1870 Blantyre side on left, Bothwell on right. River Clyde.

Pictured here in 1870, is the River Clyde with Blantyre on the left and looking across to Bothwell Castle on the right. Whilst a lovely early photograph in itself, it is the little river boat and crossing I found more interesting.

I’ve seen a few early photos of a river boat in this location. On the left, long before the Priory Colliery was on the other side of the woods, was a forgotten area of Blantyre called “Letrigland”. Its noted on 1747 maps, but not any subsequent map, the location now hidden by the Priory plantation woodland. On the 1898 map, there is a boat shed and quay on the Bothwell side of the river, but its gone by 1910.

Following on from the photos, Blantyre man Jim Brown whilst out walking took this modern photo, showing the remains of what is likely the quay for this river crossing. Submerged, the structure is clearly man made. The boat crossing was likely made redundant around the same time as the more northerly Boatland crossing, due to the creation of the walkways at the nearby Clyde Bridges.