looking for MAGGIE GRANT, Bridge of Brown

[MonicaL]

Found Maggie's death (thanks to the Sunday Mail contribution on SP units!) - I'll PM you.

Regards.

Monica

[prophetess]

Well Done Monica.
Just had some Brill info from the boards on some of my side lines, feels fantastic when someone finds something good for you but feel just as good when you help someone and find what they are looking for
Sybil

[Forfarian]

So is the Bridge of Brown and the Bridge of Avon the same bridge? 

No, they are two different bridges.

Bridge of Avon is on the A95 at Ballindalloch, National Grid reference NJ183357; Bridge of Brown is on the A939 between Grantown-on-Spey and Tomintoul, National Grid reference NJ124205.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ1835 has a couple of photos of Bridge of Avon, and http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ1220 shows Bridge of Brown.

[JustJean]

So is the Bridge of Brown and the Bridge of Avon the same bridge? 

No, they are two different bridges.

Bridge of Avon is on the A95 at Ballindalloch, National Grid reference NJ183357; Bridge of Brown is on the A939 between Grantown-on-Spey and Tomintoul, National Grid reference NJ124205.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ1835 has a couple of photos of Bridge of Avon, and http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ1220 shows Bridge of Brown.

Wow Falkryn.....awesome photies.....thanks for the geography lesson!!!  I always forget about that website but got it clearly "favoritized" now!!

Best wishes
Jean

[Forfarian]

I notice that one or two people have spoken about looking in a gazetteer and not finding places they are interested in. In other threads people report failing to find places in road atlases.

Can I suggest that you are far more likely to find small places like individual farms on sites with gazetteers linked to detailed maps, which should be the first port of call when looking for a place.

These sites include the Ordnance Survey Get-a-Map http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/getamap/
and www.streetmap.co.uk and http://uk8.multimap.com/map/places.cgi

All of these will locate both Bridge of Avon and Bridge of Brown.

Being contemporary maps, they don't work for places no longer in existence, but if you know which parish the place was in, you can often find it in http://www.old-maps.co.uk/.  However there isn't a complete gazetteer of all names recorded on these maps, so a search may involve a lot of scrolling.

If you are in luck, someone may have located and photographed a derelict place, or the site of a vanished one, and submitted the photo to www.geograph.org.uk, so that's always worth a try.

If all these methods fail, there are other means, but they'd take too long to describe here. Best just to ask.

Oh, and remember that spelling is not fixed, and place names may be a little different now and in historical records. For example, I've seen Cooperhill/Couperhill/Cowperhill, all versions either with or without an 's' on the end, referring to the same place near Forres.

[JustJean]

  Just realized I addressed my last post to the wrong poster ....Forfarian  I"m so sorry!

Thanks again!!

Best wishes
Jean

[Forfarian]

Not to worry, it's the thought that counts!

[Jackson_search]

A correction of note..... the tea room I had referred to earlier is not the correct place.  The location I meant was the cottage immediately adjacent to the bridge.  It was used as a gift shop at one time a few years ago, but apparently not anymore.  I had a closer look at the reference pictures.  John Myers tea room might be the next house up the road but the building construction differences between the tea room and the cottage should have alerted me earlier.
Thank you to all who have offered assistance.  Our biannual family reunion is in two days and I look forward to presenting everything you've helped me find.

[esKirrie]

May I add a little to the answers to your query.
Fostering children was quite a common occupation in the area. Quite how it was done I'm not sure though there are people still living around Tomintoul who were fostered and who married and stayed on. During the war a number of children were also evacuated there.
The cottage which was the Post Office was indeed close by the bridge. The cafe is/was half-way up the hill and above it is the old schoolhouse. It is not an easy stretch of road to negotiate in winter because of the gradient and the bends and it is best to stay in low gear and take it easy. There were originally quite a number of other cottages around the Bridge of Brown (Brig o"Broun). John Brown is supposed to have dismounted to help Queen Victoria to cross. (cf her Highland diary)
The designation "Bridge of Avon" can cause problems. If you are using the Kirkmichael census then this refers to the old Wade bridge (now with a new bridge built beside it that was opened by Prince Charles) below a farm called Urlarmore on one side of the river and Kilnadrochit lodge on the other side. There are two cottages one on either side of the old approach to the bridge from Tomintoul but there were once other cottages below Kilnadrochit lodge that were washed away in the great Moray floods.
If you are using the Inveravon census then the Bridge of Avon refers to the lower bridge over the river. Avon is pronounced A-an locally which may also cause some confusion. The Brig o Broun is worth a visit. The river has made a fine narrow gorge that is worth stopping to look at. It's a great part of the country that people simply pass through without realising how much there is to explore.
Hope this helps.