Lets go to 1979 next and pictured here in September that year is the view from the former Craighead Bing. Looking back towards Blantyre, you may be able to make out the burned out shell of the Stonefield Parish Church, which caught fire that month.
The cleanup operation was due to commence on the Bing, part of the overall plan for Blantyre’s redevelopment, which was underway on nearby Glasgow Road. Redundant railways, disused colliery buildings and the bing itself proving unsightly and indeed “in the way” of the planned next phase of the EK Expressway.
It is with foresight that this photo was taken to show the scar on the landscape that coal mining had left in this area.
