If you’re ever visiting the David Livingstone Birthplace, you may wonder what the small plaque is on the gable of Shuttle Row. Not the prominent one at ground level telling for the 1929 opening, nor the one on the North Gable telling the story of the bell. Instead, looking upwards on the South side, just […]
Pictured just before the Millennium in rare aerial photo is the David Livingstone Birthplace, or David Livingstone Centre as it was known then. The photo was arranged by Neil Gordon and appears in his book just after the Millennium. Seen here for the first time in high resolution colour, you can see the building had […]
Another little piece of Blantyre nostalgia I acquired by auction is this fantastic Magic Lantern Slide. Dating from the late 1890’s, it’s in great condition and marked slide 2. (Which begs the question what were all the other slides?!) The glass slide, around 80mm square, was larger than I expected when I purchased it on […]
A familiar scene. This is Shuttle Row, at the Village, Blantyre. A postcard from the 1930’s or 40s in black and white and a lovely painting from a similar vantage point by Betty Gillespie, painted many years ago. Definitely worth showing here! With thanks to Alex Rochead for sharing.
A tragic little known story next, but one put up here to remember a particular little Blantyre girl. On the afternoon of Saturday 21st November 1903, three year old Robina Wilson was playing at Shuttle Row, at the Village, Low Blantyre. She was the adopted child of Patrick McInlay, who lived in one of the […]
This previously unseen photo of Shuttle Row, was taken likely in the 1930’s and featured on an early postcard for the centre. Taken not long after the building became a museum, it shows the renovated building with new stone steps leading to the lower part and a new stone wall, in the location where formerly […]
According to the justices, on 2nd June 1908, Thomas Murray, a miner living at 9 Shuttle Row took drastic action to put food on the table. Shuttle Row, pictured around this time was a slum and conditions were most difficult. It was said that on that day, he approached the entrance to the nearby Linoleum […]