Antique Mountaineering Porters Wooden Tea Chest Ice Axe, John Baird Tyson, OBE

Vintage Ice Skate File. An unusual hand held ice skate blade file. The body of this sharpening tool is made of cast iron and painted black, althoug...

Craigmillar Park Golf Club Watercolour, John Blair. An atmospheric original watercolour of Craigmillar Park Golf Links in Edinburgh by the Scottish artist John Blair (1849-1934). Craigmillar Castle from which the club derives its name from is clearly seen in the background and the painting is signed to the lower left corner. Craigmillar Castle was a haunt of Mary Queen of Scots, the world's first recorded lady golfer. How ironic then, that since the golf club's inception equality of the sexes was the rule at Craigmillar Park. John Blair was a Scottish painter, predominantly of watercolour landscapes. Of humble beginnings in Berwickshire, he moved to Edinburgh to study and spent the rest of his life there. His paintings mainly reflect the landscapes around him, both of urban settings and also of the castles, sea and lochs of the Borders. As well as his original work, his paintings were viewed by a wide audience in the form of picture postcards, book endpapers and illustrations. Taken from Craigmillar Park Golf Club website:- Craigmillar Park Golf Club was constituted in 1895 and moved to its present location in 1907. It was extended to 18 holes (designed by James Braid) in 1927. On 12th of January 1895 the Scotsman newspaper carried the following "birth" announcement : "NEW GOLF COURSE IN THE SOUTH SIDE OF EDINBURGH. A nine-hole golf course is being formed at Craigmillar Park and is expected to be ready for play in February. A lease of the ground which extends from Crawfurd Road to Lady Road has been obtained from Captain Gordon Gilmour of Liberton and Craigmillar. The principal entrance will be from Crawfurd Road within three minutes' walk of the Craigmillar Park car terminus and Newington Suburban Station. The course is about a mile in length and has been laid out by Mr. Day of Musselburgh, who has given a very favourable report of the suitability of the ground for the purpose. Already about 150 ladies and gentlemen have been admitted as members of the club." Many, perhaps most, of the new clubs created about the same time as Craigmillar Park were (and some continue) as male preserves. It is clear that from the outset equality of the sexes was the rule at Craigmillar Park, although it was not until 1914 that the subscriptions were equalised. The course was situated in an area of land close to Newington Railway Station and the Newington Bus and Tram Terminus and was thus, easily accessible. In those days there was very little building development between the course and the iconic Craigmillar Castle from which the club derives its name. The castle was a haunt of Mary Queen of Scots, the world's first recorded lady golfer. How ironic then, that since the golf club's inception, ladies have had equal status with men and there was no gender barrier to any office. This was in an age when golf clubs were regarded as male preserves. In 1914, ladies started paying exactly the same subscription as their male counterparts and this has remained right up to the present day. When you consider that all women did not get the vote until 1928, Craigmillar Park Golf Club were indeed trendsetters! Despite the club's early success, with 400 members and a waiting list, they were dealt a blow when their course at Newington was taken over for housing development. They decided, rather than to disband, to relocate the golf course to the eastern slopes of the Blackford Hill in 1907. Once again the close proximity of Blackford Railway Station and Bus Terminus were factors in their decision making. Another factor in choosing Blackford Hill was the potential for increasing the length of the 9 holes that had been played for in the course at Newington and possibly even converting the new course to 18 holes at some future date. This is in fact what happened and James Braid designed a splendid 18 hole course which officially opened in 1927. The new course was a real test of golf with no two holes being the same. The course boasts marvellous views over Edinburgh and Fife and down the coast to the Berwick Law, Bass Rock...

Impressive modern Golf Portrait, William Laidlaw Purves. Large oil on canvas of Dr. William Laidlaw Purves after the original oil painting by the Hon. John Collier (1850 - 1934), a prominent London artist. The painting is un-framed but is stretched and ready to hang, artist of this particular painting is unknown. The original painting now hangs at Royal St. George's, Sandwich. William Laidlaw Purves, oculist and obsessive golfer, was an Edinburgh born surgeon who worked in London, but remembered by most for his contributions to the golfing world. A very influential man, he was one of the key figures behind the spread of the game of golf in England towards the end of the 19th century. He won many important club trophies, the last being in 1914, aged 71 with a handicap of 3. He died at his home Hardwick Cottage, Wimbledon Common on 30th December 1917, and at the time he was a member of no fewer than 32 golf clubs. As a student Purves had played golf at Bruntsfield Links in Edinburgh and by the time of his London appointment he was a member of both the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Upon his move to London in 1874 he joined the London Scottish and Wimbledon Golf Club. The two clubs shortly separated into two separate clubs, The London Scottish Golf Club and the Wimbledon Golf Club, but both continued to play on Wimbledon Common. In 1882 the Wimbledon became the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club and Purves became an active committee member, later being elected Captain. As the two clubs also shared the Common with the public play was restricted, so together with a fellow Scot and keen amateur golfer (Henry Lamb...

Novelty Billiard mantel clock. A rare and very unusual novelty mantel clock, the base being a miniature billiard table. The drum-shaped clock case has a 6 cm porcelain dial fronting...