1938 Honeymoon Miners Rows

Between 1900 – 1910, a row of 12 brick miners houses were built, back to back, next to the Blantyre Police Station at Victoria Street (now where Asda Warehouse stands). This block of houses led into a more open area known as Victoria Place and was commonly known locally as “The Honeymoon“.

An attractive name for miners raws which were nicknamed so, as the houses were so incredibly small that families were not given them, and they often ended up with just couples living cramped in the small spaces. (miners and their wives). This may have just been a myth though, as there is clear evidence that children were amongst the families living there. I’ve marked up this 1938 map showing where the rows used to be, directly across from Hasties and the nearby nursery.

In 2007 on the Talking Scot online forum, a male with signature “TBH” recalled his childhood memories of this place saying, “I was born in 1930, the address was 3 Victoria Street a row of Miners Raws which went under the name of the Honeymoon. There was a wall to the North which surrounded the Nessie’s School from the squalor of the raws. This wall came in handy for us to kick our ball up against and we used it for many other activities. Some of the Honymoon kids attended the school so any playthings lost over the wall were usually returned to us. Like all the raws in Blantyre ours being one of the oldest it was a mess.”