I recently had the pleasure of corresponding back and forth with Rob Gordon, the brother of late Blantyre historian, Neil Gordon. Rob had very kindly contacted me to offer some of his photographs to add to the Blantyre Project archives, including a few of his own which appeared in Neil’s excellent A-Z book, “Blantyre: A […]
Photographed in Springtime during the early 1960’s, this is the ruin of Bothwell Castle. The vantage point from where this was taken, was at Blantyre Priory and looks over the River Clyde in a scene little changed from what it looks like today. Photo Courtesy of Jean McLean.
Another absolutely fantastic photo of an Edwardian outing by Stonefield Parish Church. Taken prior to WW1, the location is unknown but I think looks like nearby Bothwell Castle. The outing by the Church has all attendees dressed in their Sunday finery. Almost all men and women are wearing hats, the fashionable accessory of the era. […]
Something remarkable today, a photo perhaps the oldest of any Blantyre photos! This lantern slide was allegedly taken in 1860 by Sir Thomas Annan and shows Blantyre Priory when the ruin was still very much more intact than now. Incredibly this photo 161 years old was taken a full 17 years even before the Blantyre […]
This scene is strangely familiar yet different now. That’s because the photo is 34 years old, taken in 1986 after these fields near Blantyre Priory had been reclaimed. The Bings had been reduced in the previous year and flattening the unsightly mounds created relatively flat, new expansive areas, an immediate hit with dog walkers. It […]
Yesterday, I was pleased to be tagged in a post drawing my attention to this wonderful and beautiful painting of Bothwell Castle by English watercolour artist, Hugh William Williams. Painted in 1810, it’s actually a Blantyre scene captured from the vantage point of Blantyre Priory looking across to Bothwell Castle. I have a story about […]
This beautiful painting observed from the Blantyre side of the River Clyde shows the ruins of Bothwell Castle during 1768. Painted by Paul Sandby, it shows one of the former river crossings, this one near to the Priory. A family stand in the foreground, the woman holding a large fishing net, perhaps to catch a […]