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?
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 […]
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 […]
With the Herald Clock now signed over to us, today we started the actual work to save the historic artefact at David Livingstone Centre. The stone clock, weighing over a third of a tonne, a gift to the centre in 1941 was due to be demolished, but we stepped in during recent weeks with […]
With thanks to Bernadette Watt who shared these pictures. Her brother Brian Hughes built this Bogey for his delighted grandkids. It’s great to see a tradition like this coming back. This looks a particularly lovely bogey, built with care and love. Who all had a bogey in childhood then?! Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly […]
I hope you like this 3 minute video I pulled together representing Blantyre in the 1940’s. A collection of video and photos, I hope it captures the essence of 1940’s life. With forthcoming exhibitions, I’ve decided I’m going to do many more of these short videos, featuring different decades of the 19th and 20th Century. […]
The “Welcome to Blantyre” sign at the north western end of Glasgow Road was refurbished in April 2013 for the bi-centenary of David Livingstone’s birth. Unfortunately the designers made a mistake in the sign (although not many people notice it). The picture of David Livingstone is meant to be superimposed on a map of Africa as seen in […]