Buggy Buildings was a popular nickname given to three storey, stone tenements in Auchinraith Road, known to have some construction defects.
Once directly opposite Elm Street, it was part of a row of tenements and the Buggy Building’s official address was “Melbourne Place and comprised of two, three storey tenements.
The likely construction date is 1896 by Mr Guy Semple. (The building is not in the 1895 valuation roll but is noted on an 1897 map) By end of April 1897, the building had been completed with official name 5 and 7 Melbourne Place. Rental opportunity was £192/annum for the whole building.
As tenements were constructed throughout the town in the 1890s and 1900’s, building contractors turned to dilapidated buildings to see what could be salvaged. This also made the buildings cheaper to construct. At the time of Melbourne Place being constructed, the Village works in Low Blantyre were in a sorry state. Many of the homes in the village works were unfit to live in. Some of the buildings had already fallen into disrepair and contractors were starting to salvage whatever they could buying old construction materials from the struggling mill owners.
It is said that the nickname “Buggy Building” was given to that particular tenement in Auchinraith Road as the timber rafters and flooring joists were obtained from the old Village buildings that were laying derelict at the Blantyre Mills. This meant that the timber rafters put into the building, already were over a century old or possibly more. People commented at the time of construction that the old timbers were infested with woodworm (bugs) and the building name stuck as “the Buggy Building”. This obviously had an impact on the life of the building itself, for although it lasted to well after the Second World War there were many complaints. Families who lived there included the McIvors and the Dobsons.
The railway line ran at the back of the Buggy Buildings between them and the prefabs and Bing. Pictured in the 1930s, you can see how much frontage the buildings had on Auchinraith Road and may give you an idea of just how many people lived there.
By 1957 to 1960, the buildings started to become derelict and the residents were moved to the new Coatshill housing scheme. The Buggy Buildings were then demolished shortly after and are now no longer there. Not to be confused with a lower two-storey building, which stood to its right, named James’s Building or the one to the left, Radnor Place.
