Bob Beveridge

Bob was born in 1942 at Kingskettle.  His family owned the Kettle Linen Factory which closed down during the war, an all too common occurrence for linen and wool mills at that time.  In 1953 Bob’s family inherited “The Poplars”, a big house in Kingskettle and while the furniture in the various rooms was being scrapped and replaced, a collection of violins and cellos was discovered, infact a whole room full!  Bob was allowed to keep the instruments and his life of collecting and restoring began.

Bob went to Bell Baxter High School and then to Dundee Art College.  After two years he moved on to take up employment at a demolition company.  At the age of nineteen Bob joined the Fife Police Force moving up through the ranks to Detective Constable.  He was then seconded to the Scottish Crime Squad, based in Edinburgh but covering the whole of Scotland.  During Bob’s time with the Force he also worked as a member of the Royal Protection Squad whose numbers were increased after the attempted kidnap by armed men of  Princess Anne in 1974.

Bob with the Royal Protection Squad when the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh launched the first oil rig, "Highland Queen" at Nigg Bay in the early 1970's

Rosanne Cash with Bob.  She sat on a chair in his shop and recorded three songs there.     

A postcard from Rosanne.

Yes, an interesting life for Bob Beverage.  He has been a member of the BBC Antiques Roadshow Team.  He was the presenter of  the BBC Radio 4 programme "Tracing the Footsteps of Johnny Cash and has also written books.