Scratching listeners' historical itches

Got an historical itch to scratch? Then look no further than "Past Lives" for help! Mark Stephen sets out across Scotland to answer listeners' questions about the country's past -- from Wick to Dumfries and Vikings to Mods, his curiosity knows no bounds. In the first programme of the new series, Mark takes a dip in Stonehaven's open-air Art Deco heated saltwater swimming pool. Other stories cover Glasgow's Mod scene, the death of 37 Irish Navvies working on the Glasgow to Carlisle railway in the 1840s, and the identification of Catholic graves created during the years of the Penal Laws.

Reporter Kirsty Williams heard tales of Glasgow’s Mod scene and is really keen to find a genuine Parka jacket to go on display at Glasgow’s new Transport Museum. Perhaps you tucked yours away in the attic and it’s still there? We’d love to help you pass it on to the museum.

Andy Nelson asked Mark to help uncover the truth behind the death of 37 Irish Navvies working on the Glasgow to Carlisle railway. Andy came across a graveyard for the men which had been consecrated in 1847. Local archaeologist Tam Ward and "Past Lives" history doctor Louise Yeoman were on hand to help him out. Mark went off to Whitrope near Hawick to meet Len Ashton who runs the Waverley Heritage Association and who’s studied the lives of navvies working on the Waverley line. And the answer? Our conclusion was that the men had such poor living conditions and were doing such incredibly hard work that they probably died from a combination of malnutrition, disease and sheer exhaustion. If you know more, do please get in touch.

Mark headed up the road to Aberdeen to the tiny Snows Kirkyard, tucked away behind one of the University’s Halls of Residence. He met up with Andrew Nicholl, Archivist of the Scottish Catholic Archives in Edinburgh, to answer Gerry Robertson’s question about how to identify Catholic graves created during the years of the Penal Laws.