Two photos of former Greenhall House, High Blantyre. One you may have seen, the other less likely. These were shared by Marion Turner whose grandfather, Thomas Denholm was the coach driver for the Moore family of Greenhall prior to 1910. As the family left for Australia, they obviously went with fond memories of Greenhall, for the card is marked 30th July 1910, the other picture, a later one, likely added to their photo album, by being sent on to Australia perhaps by a relative or friend.
In early November 2015, I had an interesting chat with Ean (Stan) Paul, whose family lived at Greenhall following the Moores. Ean told me the house had been greatly extended, not just with added parts to the building, but renovated with bay windows put in for more dramatic effect. That can be seen in the photo, different styles of windows. The house was demolished in May 1967, after an attempt at leasing it out to East Kilbride’s council. Beforehand, in 1964 insurances were sought by the council for the cover sum of £10,000 for the estate to be made into a public park. The premiums may simply have been too expensive and like Milheugh House, in earlier years Greenhall’s ownership under the council was destined for demolition. Looking back between 1960 and 1967, for what the council did to these large, grand homes, this was a shameful time in my opinion, and I think were some more forethought, they could have been rescued, renovated or turned into something useful. It would appear having a large home in both of their newly acquired parks, simply wasn’t going to work.
As a little sidenote, I found out recently that I have something in common with Mr Moore. We both held (and in my case, still do) the position of Chairperson of the Committee for Blantyre, with a goal of trying to improve many aspects of the town. Unfortunately, the similarities end there, as I have quite the phobia of horses, whereas Mr Moore, was quite passionate about keeping them.