1910 Greenhall Brickworks
Mr. J. Wardrobe Moore was the business owner of the former Greenhall Brickworks, High Blantyre. According to Neil Gordon’s 2004 book a passage he found was lifted directly out of Strother’s 1912 Directory, “Access to the brickworks was by a track leading from the General’s Brig (Bridge) in Stoneymeadow up the hill, over where the current East Kilbride Expressway is, up through the woodland and along the top of the high bank of the Calder River towards an open field. The existing remains of the kiln and associated works can be seen to this day.”
However, I wish to point out this is a mistake in Stothers Directory that unfortunately looks like it has been carried by generations through last Century. According to the 1910 map the Greenhall Brickworks was actually accessed from Craigmuir Road near the Old Parish Church, in a far more Eastwardly location , and certainly nowhere near the Chainlink road or General’s Brig. What is described in Strothers Directory is more likely the Old Limekilns beyond Basket farm.
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The Blantyre Project Did you notice on old maps, Hamilton Drive is nowhere near being connected to Sydes Brae. It was entered from Craigmuir, and only connected to the brae, once the railway was abandoned.
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Robert Stewart Hamilton Drive was connected to the Sydes Brae when the new expressway cut through Craigmuir Road
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The Blantyre Project 1978 then
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Elizabeth Weaver Yes, when you went for a walk up Craigmuir Rd up to the 1960s, you walked “up the Brickie” – up past the row of cottages in Hamilton Dr and on up the hill, alongside fields. It was a well-known spot for a romantic stroll ;-)though terrible for midges on a summer evening. Only cottage actually on Craigmuir Rd was the whitewashed one belonging to Jock and Helen Russell. My parents built a house behind the church in 1963 (The Glebe) and we were surrounded by fields. Now it’s houses as far as the eye can see.
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Jim Cochrane I used to walk to Calderside after school every day and the quickest way was past the church and up the Brickie until the new road was built,still went that way for a while but you had to cross the expressway, which wasn,t as busy then.it I remember them making Hamilton drive before they started on the expressway.It was a longer road round going up the sydes brae.Think I started going round and along Hamilton drive then up the brickie.It took me exactly 30 mins to walk from my house in Stone field cres to Calderside.Alan Baird i remember that it used to just be a wee dirt track with the cottages but thats me just found out the exact location ofthe brickworks , i thought they were a lot further up , nearer newmains king of thing and i love to see how the railways looked.Jim Cochrane Always knew the brickworks had been there as if you ploughed this field or worked the ground in the corner there ,you brought up tonnes and tonnes of bricks , Thats how the Brickie got its name.
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Hugh McDade I still have an unused brick from Greenhall High Blantyre ! the name is still visible .
I was was told that access to the Brickworks was from the top of Sydes Brae. I was born in Hamilton Drive which is off Sydes Brae and was always being told that I was born “up the Brickie” !
Hi Brian – If you were born in Hamilton Drive, you would have been certainly “near the brickie”. At one time in the early part of the 20th Century, Hamilton Drive was a cul de sac, dead end, but accessed only from Craigmuir Road, directly across from the brickie itself. Hamilton Drive never used to be connected to Sydes Brae and had to be entered from Craigmuir Road, off Main Street in High Blantyre. In the early 20th Century, (and I suspect the Aitkenheads were responsible for this), Hamilton Drive became connected to Sydes Brae, and with the closure of the brickie and development of Craigmuir Road abandonment, eventually had the opposite configuration to its original, now in the configuration where access to Hamilton Drive is only from Sydes Brae. Hope this makes sense.