A British thing.

From the 'Battle of Flodden' the Hume had cried 'Home Home!'

👉🏾 Y HOME HOME Y 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 S

SOLAVOX SR2220, (and AMSTRAD Ex.222). Single rail powered of 1960s build in the year 1979. G.o. style power iron screened off to reduce considerable hum, capacitor decoupled speaker output (like QUAD 303), separate boards, wiring and point-to-point soldering.

British-styled chassis-cooled output transistors. Sound Quality: strange, similar to a lightweight rack type amplifier, but shining, sunny musicality, sample G.o. transformer had a lot of early life mechanical noise suggesting early failure but sets have lasted a long time with frequent use and are much appreciated by original owners. Very good indeed with Loudness and the market-engineered matching speakers (Solavox PR.25) and phonograph cartridge ADC QLM30 Mk.III (used with Garrard SP 25 Mk.IV but) featured with special AMSTRAD skeleton turntable TP12D.

Left, Solavox PR25 (upmarket AMSTRAD EX-250) for the SOLAVOX SR2220 receiver above. Use only these speakers and not any aftermarket or higher status models.
These TAMON of Japan made speaker drivers (imported by Monitor Audio in Essex) are as good as you'll get and were really middle-class, fitted in outsourced cabinets assembled at Southend-On-Sea in the Stock Road factory, long before demand took off and a 133,000 sq.ft factory was bought at Shoebury catering to the lower peasantry and that not 'nice stuff' like the Executive Series that had an awesome, seductive appearance and sound.

Right, Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abington, was grandfather of the artist John Spencer-Churchill and Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, who married Anthony Eden, Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s. Through his son Hon. Arthur Bertie, he was grandfather of Richard Bertie, 14th Earl of Lindsey and was grandfather of Andrew Bertie, 78th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and grandfather to Henry FitzAlan-Howard, 2nd Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent, who served as a captain in the First World War and was wounded but 'who'd fought the good fight and didn't give up the faith'.

Right, AMSTRAD TP12D (based on REGA Planet) skeleton vinyl record playing turntable fitted with Shure AMC50E phonograph cartridge and matched with the Executive Series and mid-1970s stereo components, fishing line anti-skate mechanism is awol and needs help. Below, edge-lit meters in the flagship Ex.333 receiver.

Left, TK19S for the germanium output AMSTRAD 8000 Mk.II below, with long excursion SEAS mid/woofer and SEAS mid/tweeter, these are special high quality units. The Baffle must remain unpainted to prevent reflections. The idea some listeners have that AMSTRAD 8000 sounded bad or certain AMSTRAD sets sound bad, probably stems from using the wrong equipment with them and just wanting to complain about something that doesn't give them instant Karma. These need new elements, capacitors in particular, a new rectifier circuit, new lower noise resistors and they need months of running in with the SEAS TK19S gradually coming on song.

Above, AMSTRAD 8000 Mk.II with Scratch Filter for badly kept or secondhand vinyl records works with SEAS long excursion AlNiCo 'blackcones'. Right, AMSTRAD Acousta 1500 work with AMSTRAD 8000 Mk III in the 1976 year a long pole brown paper voice coil former (long excursion) the Goodmans speakers from the spare parts department, very important being the roll rubber edge that has to have a suitable amplifier, in this case one engineered by AMSTRAD to give best.

Left, AMSTRAD 8000 MK.I & II and below the Mk.III gives 10 watts into 8 ohms with Acoustra 1500 by Goodmans, Philips germanium watts need AlNiCo speakers, Mk.I has a small ferrous ring motor ITT, (similar to an EMI 150) an American company based in Germany, the Mk.II uses SEAS long excursion AlNiCo, into 8 ohm (15 watts into 4 ohms not recommended, that might better cope with 6 ohms, 4 ohms just for a short term). Owners are surprised that the speakers sound so good, the brand became downmarket later on.

Right, Live Baffle, ELAC of England speakers suitable for 10 watts into 8-ohms. Use red fiberglass wadding in vertical layering and suited to low Damping Factor in low cost amplifiers but simple circuitry will give magnificent performances. Network-Free x-over, woofer has a ferrous motor and the tweeter an AlNiCo, the devices in the later AMSTRAD 8000 MK.III have never been identified but likely hail for the 1960s era, used as surplus. Many buyers used old hat 1960s loudspeakers with low power AMSTRAD, they'd basic switching, likely with high cross-talk but the amplifiers were popular with many and survived as long as many first time buyers.

Left, AMSTRAD I.C.2000 Mk.1 atop the 3000 series stereo tuner, of the FET I.C. type, all silicon with stereo multiplex decoder and ceramic filters at a price beating all competition.

Left, a 6 watt ferrous motor in the EMI 150 above, works with the AMSTRAD IC2000 Mk.I of a claimed 18 watts per channel into 8-ohms, 20Hz-25KHz with 0.5% Distortion. The cabinets show one of the first lower market reflex port systems lifting low frequencies early in the 1970s with ideal amplifiers, EMI 150 claimed very loud. Most people remember the EMI 150TC a twin cone version and lightweight motors and magnets matter for low power, or what Nelson Pass refers to as First Watt listening at a fraction of a watt. People with high power modern speakers need an up-to-date amplifier and cannot judge relative quality using the wrong equipment.

Left, above AMSTRAD IC2000 Mk.II using SEAS long excursion AlNiCo speakers and below the Mk.III using Goodmans ferrous motor speakers, for correct tone.

Right, 1975 year Acousta 2500, the 20 watt version, get relatively few website visitors, motor details and matching amplifier has a short pole motor, may not be a paper one and might use a different amplifier from the 1500 Acousta above, metal frame evident a Rank Organization-Leak cabinet. Below, AMSTRAD 2000 Mk.III looks junk but was very heavy, has 15Hz-30KHz +/- 3dB, 20-20: +/- 2dB (using tone controls). 30 watts into 4 ohms. 25 watts into 8 ohms. Distortion less than 0.1% at full volume. Mk.I: 18 watts per channel at 8 ohms, 20Hz-25KHz, 0.5%D. Mk II: 25 watts per channel at 8 ohms, 15Hz-30KHz, 2.5%D.

Above, (the AMSTRAD 2000 series was exported to the United States but there are so few survivors that the) Radio Shack (Panasonic clone) REALISTIC STA-75 offers a similar project and its bookshelf speaker uses a paper edge pleated surround suggesting a much lower Damping Factor, in the US at least, probably thought dated but that might be more useful with EMI loudspeakers. Although a P.V.C. edge on the 319 or 350 may look faster it's only D.F. 11 compared to D.F. 5 on the paper-pleated edge and these are okay to be hooked with DF30 or lower 30 watt Solid State receivers of the late 1970s variety.

Right, motor magnet weight in the STA-75's custom manufactured Solo-3A bookshelf speaker is similar to a paper-edged EMI 150, or 450 of the 10 watt rating but perhaps more confusing is the upmarket custom-manufactured STA-75's 12 inch woofer in the Nova-8 below of rubberized cloth edge surround typical of 1960s KLH for Solid State and these will suit your 30 watt per channel receivers of D.F. 30 but probably ideal with an even lower D.F.

Left, Nova 8 of the year 1974 are the unique 12 inch woofer speaker matching the STA-75 and your listening pleasure depends on using similar speakers. Cone tweeters in two or three clusters, a rubberized, cloth edge woofer but these being in a cast basket, you know is less important, it has appealed to buyers as higher quality but was really a mark of low volume production, the steel stamped baskets above many times more expensive to obtain and could only be justified with a mass-market product running more than a single year. The EMI 92390BP etc have a special thick steel basket stamping to the cheaper thin one above. Output transistors in the STA-75 aren't F.E.T.s and SONY V-FET users will need Goodmans Mezzo below or Carbocon know-how.

Right, single-rail power supply in the STA-75, the smoothing can under-chassis for tonal character, this feature of the AMSTRAD Executive Series worth bearing in mind, having a special vintage sound the later, dual-rail two smoothing can types don't with the custom-engineered speaker for single rail, dual is a more efficient power supply, SONY TA-1630 and TA-2650 have a double can single capacitor, lowering supply line voltage improving sound with their own 8-ohm speakers but a driving amplifier and its custom loudspeaker work in unison.

Left, the STA-75 (Concord/ Panasonic) chassis shows relatively small Output Capacitors similar to the 20 watt RT-VC Viscount IV that has custom-made ELAC of England tweeters for EMI 92390GK8, Viscount IV with a surplus and so high-quality, chassis-cooled bridge rectifier module where the Radio Shack has its discreet bridge diode compliment. Below, the Sinclair Radionics 2000 system is described by a German audio tech and shares the single PCB board concept of RT-VC; AMSTRAD and Radio Shack with separate boards, very rigid in the STA-75. The lower photo differs with the older version in the video, the later solid dielectric speaker decoupling caps very unusual.

Left, speaker chassis for the Sinclair Radionics 2000 system is an 8-inch JBL Co-Motional with 11,000 Gauss magnet motor system incorporating piezo-electric concentric tweeter, overall response (F.R.) given as 30Hz (with acoustic loading) to 20KHz but Sinclair's own upper limit more accurate at 16KHz, the sensitivity is 97dB SPL, 1w/1m, note the rubberized single-pleat paper edge, EMI 350 92390BP with 11,000 Gauss in the mid/woofer and may be worth trying.

>>>Savard speaker from the deep south in the United States is seen with two piezoelectric horns shipped from the Motorola Company of Chicago in the state of Illinois. CTS of Kentucky long had supporting information on their website to build an x-over for their tweeters that Clive Sinclair had in mind when fitting Motorola germanium output devices. Sinclair who'd paid the EMI 350 no mind was adamant about where the future of affordable stereo lay. To be sure piezoelectric tweeters need no x-over and likely have none in the 8130H/ 8140 JBL Co-Motional above but x-overs improve their sound no end as do sound tailored Motorola output devices. Sinclair knew the brand from a popular mono car radio in the United Kingdom.

<<< A JBL Co-Motional sports a single-pleated rubberized paper edge, seen as a shiny surround just like the two-pleated one in the Savard above lending the larger diameter a longer excursion but these are tight and aimed at low D.F. (Damping Factor) amplifiers. One way to lower your Damping Factor is with a longer becoming shorter length of speaker wire, until it sounds just about right and using an old, wore out garden tool cable that's still good for stereo.

>>> AMSTRAD EX-330 Executive Series amplifier system with below the tuner's inside. Later sets lack the metal screening box on the tuning capacitor but quality may not be affected in all situations, however it can be added if missing. Amplifier needs the AMSTRAD Executive Series matching 3-way speakers by TAMON of Japan, who had a temporary arrangement with Rank-Wharefedale to make the early Laser Series 60, 80 and 100 that work best with imported Japanese amplifier tone.

EX-330 capacitor decoupled speaker, g.o. transformer, separate boards, long life.

>>>Solavox PR25 Mk.II loudspeaker, note the paper single-pleated edge of the mid/woofer, short excursion, low Damping Factor. The single pleat edge may hint at cost-cutting in the driving amplifier but it's possible the AMSTRAD EX.222 has a suitably low damping factor to power it and therefore other vintage speakers of the 1960s tube era and even that the PR25 sounds good with whatever it used back in the day. A number of Executive Series loudspeakers including the PR25 MK.II have the ribbed cone tweeter styled after the EMI full range driver used in the Dansette 222 radio set and intended to give more middle range tone than the average small diameter tweeter.

Left, the ribbed cone full range driver from EMI, based on their tweeter sums up Britain in the 1960s compared to Japan. There was a 'make do, win the war' style attitude long after the wars had ended and there continued a preoccupation with past British Empire global imperialism and the efforts made were very expensive for the consumer to buy and largely aimed at the aristocracy or the middle-class. The early AMSTRAD sets were really middle-class and into the 1980s...

...began to reach the peasantry and were very good products that some people continue to denigrate as acquired secondhand and tired out. But the Japanese product was the one AMSTRAD was competing with, there was the Buckingham Palace supplied British Dynatron and HACKER, they were three times the price of SONY and today can be bought at a third of their collector prices and they have a more distinguished sound Dealers called 'posh'.

Solavox PR25 Executive Series Mk.1 (AMSTRAD EX-250) with long excursion mid/woofer for AMSTRAD EX.222 receiver. These 1979 year TAMON of Japan Solavox PR.25 appear to lack the AMSTRAD ribbed tweeter based on EMI with sufficient mid-range carried in the mid-woofer, 'flagship' launch products meant to trick sell the later single pleat edge mid-woofer and with few buyers aware of any difference when originals were sold long since and out of sight, out of mind.

Solavox PR-35 Mk.II long excursion suits AMSTRAD EX.333 receiver but best with Solavox Model SR3330 - a receiver, very rare indeed and sports the ribbed tweeter, because the mid/woofer has been wired to give more voice to the squawker and these speakers needed the Loudness System to really sing ... and any buyer that heard them just reached for their purses or wallets, it was a very quick sale, it was like a holiday or something, a once in a lifetime experience. People might denigrate AMSTRAD but these were hot sellers, the Ford Capri of Stereo. Below, the Mk.1 Capri based on America and the MK.III based on the incredible British Jensen F.F., that was so sought after that the upper peasantry drove them used.

Right, AMSTRAD EX-350 Mk.I, wow, sporting the ribbed tweeter and deep front-to-back box of the rare EX-450. The ribbed tweeter is so Ford Capri and the Capri you know below, code-named 'the Allegro' before launch, a musical term and then adopted by the British for a 1970s small car with quartet steering wheel, based on the square one in the 1963 year Chrysler 300K and New Yorker. A few of these emerged on internet Auction sites years ago just as the survivors of World Wars and soldier on, but appear less today as their original buyers have mostly all passed on and Estate Sales are mostly local.

Left, Mk.I Capri V6 designed by American, Philip T. Clark and also involved in designing the Ford Mustang with black Vinide Leather cloth or Rexine used on AMSTRAD Executive Series receivers by way of copying some American leading products, over the top, sides and service hatch cover meant to say 'no half measures' inside or out.

SOLAVOX PR35 Mk.I, for SR3330 receiver, very rare but similar to an Ex.333 albeit not identical and worth looking for. The AMSTRAD 5050 was marketed between the 2000 and 8000 systems using the speakers of either, the Acoustra 1500 or 2500, with other versions being the Acousta and Acouster, these imparting tones likely to enhance one amplifier version model year more than another and the 5050 was a style of AMSTRAD that came before the stacking system Executive Series. 5050 were for people with long surfaces capable of taking music centers, a set that incorporated a radio, cassette and record-player. Many homes of the peasantry you know, have very small sitting rooms despite large yards or external dimensions.

<<<ASUKI brand, AR3330, ASUKI brand, Dynamic's, Goldstar (USA) and Universum (Germany) were 'scrappers' of old electronic parts cobbled-together to make a fake Hi-Fi product using original instrument cases. They used surplus and fake parts inside that sound fantastic but many stop working using wrong mains voltage power irons, etc. Very rarely found in wkg. order. Below, Alan Sugar. Photo Times News Group

Below, the AMSTRAD 101 speaker was a Monitor Audio BM100 right of days long after M.A. company founder, Mo Iqbal moved from Cambridge to Essex and began importing far eastern drivers, the speaker was far superior, louder and incomparable to the similar Realistic Minimus-7. Here the peasantry (and anybody else in a small place) had a pre/power amplifier with digital tuner but no memory presets, it was a knob controlled tuner and there was no better sounding Mini-System, the only problem being relatively short running lifespan, in modern times probably needing rebuilt with new components. The center-point tuner feature of the REALISTIC STA-2300, that the owner is dreaming of.

The BM100 obviously has a different color of woofer and is likely a special edition AMSTRAD special driver but it's a quality system with its Tape input adjusters and 75-ohm FM aerial socket ... and the voices that denigrate AMSTRAD you know? A 'Made in England' sticker back in the days of 'BUY BRITISH'.

Right, the 1978 year British MERIDIAN 101 built by Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd is a 'British Shoe Box amplifier' concept copied from much more pricey Californian minimalist gear so seen similar to AMSTRAD as a price beating venture that had inspired the tongue-in cheek, AMSTRAD 101.

Left, the MERIDIAN M1 was an Active speaker for the 101 system and very narrow front-to-back, so that AMSTRAD had cut in half the depth of future rack system speakers and designed them only to enhance the hybrid speaker sound producing modules they'd been sold with. Using electronic modules dates to Mullard Unilex. Below, AMSTRAD T.S. 41 with red digital clock, 'MERIDIAN M1 styled' space-saving speakers and cable tidy rack unit. Power is 12 watts per channel, 35Hz-25KHz (Bandwidth Limited) with 0.5% Distortion at 1KHz and S/N Ratio of 55db. The amplifier albeit in a frontispiece has a very good sound quality but needs the tuner and cassette to work and radio techs don't regard these as at all easy to service.

Right, AMSTRAD T.S.41 speakers were everything that many people wanted at a price compared to the tiny record player speakers similar to those found in 1960s radiograms. So these AMSTRAD delivered real party house rocking sounds albeit in a harsh Boom Box style and many were unreliable and took ages sitting in huge repair places for months on end but some appear to have survived either because they weren't used often or better cared for or by luck. The house of this speaker appears upmarket compared to many AMSTRAD buyers that hadn't room to swing a cat. Here a TS.41 speaker is on some kind of table beside a staircase.

Left, zero carbon model of staircase in West Sussex near one third on price of local housing using AMSTRAD speakers above and the size of Micro System, Monitor Audio BM100 more apt, market research acoustic tests on sound of stereo systems in houses with timber board or plaster board walls rate AMSTRAD speakers better in an acoustic environment they're designed to work in but wouldn't sound so good in-store as they had at home, US buyers unable to hear audio systems before they buy know it might be misleading. Below, a wooden house with large front yard in Euclid, Ohio sees three steps turn a corner to the upper rooms. <<<Photo credit CLA

<<<Technics SU-V2 New Class A amplifier system came before Sansui's SUPERCOMPO of 1981 and dates to the older 1970s Technics era when their rack systems were most expensive in lists. The SU-Z2 (10Hz-50KHz F.R.) system and SU-V2 (5Hz-100KHz) are wide-band amplifiers and unusually the speakers used with both were the competent SB-3050 below of 42Hz-20KHz and 89.5 S.P.L. at 1 watt and 1 meter but the idea that by adding a 99.5 S.P.L. Disco speaker we'd get 'better sound'...

...is flawed,as designed to sing with 89.5 and that ribbed mid/tweeter of the SB-3050, using Technics brand wide-band amplifiers - very good for listening at low levels when suitably rebuilt. SB-3050 offers an affordable match but wasn't available in all markets and the Lo-D Hitachi sourced RadioShack REALISTIC Optimus X-100 is recommended, capable of a deep low frequency extension without Loudness and tone knobs at flat, it also gives a remarkable sound stage. Below the Technics SU-V1 was a 35 watt discrete output version of the SU-V2 both made in only one model year (1980) with a hefty black anodized aluminum finned heat-sink, to the steel of the hybrid output SU-Z2 that uses the SL-D1 turntable and later, an LED tuning meter resembling the radio tuner above.

'Real' upmarket Technics SU-8088 were rack systems, factory made as a one brand system, downmarket hybrid amplifier sets left not sold separately for that reason, until Sansui SUPERCOMPO of 1981. SU-Z Technics amplifiers work today with other speakers but in the hybrid Sansui A-710, originals sourced in auctions and tricked-out, are better than similarly specified aftermarket. Even the Home Disco Sansui below suit their own brand speakers.

Left, powerful Sansui, a brand mostly preferred for 1970s Rock music and below the loudspeakers that were banned in many cities but used in large, middle-class studio rooms. These people might have been aristocracy because they had time to party and enjoy listening to music. At 100dB for 1 watt they were Disco speakers but often had very lightweight magnet motors, some were Al-Ni-Co and the x-over at 1000Hz suggests that SP-X9700 were too. If so the amplifiers will need Al-Ni-Co motor woofers.

Right, Sansui (San-soo-ay or in Broad Scots: San-Syou) SP-X9700 from the year 1979, Karaoke Home Disco speakers with 100dB at 1w and 1m, 22Hz-23KHz. 8 ohms, 280 watts peak. Grille hand carved Kumiko fretwork. 4-way, seven speaker system. 432MM woofer, x-over at 1000Hz. 208MM squawker cone, x-over at 7KHz. 2 x 171 x 59MM presence horns, x-over at 15KHz. 3 x 49MM brilliance tweeters. Size 470 x 688 x 270MM and weigh 20Kg each. The Brahms speaker above and Home Disco speakers from Sansui had very small magnet motors that were supported by matching electronics. Many amateurs prefer larger magnets that however demand much more from amplifiers to sound as good.

Left, sales people in England thought Japanese speakers inferior to British ones albeit actually toned to match the sets they were sold with, the curious appearance so often sounded disappointing, maybe a little harsh and when the networks or inside of the speaker boxes were investigated, hadn't been well put together begging the question were these maybe 'Live' toned boxes, meant to have vibrating panels? The problem was partly a lot of large apertures cut in a thin baffle weakening it so that it vibrated and poor treatment inside the cabinet when compared to similar drivers in upmarket Technics or Sansui.

Right, red rhododendron R.thomsonii date from the year 1849 relating to work carried out in India and England by Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM GCSI CB PRS, a British botanist and explorer, plants bred with American specimens to give best color and hardiness, and seen with the invasive lilac R.ponticum in country manor estates. Dalton was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. Click on image for full size view. Below photo credit Lindsay estates

Below, taking part in the Kaiser's race of 1905 with Lord Curzon still Viceroy of India, Valhalla RYS is believed the finest example of steam auxiliary ever to be built, her first owner desired a three-quarter size version of Cutty Sark but when The Prince of Monacco saw her in New York for The America's Cup, he wanted her for deep sea and scientific experiments, instead a French nobleman, one, Count Boniface 'Boni' de Castellane bought her and made eighteen knots on a trip to Russia. The St Andrews University Working Boat Yacht restored by the late Dr. Robert Prescott could only do fourteen and repeated attempts to better eighteen had split masts, but the aristocracy used such fast ex-working boats as yachts.

Far left, 26th Earl of Crawford registered Valhalla in London in 1902 and by 1st August 1903 she'd covered 38,000 nautical miles. When Crawford bought her, he'd retained her full ship rig but replaced them with double topsails in place of single, working her with less labor, crew reduced to 65 all told, he'd changed the old-fashioned below decks arrangement. Valhalla in 1902-1908, displaced 1700 tons, fitted with an auxiliary screw (1-Screw. T.3 cylinder 18 1/2, 27 1/4 & 47 – 33 inch) 145 nhp), capable under power of speed 101⁄2 to 11 knots p/ h; under sail peaking 16 knots p/h., equipped with roomy cabins and ample headroom she'd a freezing room capable of storing many tons of meat for long periods.^[14]Crawford was to use her most notably for three world voyages, totaling 72,000 miles, the third Crawford voyage was loosely inspired by the Flying Dutchman. <<<Photo Lindsay estates

Above, James Ludovic (died in January 1913) and right in the Library at Haigh Hall, of which a smaller version was built aboard the Valhalla RYS. Lindsay was a true soul of the sea, spending little time on Terra Firma. Photo wiganworld>>>

<<the Library in another of 26th heir, James Ludovic's places below, shows many leather bound books in Latin, possibly read by the 26th heir at sea in his yacht collections, the gardens, open one day following the 29th heir's funeral, let the Clan visit the family crypt, a number of photos taken by clansmen, and better viewed by clicking on the images.

>>Anthony Chenevix-Trench was a Latin Beak and Headmaster at Eton College during End Of Empire and left for Fettes in 1980. Below, leather topped tables preferred by Anthony Eden and the 29th heir at Balcarres House pictured.

<<A spiral staircase ascends with pictures hanging on a wall, bouquets or vases of flowers. 1st Vis. Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, DL cut some roses every day of summer as a morning routine and who knows but that there hadn't been similar goings on with this stairway, and the Crawfords, although all private, no public visitors or any such notions in the time of the 29th heir. We know virtually nothing of the Audio/ Hi-Fi scene of the aristocracy, never shared with any view to a revival of classic equipment and what sounded best together, or vintage, strongly perfumed varieties of roses carefully preserved for posterity.

Right, the window dressing of an upper floor room in the Crawford place above, a picture of an archway symbolic of changing lives. A leather-topped table has flowers (or 'flooors' as locals say) arranged in memory of Ruth, the Countess Of Crawford. These ... you know, East Neuk Fifers say 'flooors', the floor here not restored in many a year or as locals prefer: 'money a year', self explanatory. A small chair for the Countess and larger for the 29th heir. "It taks a lang spoon to sup with a Fifer” is an old local expression warning outsiders that those from the ancient Kingdom of Fife - former stomping ground of Robert the Bruce, are difficult to get to know and a paranoid lot. Shakespeare later offers that he who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon.

>>Members of Clan Lindsay talk in the gardens worked by the 29th heir and his Countess, a distant shipping route visible and the Bass Rock. A couple of punters gaze across Balcony Steps to the view below, click on images for full views. Photo Lindsay Estates

<<the house is raised up and quite often wine cellars occupied lower floors, these places a bit of a mystery with hidden corridors and rooms, service access and so forth, rooms big enough for Hi-Fi/ Audio systems of the 20th Century, console radiogram style. Photo below Lindsay Collection

>>the inside of this Manor House for a number of years is described as 'all modern', a big sale of contents shortly before the 29th heir's demise, we see a very austere sofa, some interesting decor and furnishings, the striped wallpaper makes a room look taller and more spacious, the photo resolution better in full view seen by clicking on the image. Photo Lindsay Estates>>>

Right, instead of a place like Ninian's makeshift wooden hut, a new greenhouse is put up after the 29th heir passed, replacing an older wooden structure, a peach plant growing on the whitewashed wall. Hanging baskets and other potted plants are being prepared.

Left, a couple seen looking across the balcony, top of the steps in a photo up page are captured with other creatures pointing out plants with some significance to them just like Audio Hi-Fi people at a show, rude to point but many locals have this surprising habit.

Stables below ... wow a genuine photo, not the usual posing hired hands, are behind the greenhouse above, a Tennis Court over to the >>far right with yellow sandstone umpire's office, all still in use but not by the public.