Kirkton Cross 1908

High Blantyre Cross looking towards Stoneymeadow

Kirkton Cross looking towards Stoneymeadow with Hunthill Road to the right c. 1908, with the old iron railway bridge in the background. The rounded block on the right was once the church hall.

Seen here on the left is the General Supply Grocers shop and further down was Shank’s Pub. This building was demolished and is now the site of the Dixon’s Pit Disaster Monument.

Although this picture of Main Street looks peaceful enough, the Advertiser was inundated with letters from outraged residents unhappy about the state of Blantyre’s roads around this time, with one man complaining about having to walk ankle-deep through mud in Chapel Street. Indeed, Andra McAnulty often told his grandson, Andy Paterson that it was common to be up your knees in mud when crossing a road and you had to walk against the flow, as it were.

The reason for this probably lies in Blantyre’s spurts of population growth which attracted the private companies who built many of these two-storey tenements. They were erected hastily, often resulting in both sub-standard housing and badly coordinated facilities.

Your Social Comments:

John Cornfield: Don’t remember the bridge but do remember the cross like this.

Cathy Kerr: I grew up in tenements just round corner in Hunthill road, there was a factory behind both the tenements in this picture and Hunthill road where jubilee drinks were made, we used to get free samples.

Caroline Lee: My dad lived in the tenements on the right but some of them were destroyed by fire. Garage was “blue” or at least the dog in the garage was called Blue

Elizabeth Weaver: Anyone know when the bridge was demolished? I thought it was still there when I was a wee girl. I remember the tenements on the right quite clearly, and the church hall of course.

Margo Haughen: There was a wee sweetie shop we stopped at on the way to Sunday School (got Rosebuds, cherry lips or Floral gums, I seem to remember?) Does anyone know more about it?

Elizabeth Weaver: Margo, you were lucky. The best we managed was a mint imperial during the church sermon – we sat next to our uncle John and he used to pass a sweetie over when the sermon started. To avoid rustling noises, the imperials were taken out of the bag beforehand, and my brother Brian used to complain that his sweetie was covered in oose from our uncle’s pocket!

Elizabeth Weaver: Oh, I remember those tenements on the right. I used to babysit for a John and Joan Nelson there – and wasn’t there a hair salon or something in the 60s? Great pics, Bill, thank you.

Keith MacLean: Grew up here, great memories, cemetery on the left, church hall on the right with tenements next door. Tenements on the left were gone when I was young and the bridge was gone. Old train station was left next to Parish church [I think] and remember a garage on the right just before the bridge. Wee guy bottom right standing outside Vals [The Victoria Bar or now The Cornerstone]. Great photo..

With thanks for the kind permission of Rhona Wilson and Richard Stenlake Publishers to publish photos from the book, “Old Blantyre“.

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