By 1935, Blantyre’s Calder Street was quickly becoming a well known and established thoroughfare. By that time it was home to the red sandstone secondary school and at the junction with Victoria Street, the police station was another prominent building. The street led from the Church (where the current Asda entrance is), past the library to the crossroads with Victoria street, then stopped very abruptly in a dead end about 100 yards past the crossroads. (Stopping roughly where the current gates to Calderside Academy is). The Council did want to extend the road, but the problem was the sprawling expanse of miner’s rows houses at Dixon Street, Well Street and Park Street. The houses were in poor condition, cramped and were heading towards the end of their use.
New houses at Fernslea Avenue were being built in the town, as well as in Victoria Street all in the same modern style, with a traditional diamond square inset into each 2 storey building. The style of these new houses was world’s apart from the miner’s rows. Shortly after the edict to demolish the rows was given, new houses in keeping with nearby Fernslea Avenue and Victoria Street were built and Calder Street was extended (as shown on this 1935 map with a pink dotted line).
I should point out that on earlier maps in 1898, Calder Street did exist as connected right though. The old rows extended to either side of Calder Street, but by the 1930s they were so old they were demolished around the time of Calder Street being widened. The modern completion of Calder Street not only offered new access to the houses, but meant a shorter route from one part of the town to the other , avoiding the need to go on to a busy, tram filled Glasgow Road.
With the destruction of the rows, several streets lost their names forever.
