What a fantastic photo this is from around 1905 or so. This is Blantyre Bowling Club, on their green, just off Stonefield Road. From my own collection this photo has never been seen online until now with both the original version and a colourised version for a touch of realism. The roofs of Dixons Rows […]
Catherine Logan Findlay
Catherine Logan Findlay was born in Blantyre in 1883 the daughter of steel presser, William Findlay and Margaret Logan. Catherine was a Blantyre Village lassie, growing up at Newlands in Low Blantyre, which was just off Station Road. It is likely she was schooled in the village or at Stonefield. On Saturday, 13th June 1896, […]
Blantyre Boy Scout, c1910
Whilst 3rd Blantyre Scouts origins date back to 1930, there were actually earlier Scouting Groups in Blantyre. Even prior to WW1, Boy Scouts had been inaugurated in Low Blantyre in Springtime 1909, based from the Caldwell Halls on Glasgow Road. By April 1909, in a matter of weeks, there were over 70 boys enrolled for […]
Keir Hardie Visits Blantyre, 1896
On Wednesday 8th July 1896, a large group of people met in the Democratic Hall, Stonefield in Blantyre. The occasion? To listen to miners champion, Keir Hardie who was visiting Blantyre that evening. The organisation was the Lanarkshire County Union of the Independent Labour Party (a few years before the formation of Scottish Labour Party, […]
More Jerusalem Homes
A further photo from Claire Murray showing the Jerusalem Homes, this time a little more towards Main Street and Douglas Street. Taken in 1972, they clearly show the original flat roofs. I loved playing in this estate when I was a child! The wide open spaces, great paths, lanes and parks for bikes, plenty of […]
Back to the Fields, 1896
Here’s a little story next, which made the Blantyre news in July 1896. Although a minor incident, I found it interesting enough to include here on Blantyre Project, if only to show how things were so clearly different 127 years ago. 1896 was a big year for Blantyre. Many of Glasgow Road’s tenements were built […]
Jerusalem Homes, 1972
Nicknamed the Jerusalem Houses, it’s easy to see why the flat roofs provided that term to local people. These were brand new family homes and flats, expanding Blantyre significantly building upon former agricultural fields, hedgerows, railway sidings and tracks used previously by miners. Shared here by Claire Murray, this photo shows nearly the whole estate […]