Early on the morning of Saturday 13th November 1926, an elderly lady named Mrs Forrest, went missing from her home at Barronhill, near Larkfield. After the alarm was raised, several people engaged in a search when extended down into the Calder Woodland.
To the horror of the party, they found the lady’s boots on the banks of the River Calder at a spot called “Paton’s Hole” referring to a deep pool on the River. However Mrs Forrest was nowhere to be seen. The boots were confirmed by her son and was evidence enough for him to be convinced something terrible had happened. Along with a friend jumped into the deep pool and began diving and grappling to see if they could retrieve his mother’s body.
However, whilst they were doing this, Mrs. Forrest’s body was found further down stream in Calderglen. Calderglen is some distance from where the Pool was, so it immediately created a mystery as to what had happened. Did the lady go for a long walk in the river or did something more sinister take place? Despite searching, there are no clues in newspapers and I’m left to conclude this mystery was not resolved for certain.
From “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2017
Photo for illustration only.