When Mr Ness, the Village Schoolmaster came to Blantyre in 1856, the principal industry in the Parish was the spinning and weaving mills, and the dye works alongside them. There were no coalfields at the time, but limestone kilns, particularly in the Auchentibber district and stone quarrying were other good assets of the area. The […]
The Blantyre Mills lay derelict and empty in 1903. A building, which by then was 118 years old had served its time, and the people of Blantyre well. Through its doors thousands of people, often over many generations in same families and some as young as 10 years old, had worked at the equipment. […]
Pictured here, in a previously unseen photo online, is Shuttle Row in 1895. The photo, although somewhat faded in tone, is remarkably sharp in detail. The washing lines out in the front garden, the washhouse to the left, the water pump in the foreground, which served the whole building. The building is of course […]
Whilst looking at a less common map of 1832, I noticed with some surprise a name that is not used in Blantyre anymore. Clayhouse appears on Station Road, approximately beside where the Village Bar would be. This is somewhat of a mystery to me, and has proven most difficult to research. Not only are […]
On Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2015, the archaeologists of the National Trust descended upon the site of the former Blantyre Village Works Mills, and in particular a site at the former Madder Mill, near the old water lade. The Madder Mill location is now woodland, so digging there was expected to present some […]
A couple of excellent photos well over one hundred years old! Pictures around 1905 or so is the Wages Office building at Blantyre Works. The building was not isolated or detached, but instead at this time was still terraced. At the time, the first suspension bridge was still situated some distance upstream and was not […]
Pictured here in 1950 is Duncan Kippen after a fire at Walkers Flour Mill, Blantyre Village. The story was shared to me from Gordon Cook who commented, “Walker’s old Wood Flour Mill. They ground down wood to such a fine extent, it was taken to Kirkaldy and other places (usually in Fife) and used in […]