331 and 33 Glasgow Road is OAKBANK
| Constructed: >1902<1904 | Other Names: None |
| Constructor: T. Crombie | Original Address: 309 & 311 Glasgow Rd |
| House Type: Semi detached | Current Address: 331 & 333 Glasgow Rd |
Brief Summary: ‘Oakbank’ is a semi-detached stone cottage of one and a half storeys. Situated on a long rectangular plot, in front of the modern St Blane’s Primary School, it has 2 small bay windows and 3 upper dormer windows. It is noted in the early valuation rolls as having a garage.
Built between 1902 and 1904 by miner, Thomas Crombie of Auchinraith Road, the east side initially had address 309 (later 331 Glasgow Road) and served as his home. The west symmetrical side was rented for over 2 decades to Andrew Arbuckle, a butcher.
Thomas Crombie’s time living there was short lived and the whole property passed to his widow, Hannah, when he died on 13th August 1910. Hannah Crombie owned ‘Oakbank’ until her own death in the early 1920’s. By 1925, the whole building was bought by John Stirling McCallum, a merchant who operated from the bottom of nearby Stonefield Road. John lived there only a short time and by 1930 had sold the east side to James Pate, a surface foreman who would continue living there through Second World War years.
The west side, John McCallum retained for his own home, retiring there in the house previously rented by Andrew Arbuckle. Today, ‘Oakbank’ sits opposite a traffic calming island in Glasgow Road and at over 115 years old, is tidy and well maintained.
From the book, “Blantyre Glasgow Road – The Real Story” by Paul Veverka (c) 2017
Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said,
James Pate was my great-grandfather and my grandparents and father lived at Oakbank during WWII.
As I understand it, at some point the Pates owned a bus company – I believe my grandmother was a conductor and my grandfather was a driver on the buses, which is how they met.
Thanks Neill.