Today, 22nd October 2016 is the 139th Anniversary of the Blantyre Pit Disaster at Dixon’s Colliery in High Blantyre . At 8.50am that morning in 1877, over 200 Blantyre men and boys were killed, sending shockwaves of grief through Blantyre. Today, via Blantyre Telegraph, I placed on behalf of us all a beautiful memorial wreath at the […]
This is a photo of Glasgow Road at the junction of Bardykes Road. It’s 1890 or so and a group of miners stand outside the West End Bar (Robert Craig’s Pub). Robert at the time also was about to demolish the Clive Place Public House at the junction of Stonefield Road and build his […]
Following the pit disaster at Auchenraith Colliery in August 1930, an inquiry was held and reported on in detail in local newspapers. The report is as follows. The photo shows the relatives of the miners arriving at Auchenraith colliery in August 1930 to find out what had happened to their loved ones. “The first […]
The 1877 October Pit Disaster does not seem to have put off men coming into Blantyre in the following months, seeking employment. The Hamilton Advertiser told on 5th January 1878, “A considerable number of English miners have lately arrived in this district, and, as a few of them are still in search of employment. […]
More Mining history recently emailed here from Wilma Bolton. This extract is taken from Hamilton Advertiser archives. 19th July 1879. Page 2. It tells of an alarming trend for the colliery owners to employ men, intent on getting them to extract the coal, by any means, even without any sort of proper training of gas awareness. […]
In early June, Blantyre men Alex Rochead, Gordon Cook and I took a walk down to Priory, to visit the site of the old Priory Pit baths. The miner’s bathhouse dates from 1932 and are located almost immediately beside the railway, across from the Coatshill scheme, on the Priory playing fields side. Here are the […]
I noticed a question online a few weeks ago where Californian man Glenn Orr asked the question, “Does anyone know if the theologian James Orr had any connection to Blantyre? He was born 1844 in Glasgow, and my great great grandfather Robert Robertson Orr lived in Merry’s Row in Blantyre. There are many James Orr’s […]