When the chips are down, High Blantyre man David Crawford knew what growing potatoes was all about – as the “Chieftain” of the tattie race shows! By October 1977, the 69-year-old retired headmaster dug this whopper, measuring a foot long and weighing 3lbs. 12ozs., from his garden at the Schoolhouse, Hunthill Road. Appropriately enough this […]
On Tuesday 7th August 1894, almost 130 years ago, William Shepherd a miner of High Blantyre stood in court accused of stealing coal. Now it’s easy to look back at historical entries in newspapers and conclude that somebody was simply a thief, just because history has them up in court for that charge, but in […]
Life was noticeably tougher in Blantyre during the post war years in 1918 and 1919. Food shortages and a struggling economy was bringing about recession and combined with severe railway strikes, that hindered the transport of food, the town felt itself in a state of hardship. The Aberdeen Journal reported on 6th October 1919, “Since […]