In Summer 1913, Britain was gripped by a bizarre and strange disease which seemed to be killing honey bees and Blantyre didn’t escape. The phenomenon was known as the “Isle of Wight” disease thought to be caused by a micro insect or mite (acarine) which got into bee hives. Allegedly originating in the Isle of […]
Due to the dangerous condition of the tenements opposite ASDA, one of Blantyre’s best butchers closed on 6th January 1979. A shocked Peter Craig had received a letter from the Regional Council on Monday 11th December 1978, giving him just 3 weeks to pack up and move out (including the Christmas holiday!) Peter who had […]
A photo from 126 years ago! This is High Blantyre at Douglas Street in 1892, looking across to the newly constructed church halls. In the foreground is a wooden cart, likely belonging to the whitewashed smiddy adjacent. Behind it is the Kirkyard Cemetery and behind that the tenements near Kirkon’s High Blantyre Cross. During […]
Taking you back to 1915 next. A man on a bicycle cycles over the crest of the road at Barnhill, heading down Broompark Road towards the junction with Bardykes Road. This whole area a hundred years ago still retained a distinctive charm, the stone stepped gabled buildings, some still thatched, whitewashed and relatively looked […]
This wonderful old picture was taken at a time when photography was a new, emerging technology. Unbelievably, it was taken in our very own Douglas Street in 1880 (thats over 130 years ago!) and may be amongst the old photos of Blantyre. Douglas Street, for those not familiar, is a main artery in Blantyre […]
On the corner of Glasgow Road & at the bottom of Stonefield Road was David Fisher’s yard. (Contrary to popular belief, the corner building was not Mickeys Cafe which was actually nearby on Stonefield Road) David manufactured wrought iron gates, fences and offered general blacksmith (smiddy) services. The main office and showroom faced out on […]
Elizabeth Hay was born in 1915 in Blantyre. When she was 20 years old, a bold and remarkable event in her life is worth retelling. Elizabeth was 20 years old in 1935 and on 2nd June 1935, she left her home in Stonefield Road and took a Summer bus tour with her boyfriend William R […]