From over 100 years ago, this photo was taken at Auchentibber Quoiting Ground, outside the former Auchentibber Inn. Pictured are the male toilets, a small rustic outdoor building made of wood, for the miners and visitors if they were “caught short”.

This little building would have been approximately behind where the Auchentibber War Memorial is today, now all woodland. The toilet was male only and comprised of a wooden frame. It was clad in pieces of bark, nailed to the building and was partly ‘living’ by the looks of this previously unseen photo, covered in ivy and plants!

Inside looks very basic, with a hint of the pipework for male urinals. Despite it’s aesthetics and charm, we have to wonder how often it was cleaned, if at all, and positive there would have been a smell coming from this area certainly in warmer months.

Still, it’s a little piece of Blantyre history, now long forgotten and was entirely gone even by the late 1930s. It’s only due to the foresight of pre WW1 local photographer David Ritchie that we’re able to see it in such clarity now.

Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:

Jessie Caldow These photos are so awesome, and of great historical worth
Maggie Anderson Looks like some of the loos i’ve been in …in Turkey !!!
Jim McSorley This is great snippets of history Paul, thank you for sharing.