The commuter town of Lenzie sits astride the railway line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and dates back to the Victorian era. This used to be farming country before the industrial revolution, but the land has since been taken over by housing developments. Ian Russell has lived in the area all his life, and his house is on the site of the Russell family’s original smallholding.
“Things have certainly changed a lot over the past few decades,” he told me. “The surrounding land was all green fields when I was growing up, but it’s been steadily transformed into residential housing. As I recall, my grandfather’s smallholding covered four acres.”
Family asset
The property passed down through the family and was eventually owned by Ian’s father. “He worked for the Board of Agriculture, and used to grow fruit on the holding. He would then sell
