Margo Pollock shared this photo from 1960 saying, “Many happy times spent with my family 42 Birdsfield Drive, my second home. So many wonderful memories. On the left my gran Agnes Cornfield with my mum Marie Pollock nee Cornfield, My Uncle Peter top and Uncle Roy bottom taken at the back door the year I […]
Duncan McKay was born in 1826 in Inverkip. He came to Blantyre to work for the first time in 1858 aged 32 coinciding with his marriage. He commenced his business as a joiner and cartwright at High Blantyre. He had no capital but only a few pounds saved from earnings when he arrived. By 1861, […]
Taking you back to 1962/1963. A great, but very short video of kids playing in Blantyre at the Timber Houses former playpark. First half is Hamilton. Ends with shots of Caldervale (Fin Me Oot) and Dechmont. PURE nostaliga. I could immerse myself in these sort of videos all day long. Featuring Blantyre Project Social […]
Mark Cranston runs the very excellent brick history website at https://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk . He recently contacted me, posting me this small telegram from April 1892, addressed to W&J Cochran of Birdsfield Tile Works, at High Blantyre. The J Cochran(e) of this telegram was JR Cochrane who lived at Calderglen, now the nursing home. He owned the […]
I’ve previously written about a little 1884 ruined chapel at Calderglen, the article here: https://blantyreproject.com/2014/06/02/cochranes-chapel-blantyre/ However, back in February 2016, on a particularly rainy weekend, I set off with Gordon Cook and Alex Rochead to the location of the chapel, armed with a shovel, to see if we could find anything. The purpose primarily was to […]
Birdsfield in High Blantyre most likely got its name from being exactly that a field, commonly used by birds. However, Birdsfield Farm was not the place to be if you were a bird in July 1932. A court case was heard in July 1932, where a fourteen year old boy was found guilty of causing […]
This remarkable newspaper clipping is from the “Calendonian Mercury” newspaper Wednesday 22nd September 1769. It describes an event that took place 244 years ago tomorrow, on 8th December 1769. Described in that newspaper is the sale or let of the lands of Bellsfield, Birdsfield and Burnbrae (that ultimately became Broompark). After the sale, substantial […]