What a different 70 years makes. These photos are of the same viewpoint, but taken 70 years apart. In 1979, the demolition of the Victoria Cafe is underway in this photo with quite a shocking lapse of safety, simply asking people to stand back. Courtesy of James McGuire’s collection, this is Glasgow Road at the junction of Forrest Street.
At the corner of Forrest Street, the former Livingstonian Bar, which once had an upper story in Blantyre Electric Cinema, the town’s very first silent cinema. The picture house previously went on fire, the lower story saved.
This was the end of an era. The TV repair shop, Jock Richardson’s Butchers. All gone.
