Above Scotland

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland [RCAHMS] keeps the National Collection of Aerial Photographs. It holds over two million photographs and is one of the largest collections of its type in the world, with photographs going back to the 1920s.

They have published a superb book of some of their photographs.

Cowley, D.C. & Crawford, J., 2009. Above Scotland: The National Collection of Aerial Photography, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).

I have several books of aerial photographs but Above Scotland is easily the best. The photographs cover everything from Neolithic forts to Glasgow shipyards. They are very well chosen and the image quality is outstanding. I have included two images below but my scans do not do justice to the book.

Britain's only triangular castle

Stone ring on the Isle of Lewis

Even people who think themselves familiar with Scotland will be doing well if they know of half the sites in the book. I have added a lot of the places to my togo list.