How’s this for a wonderful photo!? This photo is of Jessie Ritchie who was born on 11th October, 1896 at School Lane, High Blantyre. The daughter of David Ritchie, once a travelling joiner and Mary Ann Fleming, her dad is the assumed photographer. This photo is perhaps 1907 or 1908 and the bike is her fathers.

The exact location is known, outside the door of her home in the then newly formed, Broompark Avenue. The building at the back is the former Broompark House, which would later become home to the Jope family of Doctors. Behind Jessie is a small field with a shed for either a pig or poultry, where now Broompark Grove sits. Broompark Road is out the photo to the right. In July 2009, before the flats were built in 2011, the exact bike scene looked like this:

From the collection shared to me by Alex Bowie.