Here’s a little Blantyre snippet from February 1893. That month, some local workmen were digging at Low Blantyre. In Particular, on the New Station Road, the road which would eventually become John Street. At the time, there were no structures along this very rural track and it is known already by that time to have been called ‘New Station Road’.
John Street today with exception of the gradient leading up to Glasgow Road, is otherwise fairly flat and this may have been due to this early preliminary work removing the small embankments. This was a time when Stonefield and Glasgow Road was becoming very populated and this track, used as a shortcut by the miners was clearly being upgraded as a more important connection up to the busy areas of the town.
On the morning of Saturday 4th February 1893, Paul MacPherson was a labourer engaged in digging the embankments and wheeling away the earth to an area of fill. Hard, manual work in a time before mechanisation. Whilst digging an embankment at the side of the road, it suddenly fell away, collapsing in on him!
Paul was covered with falling debris and when colleagues ran over and removed him from the collapse, he was found to be badly injured. Dr J Cowan Wilson was summoned immediately and diagnosed a broken leg amongst other injuries. The left leg broken below the knee.
The Blantyre ambulance waggon was fetched and Paul was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
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