You may recognise this building, for it still looks very similar and exists today. Its the former Collinses Newsagents shop at the corner of Stonefield Road and Broompark Road. Shared here by Bill Duncan, this photo likely dates from the 1940’s and features the drapers known as Dunsmuirs.
Previous to this, the shop was also a drapers as Danskins in the 1930’s. It was owned by my great grandmother Agnes Danskin and her husband John. Agnes passed away in Whitburn in 1947. My gran told me during their time there, they had an awful time trying to clean the steps and windows everyday, which would be covered from coaldust from across the road at larkfield. Customers were told to close the door every time they came in behind them, for fear the dust would land on the fashionable dresses and silks.
The shop is thought to have changed hands in the early 1940s, when the Danskins moved away to Whitburn. Many people of a certain generation will remember the shop as Dunsmuirs which was known as that name for quite some time. The shop was run by Mr and Mrs Dunsmuir who are known to have had a son, Dickie.
I have good memories of the Dunsmuirs in the 1970s at their home in Broompark Road, whilst in their elderly years.
