What news was hitting the Blantyre headlines this week, 44 years ago? Here’s some roundup news snippets of what was going on in March 1980.
At Morris Crescent, residents were complaining about dampness in their council homes. The problem ironically being it had only started after the council’s fitout and modernisation programme had taken place in 1977. Blocking up fireplaces had sealed airflow, causing dampness in some of the upstairs properties, resulting in some cases of residents having to throw out their furniture.
Elsewhere, funding issues again plagued the idea of creating a brand new R.C High School at Coatshill. In the field where TACT hall now is, a major high school had been planned, but funding being at an all time low meant council cuts to services. The focus at this time was on major new facilities like the Sports Centre.
Speaking of Sports centre, that week Hamilton & District Council’s new Leisure & Recreation Committee had accepted the lowest tender of £2,161,000 (about £13m in todays money) to build the brand new Blantyre Sports Centre, which was to be built over 26 months by Contractors Holland, Hannen and Cubitts. The new facility with a planned life of around 50 years would be state of the art, and at the time represented one of the council’s most expensive projects in all of Lanarkshire.
A car which caught fire on Glasgow Road that week was quickly put out by fire engines from Hamilton. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but the car was a write off.
Auchentibber WRI met on the Monday evening, hosted by Mrs C Hamilton and Mrs M Joy. The talk was on Lancôme Cosmetics with a further planned talk on antiques by Mr R Smellie.
The Civic Committee were meeting for the first time that year, in the Community Centre to start discussing plans for a week long summer gala. Members of the public were invited along, recognising the endeavours needed all the help and funding it could get.
The ‘Home League’ meeting (Women’s Salvation Army) was changed to Wednesdays. Captain Beattie of the Blantyre Corps said everybody past, present and new would be made most welcome to attend.
I like little snippets like these. Condensed into what was happening in a particular week. Things which may not be so important back then, serving now as a good record of life in Blantyre at the time. 1980 was a year of great change, mostly around Glasgow Road, a real pivotal moment for this town.
Pictured is the foundations of Blantyre Sports Centre being constructed later that year. Looking across to John Street, you can see the main pool has had already been constructed below the crane.
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