Dennis Hobbs in America is the recent proud owner of buying an old Rolls Royce Car. Attempting to trace the history of the vehicle, he approached me recently about references to it being in Blantyre. He sent me the following old Log book and MOT certificate which showed it made in 1965, and serviced in […]
Between one and two o ‘ clock on the afternoon of Thursday 18th August 1927, a fatal accident occurred in No. 1 Pit, Bardykes Colliery, Blantyre, which belonged then to the Summerlee Iron and Coal Co. Ltd. The victim was Patrick M’Donald (20 years) , who resided with his widowed mother at 44 Dixon Street, Blantyre. […]
1929 would be a year miner William Kilpatrick of 293 Glasgow Road would have liked to have forgotten about. The miner, employed at Bardykes Colliery found another man’s payline, and as well as collecting his own wage, went back to the office at a later time when it was staffed by another person, and handed […]
From the forthcoming book “Blantyre Explained” by Paul D Veverka © 2015 The Name Bardykes is likely taken from the word “Bar”- meaning ‘low hills’ and the Gaelic Dike, Dyk, as meaning “a wall of turf or stone”. It is a fitting description for a lower part of Blantyre that would have stonewall farm fields. […]
In the 1700’s and 1800’s, a condition existed, which was known as “Astricted Milling”. This was a tri-party agreement between the landowner, his tenant miller and the tenant farmer on the land. It permitted that all the grain belonging to the landowner’s tenant farmers was sent to the miller for griding. The farmer would be […]
A great photo next from Loanend looking back towards Blantyre. Out of the picture to the right is Malcolmwood Farm. The photo, dating from the 1950s was captured from the elevated point at the Loanend bing, the former colliery. The tree line in the distance is Bardykes Road, the bing most likely, Larkfield.
On 26th August 1955, Patrick Docherty, a labourer of Hut 6, New Dechmont Camp and a 13-year old boy pleaded guilty to stealing coal with 2 other people unknown, from the refuse bing at Bardykes Colliery on 2nd August. Docherty was 21 years old. During a patrol, 2 police offers saw 3 men and […]