bridge's embankment. This building was demolished in the late '60s. Photo taken late summer / early autumn 1914 judging by the light and foliage on the trees. Probably late morning / midday given the shadows. There is another body of men formed up outside the houses which suggests they were used as billets. Across the road from these houses is the 'Poets'' area of town with the likes of Chaucer Road, Spencer Road and Cowper Road which were within the Gordon Brigade's billeting area. As they are not in marching order and are wearing their sporrans, perhaps these men are on their way to Church Parade, or an inspection, with the rest of the Brigade over the bridge in Queens Park? John / Richard (all!) I just picked up an interesting oddity - the well known photo of the Gordons parading in Beverley crescent (which has been featured here and is on Richards Bedford Highlander Blog) but this time as a stereoview. There is no indication of the manufacturer/printer or if there are others in the series - the back is plain black with no detail. Are you aware of other stereoview photos of Bedford during this time or is this perhaps a one -off? Chris BeverleyCrescent.jpg The Gordon Highlanders in Beverley Crescent - stereoscope. For many years I've been trying to work out when this photo was taken. I'm wondering if this could be late summer 1914 and that the men belong to the 1/7th, which for the first few weeks of its time in Bedford lived under canvas on Bedford High School playing fields whose main access is from Beverley Crescent. The officer wearing the solar topee is interesting! Given that they're wearing their sporrans and not kilt covers / aprons and are not carrying packs / webbing, maybe the photo was taken as the men march to Church Parade, or inspection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 27 December , 2013 Share Posted 27 December , 2013 Sorry Chris. I have no further info regarding battalion. You can click on it to make it larger but no help really. Here are the Scottish Horse at Cardington These men of the Scottish Horse are posing for the camera on Cardington Green. The bell tower and castellations of St Mary's church can just be discerned in the background. The scene is much the same today and the cottages are still there. To the soldiers' left (out of shot) is the Kings Arms (... now a gastropub) which stands at the T-junction with Bedford Road, Cople Road and Southill Road. The villages of Cople and Southill also provided billets for the Scottish Horse and one of the Division's rifle ranges was established at Cople. 6th ASH parade in an unknown Bedford Street. Postmark 31st December 1914. The men of the 1/6th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were photographed during an inspection at the north end of Russell Park. The houses in the background are on Russell Avenue which marks the northern boundary of Russell Park. These houses have a view across the Park to The Embankment and the river running alongside it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 28 December , 2013 Author Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Hey Richard, good to hear from you, I was happy you corrected the bridge picture, when I was posting I was unsure and rather lazily guessed wrongly without checking. There was a similar view when I started this thread of a funeral in the same location. I need to process all the info that is greatly appreciated. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 28 December , 2013 Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Men of the 1/7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Bushmead Avenue, Bedford. Late summer / early autumn 1914 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 28 December , 2013 Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Men of No3 Section C Company 1/9th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders outside their billet, 23 Goldington Avenue, Bedford. New cardies being proudly modelled! The bare-headed chap with the moustache on the left hand end of the middle row is Charlie Doig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 28 December , 2013 Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Here are men of either 1/6th or 1/7th Black Watch in Coventry Road, Bedford shortly before the Division left the town for France. Coventry Road is within the Queens Park area of town and the Gordons had been billeted here in the early weeks following the Division's arrival in August 1914. The two Black Watch (TF) battalions were sent to Bedford to reinforce the Division in April 1915 just before it went to the Front. Comparison shot of the same place today. I couldn't take the photo from the same position as 1915 because the original driveway has now been turned into a lockup garage! The house with open windows and bright red tiles over the bay window is the one in the centre background of the original photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 28 December , 2013 Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Men of 1/5th Seaforth Highlanders posing outside the rather grandly named Garfield House, in Garfield Street, Bedford. The chap in the hand cart is believed to be one Henry Maclennan (identified by his grand-daughter earlier this year), but there is no clue as to the reason for the celebration. Apparently Henry's wife was mortified when she received a copy of this photo! For those who've long debated the issue of the 'ghillie hat' (i.e. was it a hat in its own right, or simply a cover for the glengarry?) worn by the 1/5th and 1/6th Seaforth during the last month or so of their time in Bedford, I'm able to confirm that this was a canvas cover worn over the top of the glengarry. This is confirmed in a letter written by a member of the 1/5th Seaforth to his mother in early 1915. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 28 December , 2013 Share Posted 28 December , 2013 For comparison with Raster Scanning's previous posting of the photo titled 'RAMC' and my reply, here are the pipes and drums of the 3rd Highland Field Ambulance RAMC (TF). Some of the drummers appear in Raster's photo. Then there's this (albeit that it relates to 1st Highland Field Ambulance RAMC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 28 December , 2013 Author Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Hi Richard I have a copy of that last picture as well ….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 28 December , 2013 Author Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Thanks for your latest pictures, excellent additions to this thread…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 28 December , 2013 Share Posted 28 December , 2013 Hi John, Great to hear from you too. Yes, I remember you sharing the photo of the 3rd Highland Ambulance RAMC pipes and drums in the early days of this thread? Acquired my copy not long afterwards, but have still not managed to find out precisely where the photo was taken. I've been driving around town most of this afternoon trying to pin down the location for your pic of the RAMC marching, but no joy so far. Will carry on the search, as and when! Best, Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 29 December , 2013 Share Posted 29 December , 2013 Here is another I do not think I have posted….. I have that one also! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 29 December , 2013 Share Posted 29 December , 2013 Men of 1/5th Seaforth Highlanders posing outside the rather grandly named Garfield House, in Garfield Street, Bedford. The chap in the hand cart is believed to be one Henry Maclennan (identified by his grand-daughter earlier this year), but there is no clue as to the reason for the celebration. Apparently Henry's wife was mortified when she received a copy of this photo! For those who've long debated the issue of the 'ghillie hat' (i.e. was it a hat in its own right, or simply a cover for the glengarry?) worn by the 1/5th and 1/6th Seaforth during the last month or so of their time in Bedford, I'm able to confirm that this was a canvas cover worn over the top of the glengarry. This is confirmed in a letter written by a member of the 1/5th Seaforth to his mother in early 1915. It's a great shot -- and she would have been even more mortified if he's had his kilt on! I have a similar one of Gordons (with Bottles/Barrel outside a stable) but no indication it is in Bedford. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 29 December , 2013 Share Posted 29 December , 2013 Here are men of either 1/6th or 1/7th Black Watch in Coventry Road, Bedford shortly before the Division left the town for France. Coventry Road is within the Queens Park area of town and the Gordons had been billeted here in the early weeks following the Division's arrival in August 1914. The two Black Watch (TF) battalions were sent to Bedford to reinforce the Division in April 1915 just before it went to the Front. This is interesting -- in that they appear to have SMLEs and 1903 Pattern (as opposed to 1907 Pattern) bayonets. I wonder if they went to France with that combination It's not all that common to see P1903s. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 29 December , 2013 Author Share Posted 29 December , 2013 Well spotted Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 29 December , 2013 Share Posted 29 December , 2013 Here is a picture of the stables at the RE Signals camp Haynes Park Bedfordshire John, Here's one of mine. Same photographer / collector as the written captions seem to be by the same hand, although the scanner's trimmed most of the writing off mine! The caption reads 'The Stables Haynes Park' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 29 December , 2013 Share Posted 29 December , 2013 Haynes Park in the warmer weather! This card is postmarked Bedford 18 July 1915. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgalley Posted 29 December , 2013 Share Posted 29 December , 2013 Photo by Kinghams Studio, Bedford. The men are RAMC(T). Cooks and kitchen orderlies. Not sure of location. Could possibly be Howbury Hall (military hospital in WW1)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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