A short poem to tell part of the story of the Glasgow Road tenements. We fondly remember shops and these old buildings but the more I research the late 1970s, the more I read about people in Blantyre desperate to get them demolished and modernise or replaced. Reading about the condemned notices and the deplorable […]
I read this warm poem by Jimmy Whelan a couple of weeks ago and thought it was well written and likely resonates with many people. When I stare upon this vacant chair I often wonder why you’re not there When I look upon the empty glass I recall great memories of the past A certain […]
This time ‘o year, let’s aw look back, Tae Christmas past in Blantyre, Cheers n laughin, jokes n gabbing, wi family roon coal fires. We close oor eyes, an see the past, An mind thae days sae dear, O’ friendships built, a love tae last, wi folks nae longer here. Wi’ festive cheer we toast […]
Wilma Bolton has shared this brilliant poem by Blantyre man, Joe Moore which appeared in the Hamilton Advertiser on 19/4/1913. “A SMOKE” by Joe Moore. There’s naething I like better, When ma daily toil is o’er, Tae get wash’d an’ tak’ ma supper, Then I wander oot the door. Tae view the scene’s o’ nature, Or […]
My Memory Took Me My memory took me the other day To a land that is now far far away. A land of innocence, of games and toys, A land filled with little girls and boys. Those little plastic golf sets you played with all day. Watching Bambi with my Mum at the old […]
A charming, forgotten Blantyre poem from 1924. It’s about a Blantyre lady (Peg) with a motor(caur) spying a wee lad on his way to the Pit to start work for his first time. The location is perhaps Station Road, the boy heading to a pit in Bothwell and having to cross the suspension bridge. The […]
Thank you to Andy Callaghan for sharing this touching poem he wrote, about his father, who was a miner and the importance of being outside in the fresh air. “THE RACE” Slight, but tough and strong as a pit-prop, My Dad cut coal in the dark all week. When loused he loved to walk for […]