Dumfries Through Time by Allan Devlin and Mary Smith
Local author Mary Smith and photographer Allan Devlin (Main Photo) have often worked together over the years with Allan providing the photos for many of the features Mary has written for Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine. Now, they have teamed up to produce a book, Dumfries Through Time, recently published by Amberley Publishing.
The book’s 180 photographs – 90 old images dating back at least 50 years, some from around 100 years ago, and 90 taken of the same places as they are today – compares how Dumfries used to look with how it looks today. Captions accompanying each pair of photographs give an insight into the changes which have taken place over the years and provide interesting stories about the Queen of the South.
Allan said: “I have been a freelance photographer for 15 years doing work for local and national organisations including the local council, Business Gateway, UWS, as well as local press covering events, social occasions, food, PR and landscape photography. I also write a monthly article on walking in the region Galloway for Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine. Over the years there is not much of Dumfries and Galloway I have not walked and photographed.
“Having stayed in Dumfries for a large part of my life I jumped at the chance to work with Mary who was looking for a photographer to help produce the book. The book was different from my usual work in that the photographs would be a record of Dumfries in 2015 warts and all. Taking photographs for the book gave me a good excuse to explore/photograph all the nooks and crannies of Dumfries something, over the years, which I have always wanted to do.”
Mary Smith said: “I grew up in Dumfries and Galloway. I left and worked abroad in Pakistan and Afghanistan before coming back and those years away really made me appreciate what a fantastic region this is. We have everything here from glorious countryside to explore to a superb range of cultural events to enjoy.
“Dumfries Through Time is very different from my previous books which include Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni, a memoir of my time in Afghanistan and a novel, No More Mulberries, also set in that country. It’s been a great project to work on and fascinating to see the changes which have occurred in Dumfries, although sad to see how many old buildings have been demolished. I think both Allan and I feel the built environment is an important part of the town’s heritage.
“We must have viewed many hundreds of old images of the town and it was often difficult to decide which one to choose for the book. Even more difficult was reducing the amount of fascinating history to keep within the publisher’s word count. I hope the book will make people go out and explore the town and learn more of its history.”
Dumfries Through Time is available on Amazon https://amzn.to/1ijQOnv
Allan Devlin’s website is here: https://allan-devlin.photoshelter.com/
You can find Mary Smith’s other books on her Amazon Author page here: https://amzn.to/1ijQOnv
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