Can I help Daniel find his Grandparents? [GEO DETECTIVE #27]

The special geo detectives continue with a heartwarming nan and grandad pic sent in by Daniel, who would love to know where they were pictured here in their Sunday best, about 75 years ago. He reckons it's Scotland and with a few signs in the picture you would think this one would be quite straight forward, but sometimes all is not what it seems, especially when buildings have been demolished...
Do you have a sentimental photo of a loved one that you don't know the geographical location of and would love to find out? send them into [e-mail]
Otherwise, please drop this video a like if you enjoyed it! cheers everyone, have a great weekend.

[@feasible]

Great video as always. One random request/suggestion: you always mention that you don't reverse google image search the original image because it would be too easy. I think it'd be interesting if, after you find the location, you try reverse image searching just to see if it would have come up right away or not.

[@GuestDGaming]

Ooh, I like this!

[@taukakao]

I tried it for this image and it actually does come up if you give it the correct snippet of the image.

[@Wingspan_5]

“An Hotel” must be owned by Jeremy Clarkson.

[@gauravsane]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@pieter2198]

Haha nice one

[@kristjanveski]

lol, beat me to it!

[@krisrutherford3975]

It was on your first search at 5:39 🤣

[@CaraiCuebiyar]

AI search segment was gold 😂

[@tokimeki8746]

14:34 "guys, get your bunsen burners out" you had me rolling

[@LiveTheDash]

quite honestly my fave YT series

[@pitbullhab]

5:38 ? Yes, it was on the 1st search, Station Hotel, Ayr, 2nd from left.

[@tokimeki8746]

I actually paused the video to have a closer look at that one, but then I dismissed it lol

[@woolenfeet]

I clocked that too.

[@thexbigxgreen]

Hey Tom, in case you didn't know, you can use asterisks to search for words of a given length with whichever characters included

[@Taliesin6]

that has never worked for me.

[@JayanthRajakumar]

Yeah a lot of the search tricks from the old days don't work anymore

[@Emperor-e2x]

As a resident of the town I managed to recognise it straight away, very cool to see it on the channel.

[@Puffball-ll1ly]

Ah nah you spoilt it 😂

[@Emperor-e2x]

@@Puffball-ll1ly My bad lol, got too excited to see it featured 😆

[@Emperor-e2x]

@@Puffball-ll1ly Took the location out of the comment so hopefully it doesn't get spoiled for anyone else 🤣

[@danpreston2222]

reading the comments before watching and not expecting spoilers is a rookie mistake!

[@lanspectre3417]

I'm not from there but have been a handful of times over my life and I just immediately recognised it then went on Google maps to find the exact spot. I'm also surprised with the recent history of the building that it didn't come up in his searches quicker

[@celtlen]

I love how Tom pronounces Scottish towns with all the familiarity he has for US states. Oban is the Oregon of Scotland.

[@TheDundeeBiscuitLuvU]

Glenrothes was also painful gold haha

[@explorernate]

"er vine"

[@kchastain3]

“Lesbian Hotel” 😂

[@lindakrukowski1128]

Spoiler alert: I’m so excited! I found it within three minutes with the key words Scotland, Hotel and mansard roof! Then I just had to find which street they were on.

[@findmeinthefuture.]

Haven't watched the full video yet, but FYI, you can use an asterisk as a wildcard character in a google search. So if you search for "*an hotel," the * represents any sequence of characters and you'll get hotels that end with "an." A question mark symbol is the same thing but for just one character.

[@PeterMoore66]

@GeoWizard Tom - if you use the imagery from Oct 2015, you can get the camera on the EXACT spot the photo was taken.

[@IsabelJones69]

@PeterMoore66 I wanted to find the place, but I can't get the marker to go to 0ctober 2015.

[@explorernate]

@@IsabelJones69 maps.app.goo.gl/X7LHHZkSACQfvcwj8

[@brycedunlap]

"It was s'posed to be so easy..." A great quote from another great lad from Birmingham, Mike Skinner of The Streets.

[@rupanjan]

Shame that the hotel is gone now, Daniel missed his chance to properly reenact that photo

[@jasonweir1989]

I knew it was Ayr station straight away, I used to have to get the train there every day for work and college when I lived in Troon. Sadly the town has suffered like many from the death of high streets. We used to get into Club de Mar when we weren't old enough to be in clubs, we also used to sneak into the odeon cinema across the road from where this picture was taken, one of us would buy a ticket and open the fire escape door to let the rest of us in. Alot of good times in the town with the same people I call friends today.

[@chinmay8954]

sounds like a good time mate. thanks for sharing, cheers!

[@ShhhhhNow]

Yesssss. Haven't watched this yet and can't wait to set aside the time to do so!

[@timothy8009]

I was playing along and found the Ayr Station Hotel really early, but dismissed it as it was 4 stories. Doubted you when you started zeroing in on it, but I was wrong. You really are the GOAT 🐐

[@bradpoole3943]

Just watched Threads, (if you know, you know)… this is exactly what I need right now. Thanks Tom.

[@henry_cameron]

I had an english teacher show this film right before term break. nightmares i tell you

[@werdlederdle]

We had to watch it at school too.

[@iamjeramy]

Hey Tom, wanted to let you know that Great Aunt's painting was from Pont Neuf and was surprisingly accurate! Hope to see you update your spreadsheet or perhaps cover it in a video! Cheers!

[@felixdombek6052]

"I'll look up the term for this roof but first some low-hanging fruit 😏" -- scours through hundreds of names 😵

[@jockepett1]

Well done sir! Again. It shows that pesistance and stuborness pays back. Keep up the good work, Cheers!

[@Sympanet]

Here so early I don’t even know if he was recording yet

[@Eddyspeeder]

Had been craving for a Geo Detective. Thank you so much!

[@lisajohnson1528]

I love these videos the most than anything else you do thanks for posting!

[@viche1]

The paraffin would most likely be used to heat mobile heaters. We used to use them when I was a student in the early eighties - I can still remember the smell...

[@reggiedixon2]

I will always associate pink paraffin with a "Tliiey Lamp"we had when we built our own house when I was a kid, this was before LED lights and working in the dark with no electricity supply meant this was the only reliable light to work with.

[@rainbowkeykaraoke]

paraffin is an older and British word for what we usually call kerosene today. A thicker liquid petroleum product used in lamps and heaters.

[@reggiedixon2]

@@rainbowkeykaraoke It's still paraffin for anyone I speak to (should the subject come up which admittedly it is not an everyday conversation)

[@Blutzen]

@@reggiedixon2 Funny, as an American the only "paraffin" I know is paraffin wax, which is what most candles are made of these days.

[@dominicshayler5323]

'Four Gordons' is a perfect name for any future music projects Tom!

[@chrisstaniforth5629]

Enjoyed this dudey!! Hope you and the team are well!!

[@PhatInAHat]

I see a Mansard Roof through the trees, I see a salty message written in the eaves.

[@kristjanveski]

Some say.. those hotel reviews were written by Jeremy Clarkson

[@bcgrote]

Gothic Revival mansard roof with widow's walk.

[@mytube001]

The wall isn't too high. The highest visible point in the old picture is below the top of the straight section of the archway. There are five stones of equal height counting from the ground up, and then a sixth that is a bit taller, and a seventh that is the same height as the bottom five, and on top of that an eighth that is even shorter, which is the last before the arch begins. The top of the visible wall in the old picture ends at the eighth stone, as far as I can tell.

[@SirMoribund]

I love these old photo hunts.

[@sarahdebeau2481]

Pink paraffin was used in floor standing paraffin heaters in homes.

[@cassie7010]

Same the hotel that's behind then isn't there any more. It went on first last year and this year and now they are knocking it down. Was a gorgeous big hotel in it's day xx

[@falconfotographic]

Oh-Bahn 😮 my lugs!

[@grapesodatravels]

The bus stop is just visible over 'grandad's' head! Still in the same place after all this time!

[@cornishcactus]

I spent ages looking for the B115 on the sign behind his grandfathers head feeling very smug with myself for seeing the easy clue Tom missed, then realised it said BUS

Proud of myself for getting this in about 10 minutes. So exciting to see you get so close without even realizing it.

[@joelhoeve]

Actually laughed out loud when you started counting Gordons at 26:23

[@stumccabe]

The correct indefinite article for the word "hotel" was, and still is by many, considered to be "an" rather than "a". When I was at school in the 1960s we were taught to say and write "an hotel". I believe both are considered correct today.

[@ThelolipopCreeper]

Sounds fr*nch to me

[@larryfoulke1596]

There a word in your comment that get highlighted with blue color ,the one that like in TikTok The "indefinite articles" one

[@nate9065]

I feel like it depends on how you pronounce hotel, if you say it with a soft enough h then an hotel would be better

[@motelghost477]

21:59 The moment I saw that hotel sign I was thinking "What the hell is Tom on about, that's clearly an O." You also miscounted the number of floors, you said the hotel in the photo only had three floors but it had four. Not quite on yer game today.

[@stonefaction]

Yeah, could not see an A either. Straight away I read it as an O.

[@LouisEW198]

Made my day seeing this pop up and I haven’t even watched it yet 😂

[@sshender3773]

Simply incredible.

[@lucidmoses]

Nicely done.

[@f3lipe135]

PERFECT FRIDAY EVENING ENTERTAINTMENT. CHEERS TOM

[@crashbox7130]

You can move Pegman into the archway to get a closer match. You can also just about make out the remains of the painted sign under the board signs beneath the archway.

[@merlinthewizard]

Always love your videos! Here's a comment for the algorithm.

[@J4NTO]

I've never been there but knew the name of the hotel immediately, just because its an incredibly common name for hotels in the UK and there's no chance that was an A not an O!

[@fragilemaileagle]

I found an advert for when the paraffin delivery service was rolled out in east Lancashire in 1956. So my guess that this picture is taken sometime in the 50´s and most likely at the latter part of the 50´s.

[@reecechambers3467]

amazing series

[@tallesttreeintheforest]

rip that hotel, fallen victim to a classic case of insurance fraud

[@guyanaboy7]

I paused to like the video as soon as I heard "there has to be at least 4 Gordons" 😂

[@bcgrote]

So many weddings were held in that hotel. Dances, parties, meetings... 😢

[@thitherword]

Strange to click on this video and it slowly morphs into not only a Scottish Geodetective but also features East Lothian, where I grew up.

[@KKing650]

An Hotel is the correct grammar. It is shortened in English to An 'Otel, same with a lot of H words in Englandshire. In case you were not already aware of this. Which you are of course.

[@EMSNEB]

Mad lad has 8717 emails in his inbox and 84 drafts. As a new dad myself, I can tell you he is NEVER catching up on those emails.

[@mileschalker2226]

14:15 I don't think that AI will be taking our jobs anytime soon!

[@petemitchell9996]

He didn't ask nicely that's why

[@Mackerdaymia]

Not gonna lie, my brain instantly filled it in as "Station Hotel" as soon as I saw the image 😅

[@Mikefizzled]

I think the focal length of their photograph compared to the Google imagery is what threw you.

[@dungbetel]

Not watched this through yet, but if it was Scotland, then a punt on "Caledonian Hotel" might have been worth it...

[@Viniter]

It couldn't have been Lesbian Hotel, not with straight mansard roof.

[@WefoundlovePolska]

I tapped so quick! My favourite series

[@dans3626]

Screaming Scottish town names at Tom as he pronounces them horrendously 🤣

[@MagnetonJjungle]

Grandpa looks like James Hoffmann 😮

[@lhesitante]

The word "hotel" is of french origin, and so the 'h' originally wasn't pronounced (neither in French or (posh) English), so the "an hotel" search gives a lot of false friends.

[@marialachica16]

There was a road sign just above the man's head - surprised you didn't see it / use it!

[@stine7144]

Tom is gonna get personalized adds for scottish hotels for years to come after this.

[@ukdnbmarsh]

love this series , more please Boss

[@CaledonianCoins]

For once I got this very early on. (Before the search had even started). Me and my love of the choo choos!

[@CameronM47]

So it had the crooked house treatment.

[@renerpho]

Never bothered to google "Sutherland Brothers Ltd." Established in 1892, and still around today. I'm sure Tom has come across their SB logo.

[@JamesTundra]

7:39 "weird" 😂😂

[@JMThought]

It’s quite a comment on the social history of the country that those local businesses are now a William Hill and a Ladbrokes.

[@Sympanet]

22:52 did he forget that the email said it was taken in Scotland? Lmao

[@viktorgames2737]

OMG IT'S HERE!!

[@Rocco-kr7mr]

nope

[@dav1dbone]

Recognised it instantly, sadly destroyed in a fire last year, had lain abandoned for decades. Interesting history, believe it was at one a point Stakis Casino, plenty of urbex photos online showing the interior, - Ayr Station Hotel

[@patavinity1262]

Actually 'an hotel' is the original way to say it in English. The 'h' was silent.

[@aldhous]

16:46 "I'm OBANdoning the list".

[@Schlups]

good work Mr Geo Detective

[@BattlesDiplomacy]

5:30 independent, c'mon Tom

[@TalesinaFlash1]

I absolutely love these

[@edwhal06]

Cornwall intro in the to do list 👀 19:13 is this a mission??

[@marshallmoller1771]

Whoooo!

[@MartinAhlman]

Amazing work! And also, "an hotel" is perfectly ok if your dialect skip the "h" in "hotel" :-)

[@subduedATTITUDE]

Anyone know how I submit a photograph for this series? Have one of my Granddad in the middle of the English countryside where I’d love to find.

[@greyguessrfm5620]

Saw the notification, finally the one that'll break the internet, oh no :( Love it either way!

[@red.aries1444]

At least, even if you could name the architecture of this building as "French renaissance revival style" from the beginning - it would have been no help to find this former hotel.

[@maccoretti51]

The title implies Daniel's grandparents are hiding from him and taunting him with photographs.

[@michaels.5878]

I really thought the Bank of Scotland angle would have been good. But even knowing its in Ayr didn't help.😢

[@28cap]

Got to the 22:23 mark and a Hilton hotel advert pops up 🤔🤔🤔 now to see if it’s a spoiler

[@Kingzzxepic]

I thought that was it the first time he looked lol

[@TheDeadmanTT]

99+ unread emails give me anxiety.

[@MuscarV2]

Here's some more anxiety: I've got over 10k unread emails.

[@NamilPeaksProductions]

I mean if you miss something important im sure they would contact you through something else😂

[@charlielindores]

Just commenting to say that this is very obviously Ayr from just looking at the picture and also on the tourism point it's still fairly popular due to it's proximity to Glasgow and being the birthplace of Robert Burns :)

[@gmbO48]

The signs in the archway in the more recent photo also mentioned 'Burns Statue', which could only really mean one person and a significance to him in that area.

[@cassie7010]

This is where I stay haha xx

[@Sam-pw6vi]

'an hotel' is actually perfectly acceptable - in a lot of accents, 'a otel' would sound worse.

[@angelavonhalle5144]

0Oh, no, the image of the right hotel came up on the first image search but you skipped it!! It was on the left of the page, probably in your peripheral vision...

[@XxMrDudexX]

15:57 You're crossing Cornwall? 🕵

[@Marcel-W3]

That's not an A, it's an O..... finally, he got there.