HOW TO USE THIS WEBSITE
This website is based mainly on places. I cannot claim any authoritative knowledge of them, but have endeavoured to visit them all, to gain some experience and knowledge through that of them. To gain a deeper understanding I have relied extensively on the knowledge of others.
History is a funny thing. The past started yesterday. History is what we select to remember because we append significance and meaning to what happened. Each place has a story that it has led to its form and inevitably to who we are and how we see our world. But each time it is reconsidered, it gets reinterpreted and that history, in hindsight, actually changes.
I have endeavoured, too, to find the most authoritative sources of information for each place. At the each of every entry there are links, almost all online, to sources that can lead you further and deeper in your own quest to find out more.
Please use this website as a tool; a means of delving further. You may be surprised at what you find.
Because this is laid out mainly according to places, descriptions and stories often cover more than one and frequently several. Sometimes a place may be named according to what seems most applicable to the subject, but could also known by other names. Use the SEARCH facility near the top right hand corner to help find what you are looking for.
There is also a built in map at the top right corner, but Google Maps, PastMap, Where'sthePath and others can be even more useful. Almost every place is located using ///what3words. There is more about these, with links, under RESOURCES – MAPS towards the end. They should be a live weblink on your device, but if you have any problem, simply copy - paste them into the website. Ideally you should have the ///what3words map open in birds eye view at the same time as this one. Wherever you come across the three cross reference words, use the live link or copy and paste them into the map and press search. You will be instantly shown the relevant place. ///what3words can be used on a smartphone to identify your own location whether in an emergency or while travelling. It is so much easier than using coordinates from a map and so much more specific than postcodes which are rather generalised. (It may not be entirely as accurate as it claims, but is still accurate enough for our purposes here).
See the website for instructions.
https://what3words.com/products/what3words-app
Quite a few entries include comments and photographs of places that have changed or perhaps are not readily accessible. This is intended to show how our environment is constantly changing. To delve into the past we need clues. These can provide at least some.
If you are enthused to know more, seek out the history or heritage group nearest you. Their details follow in the following sections. There is also something about the Doors Open Day programme which is held in September every alternate year in West Dunbartonshire (and most regions across Scotland annually).
This is an amazing place to live in and to visit.
Don't tell me you have nothing to do today!
