‘Biker gang’ photograph sparks information appeal

Victorian images include one of group believed to be taken in Perthshire

A Victorian “biker gang” has left experts scratching their heads after a photograph turned up in a national archive.

The group of 15 men were photographed somewhere in Perthshire, believed to be Stanley, at the turn of the 20th Century.

The image came to light as Historic Environment Scotland (HES) began cataloguing 1.2 million items in the Canmore database, which stores historic photographs, drawings, manuscripts and digital archives relating to life in Scotland.

However, many of the photographs and drawings remain unidentified and HES is appealing to the public to help fill in the gaps.

The photograph showing the “bikers” comes from an album known as the “Stanley album”, originally brought into the archive in 1980 but which was recently unearthed when researchers were looking through unidentified images.

Along with the picture of the cyclists, there are family portraits and a curling team.

Head of archives and engagement, Lesley Ferguson, said: “We have begun curating a gallery of images and drawings on which we hold very little or no solid information.

“Our aim is that the great Scottish public will recognise the location of these buildings to help us enhance our record.

“This image in particular comes from a collection of photos we think are in Stanley in Perthshire. However, we really need people to get in contact and tell us more.

“We’d love to see images of these buildings as they are today so we can see how they have changed.

“HES Archives is constantly increasing the amount of digital images available to make these collections as accessible to the public as possible.

“We want people to visit Canmore.org and have fun searching. It’s amazing to see not only the changes to the bricks and mortar but the very fabric of Scottish culture.”

The mystery Stanley images can be found in a special gallery.

Anyone who can help can email archives@hes.scot, tweet @HisEnvScot or visit the Historic Environment Scotland Facebook page.