Little piece of forgotten history next. During the 1890’s, Mr. J Dunn owned 10 small, terraced houses in a single storey block at Larkfield. It’s thought these opened directly out on to Broompark Road located on space which is presently between the current Watson Street and High Blantyre Primary School. These homes were known to be fairly old even […]
A daring burglary took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, 23rd August 1896 at Larkfield, Blantyre. On the site of the current Olive Music Lounge (Doon Inn), 127 years ago was the Larkfield Spirit Vaults, a public house occupied by Mr. John McLaughlin. The robber entered under cover of darkness by bending back […]
Reviewing the monthly reports of Blantyre School Board, published in local newspapers, I found evidence that before Auchinraith School was built, it had been proposed to be built…..in Larkfield! The site of the current High Blantyre Primary was initially the preferred site for a new school in 1899, a school desperately needed due to capacity […]
During the cold winter’s of the last few years of the 1890’s, a theft was committed in Blantyre. Mr Peter Clark, a local miner decided to try to cheat the newly established residential gas network throughout Blantyre and between the 13th December 1896 and 26th May 1897 admitted to stealing almost 4000 cubic feet of […]
This next story is from 1908, but before anybody says anything, the photo is much later from 1977 for illustration only, showing Broompark Road at Larkfield in the exact spot of where this happened. On Saturday 22nd August 1908, a miner Mr William Devlin had been enjoying a few drinks in Grace MacCallum’s Pub at […]
By the 1900s, miner’s working conditions saw them working in shift patterns of no more than 8 hours underground. Still horrific, given the conditions down pits. It was an early ‘human rights’ law brought in by Parliament and at first contested by Coalmasters. More time in the mines, meant more coal brought up and therefore […]
In December 1980, there was still the question of what businesses would move into the new flat roofed shopping units at Larkfield. Owner, Jaquib Ali came under fire from residents nearby when he announced he was planning on letting to an arcade company. People were up in arms that gambling machines would be installed in […]