
I recently found and bought this postcard on Ebay. Pictured not long after the demolition of Blantyre Works Mills in 1903, the scene is one of substantial dereliction and former glory. The slopes leading down from Shuttle Road down to the riverbank since this photo was taken have been reclaimed by nature, with new roadways, flats and renovated houses.
This is the bend on the River Clyde at Blantyre where once the clanking machinery of Blantyre Mills rang out in previous centuries. It is what it is now, but each time I see a photo or postcard of this kind of scene, I can’t help but feel that with a little more foresight and conviction in 1900 or so, this site COULD have been preserved as a heritage site, such as happened at Lanark.