I recently had the pleasure of corresponding back and forth with Rob Gordon, the brother of late Blantyre historian, Neil Gordon. Rob had very kindly contacted me to offer some of his photographs to add to the Blantyre Project archives, including a few of his own which appeared in Neil’s excellent A-Z book, “Blantyre: A Historical Dictionary”

Following Neil’s passing in 2004, Rob gathered together all of his brothers information and photos and pulled together the book in his memory. A remarkable feat of research when you think back that Neil did much of this without the internet, often finding himself in libraries. Rob’s efforts were sincerely appreciated by many, many people who subscribed to the book being published and the rest as they say, is history.

Rob has shared this photo, which appeared in the book in black and white. This was taken by Rob in the mid 1960s. However, this will be the first time you’ve seen a good resolution colour photo of this scene. It’s taken from the lofty heights of the former Priory Bing, looking northeastwards over to Bothwell Castle. A Bing collapse during the 1940’s almost blocked the River Clyde and that particular narrowing can be seen at the base of the bing.

What’s notable in this photo are the green expansive fields beyond the castle, which have now given up to modern affluent housing around that area. It’s a great picture and lends itself well to demonstrate just how high the Bing was!