In 1880, washing lays out on the slopes in drying greens on the eastern side, facing down on to the River Clyde. It must have been a time of transition for workers when this photo was taken. A new school at Glasgow Road meant some children no longer went to the old school pictured on the right hand side. The mills were also in decline, jobs being lost through lack of orders and ever evolving mechanised work.
Talk would of been about coal, about the discoveries being made all over Blantyre and arrival of large coalmasters sinking pits, building homes in Stonefield to house them. I’m sure many families switched profession from weavers to coalminers in that decade.
The houses were destroyed by fire on Burns Night 1928, and today their location is now the homes at the very back of Fagan Court and Caskie Drive.
Extracts from “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2017