Blantyre Village Mill Gate posts

Most people are aware of the old Mills at Low Blantyre, located in and around “the village”. During the late 1700’s the Mill owners erected stone gates within the tollhouses either side of Station Road at the corners of Rosebank Avenue and Knightswood Terrace. The gates used to close to the mill workers around 10pm each evening, preventing traffic entering the village and offering the residents added security.

In 1850 the government abolished toolbooths from roads and highways throughout Scotland, forcing the permanent opening of these gates, no collection of tolls here, nor at Blantyre’s 2 other toll booths (Glasgow Road/Station Road junction and Broompark/Main Street junction).

In 1904 when the new owners of Calderwood Estate were renovating their lodges, they acquired and salvaged the old gate pillars and moved them to a new location still within Blantyre today. They can be found at the entrance to the main Calderwood lodge at Stoneymeadow Road, Blantyre.

Standing in this new location for well over 100 years, the Calderwood Lodge Pillars remain there today. Calderwood Lodge was the location where people would buy tickets to visit the Calderwood Glen and Estate.

A train station, (not High Blantyre but further up towards the junction at Dalton) was built for tourists to stop at. The station of Calderwoodglen halt, is a largely forgotten station that was once on the fringes of Blantyre, situated on a hillside, just across from this modern photos, across the Lee Burn. Nothing of the station remains today.

Thanks to Jim Brown for the modern photo.