Although he had not yet reached his 13th birthday Bobby Brown, whose father was John S.G Brown, manager of Blantyre Picture House had by 1953 already made a name for himself. Young Bobby had already by then taken to the stage in many parts of the County, the West of Scotland and even Northern Ireland. […]
I promised you all that I had some great new colour photos to show. Facebook website, Scotland Colourised, will colour any of your black and white photos for free within 48 hours and a few weeks ago, I sent them a huge batch of photos from Blantyre Project. So here, for the first time, these […]
The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and colleagues (“pals“), rather than being arbitrarily allocated to random placements. Although the ideology wasn’t published, […]
This photograph shared by Lon McIlwraith is the glorious Back Room of Hastie’s Farm, just off Victoria Street, before the 1975 fire, taken from the end of the middle corridor. As you can see, it was very rustic looking, as one would imagine from the Stonefield Farm building. Old miner’s oil lamps hang from […]
A fascinating insight into the life of Bob Brown, former owner of Hastie’s Farm, written by his grandson, Lon McIlwraith. This article puts to bed, a myth or two and corrects some things that have been written incorrectly online in the last decade or so. Pictured is another photo of Bob and Sally. (Not […]
Over the next few days, we’ll be looking at some photos and information that Lon McIlwraith has kindly shared relating to Hasties Farm. Like this for example. Lon told me, “This is Bob’s cabin cruiser, ‘Hasties‘. I remember it seemed bigger, but I was only a wee lad at the time. Bob and some cronies […]
From the illustrated social history book… “Blantyre – Glasgow Road, The Real Story” by Paul Veverka (c) 2016 – 2018. Hastie’s Farm (Post WW2 Years) At the end of 1945, with inheritors living in Hamilton, Stonefield Farm ceased operating as a contracting business and was sold to a new owner. Mr. Arthur Cunningham bought […]