Ok, this photo has me beat! I’ve been trying to work out who the men are, but failed miserably. So let’s look at what’s known. This photo is either the 1900s or 1910s and was taken by early photographer David Ritchie who lived at High Blantyre. The men are smartly dressed and wearing quoiting medals on their pocket watches indicating their proud accomplishment in that sport. The 2 men appear in other Blantyre photos. One is carrying a box, which may be the case for the camera, which would have been mounted on a tripod stand.
The width of the river, indication of a river bend and the flat plain in the background looks typical of the River Calder around the Milheugh area, though I can’t confirm that location given the differences that may have taken place over the years.
This is a real longshot, but if you know these men as grandfathers or great grandfathers from your old photos, please do get in touch. I suspect very much they are Blantyre men.
The black and white photo was kindly colourised by Scotland Colourised.
Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:
Cameron MacBride Peachy & Willie Campbell?
Claire Conner The Peaky Blinders of Blantyre
Margo Clayton I think that could be David Ritchie on the right
Blantyre Project More i think of this, I think you may be right Margo! That fits well with him holding his own camera case and would mean in this instance somebody else took this photo in his collection.
John McManus Does anyone know anything about an old ruined building down in the woods between the houses on Calderglen Avenue and the railway track? Looks like it was once quite a substantial, sandstone structure?
Margaret Duncan They both have spent a long time polishing their shoes – have you ever seen such a shine – so well attired and yet still wearing flat caps
Lorna Hughes Love the moustaches
Dennis Kane Could they be related…They look alike?
Chris Ladds Paul the opposite river bank along with the relative scale of the mature trees, appears that distant in the pic that I am unsure if this can be the Rotten Calder even at Milheugh?
John Breen They r well dressed and respectable looking
Whit r they up tae up the cawther.
Blantyre Project if this is where i think it is at Milheugh, the opposite field over the river was their curling ground, though they are clearly well dressed in the pic.The mind boggles