In the first week in January 1897, the Hamilton Herald had a few stories noting some local Blantyre events of the time.
One major topic was the condition of Blantyre’s roads. This was generally a time before proper pavements and as other towns and villages upgraded, Blantyre folks wanted this done too. The paper writes, “Neither the side walks or the middle of the road is fit for pedestrians to walk on and the muddy condition of us poor unfortunate who have had to walk, resulting in a great deal of grumbling. Could granolithic paving not be put down? A small part could be done every year until done and this would not cause a large increase in taxation.” It would be a couple of years later until proper granolithic pavement and kerbs would be put in place at Stonefield.
Another topic was the lack of any proper waiting room at Blantyre Station. That winter rail travellers were huddling in a fireless, unlit, unheated mason’s shed next to the tracks. It was overcrowded and not at all pleasant. It would be 1899, a couple of years later before the Station had a major overhaul, raising the platforms and building new waiting rooms and ticket offices.
Another report told of the great fuss that one northern town in Scotland had the other day as motor cars drove along their streets. An unusual spectacle. The Hamilton Herald reporter boasted that he’d actually seen a Motor car and didn’t thing it “would catch on” given the noise and the almost silent tram car certainly going to be the future. There was talk of joining Hamilton, Motherwell, Larkhall and Blantyre by tramcar in 1897, but it would be 1903 before the scheme was fully up and running.
I like all these little snippets. I could happily enjoy spending copious amounts of time flicking through old newspapers to see what was making the local news of the day. Hope you found this as interesting.
Ai imagines these snippets in the era, creating a suitable image combining the subjects of trams and building footways.
