A Blantyre miner sleeping in his home after night shift work had a rude awakening on the morning of 26th December 1934 when he was almost buried under a fall of ceiling on his bed. For a few minutes he imagined he had been the victim of a roof fall in the pit. Practically the whole of the ceiling the house, situated in Calder Street, collapsed without warning, and the family, named Fullerton had a fortunate escape from serious injury. The young man who was in bed suffered from bruises.
Council officials reacted immediately to the news and within an hour and a half of the ceiling falling, a county inspector visited the premises and sanctioned the family being installed in a house, which was scheduled as part of the 1934 and 1935 Blantyre slum clearance scheme which had already commenced in other parts of the town.
On Social Media:
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Anne Mackie Within 90 minutes someone had been out and got the family rehoused somewhere safer I dont think it would be done as fast as that now especially on a public holiday What happened to the family and did the council repair the ceiling in their own house?
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Elizabeth Weaver A blessing in disguise, really, if it got them re-housed sooner. If it was done under slum clearance legislation, maybe their Calder St house was subsequently demolished – any idea, Paul? Also, it might have been Boxing Day, but I don’t imagine there were many festivities going on – Christmas wasn’t a big deal until the 60s, from what I remember. Most men still went to work and the only “holiday” of any significance was Ne’erday.
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The Blantyre Project sorry, i don’t have a follow up to this. Was hoping some families would recognise this.
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