William Douglas's Blog – November 2012 Archive (3)

Two years ago, Douglas rode a five-foot fiberglass board, powered by a 96-square-foot kite, down an artificial channel in Lüderitz, Namibia, and hit a speed of 55.65 knots, or 64.04 miles per hour.

But on Nov. 16 an unorthodox craft called the Vestas Sailrocket smashed that record on Walvis Bay in Namibia, hitting an average speed of 59.23 knots, more than 68…

I received this interesting response to a question about Archibald Douglas, who changed his name to Campbell.

There are three Colins in the family tree at that time, according to "A Short History of Mains" which I happen to have left in my briefcase and can refer to right now.The first Colin was Laird of Mains and died in 1801, marked in the Wikipedia article as 15th. His brother Robert assumes the title on his death and has issue, firstly John who dies in 1803 (a year before his…

Bonaly Tower is located on the site of the 17th century farmhouse that once stood at the centre of the village of Bonaly, on the south-western outskirts of Edinburgh . On the directions of Lord Cockburn, the farmhouse was extended, and the village cleared to create his country residence. In 1839, the architect William Henry Playfair added an imitation peel tower to the…