2015 Auchentibber Road, corner of Sydes Brae (PV)
Pictured here in January 2015, whilst I was out walking the dog, is the corner of Auchentibber Road. To be more precise it’s the corner at the junction with Sydes Brae, the start of Parkneuk Road.
I stopped for a second to note how overgrown it now is, ivy on the trees, young woodland becoming more mature.
This exact spot used to be the site of the Auchentibber Inn, owned by JB Struthers. A picture of the old inn, taken from the same vantage point is shown below, photographed around 1908. How nice it would have been if the pub was still there today. Sunday lunch, a pint and watch the quoiting sports out the back field.
1908 Auchentibber Inn from the junction of Sydes Brae and Auchentibber Road
On 16 March, 1928, following a petition from Auchentibber residents, Lanarkshire County Council allowed 2 buses, already licenced to run between Hamilton and Strathaven via Quarter, also to run: Hamilton (New Cross), Udston and Auchentibber (Inn). Lanarkshire Tramways Company operated this service, but only on Fridays and Saturdays. In 1936 Lanarkshire Traction Co (renamed after trams were replaced by buses) applied to change the route via Hillhouse Rd, Rabcorse Rd and Sydes Rd, but this was refused by the Traffic Commissioners. By then it had a Service Number, the ’22’. The single fare to the Inn, in 1953, was 7 pence. Under Central SMT, it was withdrawn, presumably through lack of use, in January 1959.
Thanks Alex – All very interesting. I’m interested in the reference to 1953, for the Inn was long demolished by that time. Was it a reference to Auchentibber itself, rather than the Inn? Cheers.
The bus timetable on sale to the public ( I would have to check – but I believe) simply gave ‘Auchentibber’ as the terminus by 1953. However, from the inception of the 1930 Road Traffic Act, newly-appointed Traffic Commissioners required operators to be very specific in their applications for Road Service Licences. If such a licence were to be granted an operator would have then had permission to run a service but in strict accordance with carefully stated information. From 1931 the licence, generally seen only by busmen and authorities, clearly stated Auchentibber (Inn). I noticed, in the course of research, that as the years went by, and attention to detail relaxed a bit, some firms were reluctant to change what had sufficed over the course of time. An application to raise fares across the Bus Group network, dated 22 November 1958, includes M298 Hamilton (New Cross) – Auchentibber (Inn). By then the road junction, which was possibly all that remained, would be familiar to any remaining regular passengers as the site of the inn and therefore be identifiable as the terminus.
When would you say the inhabitants (quarries?) left? When was the Inn demolished?
Kind regards,
Alex