Family History Fun: An Array of Arches

This week’sSepia Saturday prompt picture shows a street busy with traffic, but my eye was caught by the striking arch above advertising nearby theatres. So take an historical journey through an array of arches down the centuries.

An archway across Carnaby Street in central London. Just off the thoroughfares of Oxford Street and Regent Street, it became in the 1960's the centre of "Swinging London" with its pedestrian area of small boutiques and cafe culture.

The graceful late 18th century bridge spanning the Leader Water links the neighbouring estates of Carolside and Leadervale, neqr Earlston in the Scottish Borders.

"The Statistical Account of Scotland" of 1834 gives us a beautiful description of Carolside.

"Poised on a green plateau beside the River Leader and sheltered by surrounding slopes of its own extensive woodlands, as a sweet and secure asylum from the toils and troubles of the world'."

How could that final phrase not but apply to us today?

A fine row of arches in the gardens of Abbotsford House, Melrose, once the home of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). He was a noted Scottish novelist, poet, historian and collector of Border ballads. His home is now a popular visitor attraction.

The arched bridge at Craigsford , near my home in Earlston built in 1736.

The bridge over the River Tweed marks the boundary between Scotland and England and opened in 1767, built at a cost of £6000 - £725,000 in current values. (www.measuringworth.com). It was paid for by a government grant, local subscriptions and loans from Edinburgh Banks, to be paid back from the bridge tolls.

But Coldstream Bridge Tollhouse at the north end of the bridge, was more than just the location for collecting taxes. For it was akin to Gretna Green towards the west as the location for a Scottish "Irregular Marriage". This was in the form of a verbal declaration by the couple giving their consent before witnesses and did not require a clergyman, but anyone who took on the role for a fee. No notice, such as banns, was required, no parental consent and no residency requirement. Such marriages were valid in Scotland but were increasingly frowned upon and became less and less acceptable.

In the meantime, however, many English couples in particular, eloped to places just across the Border, to escape the stricter English marriage laws and obtain a quick, easy and cheaper marriage.

It was on the bridge that Scottish bard Robert Burns had his first glimpse of England, as marked by a plaque. (Wikipedia)

The Scottish Borders is a region steeped in history with four ruined abbeys built in the 12th century, and in the Middle ages, it saw years of Anglo- Scottish in warfare and border raids. The ruins of castles and towers bear witness to this turbulent period, many with arches a feature of their architecture.

Hermitage Castle, near Hawick century. Built in the 13th century on the Scotish-English Border, it witnessed murder and mayhem. Once a stronghold of the Douglas family, William Douglas imprisoned and starved to death Sir Alexander Ramsey. In 1566 Mary Queen of Scots rode across the moors from Jedburgh to visit James Bothwell,wounded in a raid. Soon after he became her third husband - and set in train the events that led to her execution.

Jeburgh Abbey was one of four Border Abbeys established in the 12th century by King David 1 of Scotland. Lying only 10 miles north of the Border, the abbey was repeatedly sacked by English forces, most notably in 1544 when the Earl of Hertford's army raided the region in what was known as the "Rough Wooing" - an attempt by Henry VIII to enforce the marriage of the young Mary Queen of Scots to his son, the future Edward VI. After the Protestant Reformation in 1560, the monks were allowed to stay, but the abbey was used for a long time as the parish kirk for the reformed religion until a new parish church was built in 1871.

Three miles from my home is Leaderfoot Viaduct spanning the 90 mile long River Tweed near its junction with one of its many tributaries - the Leader Water. The viaduct, built to carry the Berwickshire Railway, stands 116 feet above the river bed and each of its 19 arches has a 43 foot span. The railway bridge opened in 1865 with the last train running over it just a hundred years later. when the line was closed

Hundy Mundy - an 18th century Gothic folly at Mellerstain, near Kelso, built by William Adam, the famous architect who also designed Mellerstain House.

A bridge with family connections - my brother standing in front of the cast iron arched Ironbridge in Shropshire, where our father spent his childhood. It was the first ironbridge built In 1799 and often described as "the birthplace of the English Industrial Revolution. It is now a World Heritage Site. My grandfather walked for 35 minutes each day to cross the bridge to get to his work at the Coalbrookdale Power House.

This photographs comes from my father's album. During the Second World War, he served in the RAF Codes & Ciphers Branch and was seconded to General Bradley’s US 12th Army Group HQ. He was stationed in Luxembourg in winter 1944 prior to the Battle of the Bulge. Dad had fond memories of the city and the people he met there. The Bridge, here built between 1900 and 1903, became an unofficial national symbol, representing Luxembourg's independence and was named after Grand Duke Adolphe who reigned Luxembourg from 1890 until 1905.