Cuthbert Spencer of Tighnabruaich

Updated February 2019

New addition to the Heritage Centre from Geoff Newton. A look at Cuthbert Spencer of Tighnabruaich, Gardener, Photographer and Lad o’Pairts.

Anyone who spent holidays in Tighnabruaich during the first half of the C20th would have been familiar with the photographic postcards sold in the shops to send home to friends and relatives. There were local views, some including houses and people could say, ‘This is where we stayed’; many were of steamers in which visitors might have sailed. There were also photographs of local Regattas and notable yachts. Some cards were by Valentines of Dundee but some carried the initials CS or the name Spencer and a number. I was told the initials were those of Cuthbert Spencer, who had lived locally and many of these cards were marked ‘Printed in England’ or ‘Printed in Great Britain’. A talented professional photographer, therefore, living in Tighnabruaich?