A fantastic photo I’ve only seen for the first time this week, shared here. These are the construction workers at Blantyre’s David Livingstone Memorial Bridge during the early 1950s. The old suspension bridge was away and construction of the new bridge had started, with scaffolding in place and the beams being hoisted into position. Rather […]
Category: Blantyre Icons
Cowan Wilson Memorial Arch
A previously unseen photo of the Cowan Wilson Memorial Arch in Stonefield Public Park. Taken in the early 1960’s, the nice thing about this photo isn’t only just the beautiful arch, but it’s the beautiful flowers all around the park and who beautiful the whole scene is. No houses on the park, lovely well kept […]
1952 Livingstone Memorial Bridge
I don’t think I’d seen this photo before until High Blantyre resident, Jean McLean shared it. It’s from 70 years ago, a full year even before the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This is the River Clyde and the construction of the David Livingstone memorial Bridge at Blantyre, replacing an older bridge which was located […]
McSkimming Ice Cream Van
Who remembers John and Rita McSkimming’s Ice Cream Van? It’s pictured here and was often seen on the Springwells and Coatshill run between 1996 and 2003. A distinctive, coloured van. With thanks to the McSkimming family for sending this in. What can you remember about this van or other ice cream vans through the decades?
Priory Bridge, 2019
Blantyre Project reader, Davey sent in these photos recently. Taken in 2019, they are of course the Priory Bridge in Low Blantyre. This is a good series of photos showing not just the beauty of the river and the bridge in summer months, but also showing some concerning deterioration of the abutments. The bridge […]
Pey Brig Piers & Abutments
In early February, Alex Rochead took a walk along the Clyde upstream from the David Livingstone Centre and came across some ruin structures on the river bank. These appear to be the piers and abutments from the former Suspension Bridge, first erected in the mid 19th Century. They seem fairly low and I can […]