The Blantyre Mills lay derelict and empty in 1903. A building, which by then was 118 years old had served its time, and the people of Blantyre well. Through its doors thousands of people, often over many generations in same families and some as young as 10 years old, had worked at the equipment.
These photos show the final days of the main mill buildings on the bank of the River Clyde. The plasterwork and whitewashed has broken away and become faded, a shadow of its former whitewashed glory, the stone exposed. In later photos, the timbers in the rafters and on the roof coverings were stripped away, presumably for use in other buildings, as was rumoured to be the case in some Blantyre buildings.
I have to wonder what happened to all this stone and masonry. Without demolition equipment, it would have been taken down systematically and it makes me think that it may have been carted away for use in the construction of new buildings, for Blantyre was certainly going through a construction boom in that era.
(c) Blantyre Project
On social media:
Archie Peat We could have one should have had a better product than New Lanark ( and more accessible ) had we not given up a large part to the David Livingstone Memorial and let the rest go to rack and ruin !!!