15th February 1971 was a very different kind of D day. Today, marks the 50 year anniversary of Decimalisation, when our old coins turned to the more familiar coins we have today. Who remembers this? Any stories to tell?A great little video about this can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yE-wA24xJ8
Category: Blantyre Events
Railway Collision at Blantyre
A train crash occurred in Blantyre on Monday 21st December 1914, exactly 106 years ago today. That Monday evening an alarming collision between a passenger train and a mineral train took place between Blantyre and Newton on the Caledonian Railway. The track was which was blocked was cleared on the Tuesday morning and services resumed […]
Popular Lantern Show
On the evening of Wednesday 25th November 1914, Blantyre children packed into the former Caldwell Hall on Glasgow Road for a magic lantern show treat! Constructed in 1900, the tall building once sat at the corner of Glasgow Road and Auchinraith Road and the spacious hall inside (being used then as a Gospel Hall) was […]
Sad, School Board Prosecution
Tuesday 23rd February 1915 saw Blantyre woman Mary Borden (or Duffy) up in Hamilton Sheriff Court upon the insistence of Blantyre School Board. Mary, of 37 Hall Street, Blantyre was facing an attendance order for her 4 children not attending school. It was stated that as her husband was currently serving in the army, she […]
Mysterious Station Road Fire
On Wednesday 19th May 1915, fire broke out at Raploch Cottage on Station Road. The property was well known as being the home of the former Blantyre bonesetter William Rae, though it had been 10 years since he died. In 1915, it was occupied by Mr William Rae jnr, a dairyman. The mysterious fire was […]
Laggards of Mid Lanark
By the end of 1915, the initial earlier waves of support from men enlisting for WW1 active service had started to fall away slightly. The horrors of battles being reported back to Britain and realisation of so many deaths and that this was going to take longer than thought, meant fewer men were signing up. […]
Alarming Motor Accident
Summer excursions during war years offered a chance for families to get away and still provide their children with a day out, despite fathers, brothers and uncles not being there. One such day happened in Blantyre on 30th August 1915. A motor Char-a-banc was loaded up with 23 women and children from the Village, with […]
War & Blantyre Bowling Club
Friday 24th September 1915, saw the Blantyre Bowling Green close at Stonefield Road. It was not just the last game of the season, but the prevailing difficult and escalating WW1 conditions, was generally making sports and recreation a thing less on people’s minds. The last games were carried out quietly and instead of the usual […]