Housing and Shops
The collieries provided long rows of practical, rather than decorative buildings, to house the workers of the coalfields. These “Raws” were mainly single-ends, with two set-in beds and perhaps a “hurley” that was pushed below a bed during the day with the “bed-pawn”, or valance, acting as a screen. Usually the occupant’s supply of coal was also kept below the bed, although some were fortunate enough to have a coal shed, while others piled the coal up outside, under a window. There was no sink or washing facilities and water had to be carried to the home from a stand pipe, or collected from the rain barrel at the side of the building.
When the men arrived home form their day’s work at the pits, the woman of the house would have the tub or “bine” ready filled, in the middle of the floor and would assist in the bathing. If wet, the pit clothes would be draped over chairs by the fire and clouds of steam would engulf the kitchen. The miner would then change into his “shifting claes” ready for his meal. In those days the coal worker lived comparatively well on food that was plain, but nourishing, given good health and steady work. But then, as now, there were strikes and short time which necessitated the use of soup kitchens. More importantly, there was no welfare state to cushion the blow when illness or injury struck.
Life in the “Raws” may seem to have been a grim existence and doubtless it often was, but if the truth be told some of the families would have preferred to remain there, when the pits closed and the houses were sold.
When I was 12 years old, my parents were told we were getting a new house in the village of Carmyle. We lived in Causwayside Street, Tollcross, and though I had heard of Carmyle, I had never been there.
I thought the new house was wonderful - electric lights instead of paraffin lamps, and upstairs a lovely bathroom with a beautiful white bath and wonder of wonders when I turned on the tap, instant hot water.
No more boiling water in pots, and bathing in the big zinc bath in front of the fire. What luxury! Carmyle has now become quite a big area with many housing schemes, but I always look on it as our little village.
Mud Raw Group
As you go over the Balloon Bridge on the London Road, going towards Glasgow, the land on the left hand side was where the Mud Raws were sited, alongside two large gas tanks belonging to Colvilles. The rows of houses faced Auchenshuggle and were surrounded by fields, coal and ash pits. The houses did not have tapped water, although they had sinks. There was a tap outside and six to eight houses shared it. These “raws” had two set-in beds providing storage for coal and potatoes, underneath. The potatoes were delivered by horse and cart. The residents were poor but happy!
Those who could afford the rent were first to move to the Gardenside area where houses had been built in three stages. Gardenside Avenue was originally Broad Road and development began with the terraced houses and continued down past the hay stack and round by the Pit Pond at the bottom of Gardenside Avenue and into the River Road.
The Clyde Raws were on the other side of the Cambuslang/Fullerton Road. They ran down towards the river at the side of the Auchenshuggle Woods, nearer Tollcross, although they were not within the Glasgow boundary.
Broad Road
The Carmyle Raws were opposite the Bleachfield Green on the river side. Water had to be carried from the spring in Pit Road.
In 1930, Council houses were built on the Inzievar Estate. These were built as slum-clearances and became Inzievar Terrace. Then came Cross
Street, and about four blocks of houses were built in Montrose Avenue.
It stayed that way for years, before the continuation of Montrose Avenue and Estate Road took place.
Park Road
I was born in 1907 in a small pit-owned house at the end of Inzievar Terrace where the St. Joachim’s Church now stands. There were three houses in the Pit Row. The neighbouring families were Buchanan and Hill. We had no gas or electricity and, worst of all, no water. Light was provided from paraffin lamps, heat from coal carted in a barrow from around the pit entrance, and water carried in pails from a spring near the Pit Road.
On wash days, as children, we were lifted into the large wooden tub, legs bare to the knees and we stomped and jumped on the wet soapy clothes, squeezing out the dirt. We slept in a bed recess with wooden boards as a base, and a large bag filled with lumpy bits of woollen material served as a mattress. The house in Inzievar Terrace where I have lived for over 60 years, is much quieter now since the trains stopped running. I remember having to shift ornaments and get rid of a glass display cabinet, because the whole house shook each time a train passed. There were compensations though, as clocks and watches were set to the train times as they kept a strict timetable.
Where Kenmuir Road is now, was an area of miner’s “raws” and well I remember old worthies living there. A pit was in front of these houses and I can remember fire doors being opened and shut. Along form the Boat Hoose was Granny Liddell’s house and then there was another little building with an outside stair at the back to a house above. The front was like a little hall and the Gospel was preached there. Then there was another three storey building and at the other end, further back from the road, another row of whitewashed houses. I always remember one very small lady - she was so pretty-pretty. She wore round loop earrings and black velvet ribbon at her throat, with a cameo. I also remember her gold tooth. She used to row a small boat across the River Clyde to bring men home from the Power Station. When the river burst its banks, these houses, right up to the Boat Hoose, were flooded. The people in the top of the building were stranded too. I remember a big schoolboy taking the messages on a raft and using a pole to get him along.
Carmyle House
On his marriage to a niece of Cohn Dunlop, of Tollcross, John Sligo commissioned the noted Edinburgh architect, William Burns, to design Carmyle Cottage, known today as the “Big House”. Burns’ practice was the largest in Scotland and among his clients were the Dukes of Hamilton and Buccleuich, the Earls of Haddington and Kinnoul and many other influential names of the day. He held the government appointment of Consulting Architect to Scotland and was a member of the Institute of British Architects. The house was built in 1836.
Archibald Dominic Smith-Sligo, Esquire of Inzievar, Carmyle, sold the property to Hugh Glen, a coal master, of Cambuslang, in November 1901.
Glen was declared bankrupt in 1913 and fifty per cent of the estate was sold to John Drummond, a plasterer from Abercrombie Street in Glasgow. The other half of the estate was already owned by George Robertson Watson, a merchant of Parkhead Glasgow, in an agreement between Glen and Watson dating back to march 1901.
John Drummond and the trustees of the late George R. Watson put the house and grounds up for sale in 1922.
Carmyle House
The new owner of Carmyle House, stables, out-buildings and 764 square yards of land, was Mr. Alexander Danskin, a House Factor of Glasgow. The full payment was £500.
During Mr. Danskin’s ownership, the stable area was rented to Sam Bell, a local coal merchant.
After Mr. Danskin’s death, the property was sold to Mrs Isabella McFarlane, a widow from Dunfermline. She later married Charles McPherson. After her death, Mr. McPherson sold the stable area to the Klick Firelighter Company, in May 1943.
For many years, the house became home to several young married couples. After the war, when housing was in short supply, the rooms were rented out.
When Mr. and Mrs. Sommers bought the property, it was badly in need of repair. They set about restoring the house to its original beauty. The roof was renewed, new windows were installed and the stone work, sand-blasted. The house has been declared a listed building, therefore all materials used had to concur with the original.
The new owners, 1991, are the Verona Fathers, a group of missionary priests.
The stables area of the property is now owned by John Ward and Sons, General Dealers and Saddlery.
Other notable houses in Carmyle were originally occupied by the “Parks”, owners of the Bleachfield.
There was the ‘Mansion’, which was the family house, at the “chip shop” site.
James Park lived in the large detached villa at the top end of Balmoral Drive, while his brother lived in a house, surrounded by landscaped gardens and large orchard. This was known as the “Big House” in Orchard Park, which eventually became tennis courts. The site is now derelict, having been vandalised several times.
The Orchard Park house was earmarked by the Ministry of Defence during the war, for billeting forces. After the war, it was occupied by squatters, since housing was in short supply. The land around and encompassing Balmoral Drive and Hillcrest Road, belonged to Mr. Sligo, owner of the Carmyle House. Semidetached villas were built on this land, approximately 90 years ago.
Balmoral Drive and Hillcrest Avenue
Part of the Orchard Park land was sold by the District Council, to Scottish Special Housing Association in 1985. Twenty nine sheltered houses for the elderly and infirm, were built in a rectangle shape, with landscaped gardens, communal sitting room, kitchen and laundry. A full time warden is employed and lives within the complex.
A rear view of the Orchard Park Sheltered Housing Complex
Shops
On the left hand side of Carmyle Avenue, at the corner of Dornie Drive, was Russell Place, a two-close building. Then there was a landscaped area and following that, were a couple of white houses, then a bungalow. There was a hen-run after that and then Warden Place.
I was born in Warden Place in 1912. The site is now landscaped, with a children’s play area nearby. It is across from the “Top Shop” pub. It was a one close tenement building, with six room and kitchens and three single kitchens and the owner was Mr. Bell, who lived in Motherwell. My mother collected the rent for Mr. Bell and she settled bills, such as plumbers, joiners etc. Shortly after the war, the building was offered to my mother for £200. I had just left the army and between us we had the necessary amount to buy the property, but I talked her out of it. It was later purchased by Mr. Fraser and became known as “Fraser’s Close”. It turned out to be a very worthwhile asset.
Round the corner from Warden Place, in River Road, was Mrs Adams’ shop - a general store, then Geordie Burt’s shop and another tenement building with two closes. There were the farm houses and the Bleachfield houses, where Mrs McLaren made tablet and sold it to the workers at a penny (1d) a time.
Next, there was the Bleachfield factory, the Green and there was a small Iron Works there, then a corrugated-iron house, which was eventually lifted complete, and transported to Causwayside Street, behind Tollcross Bowling Green.
The newsagents, we know as Freddy’s at 152 Carmyle Avenue was once Dan Wallace’s, a one window shop. The other half was occupied by Davie Shaw, the butcher, then there was a baker’s shop - that was Willie Graham’s, a relative of Mrs Graham who owned the Auld Boat Hoose. This area was called Orchard terrace.
Where the “Bookie’s” stands at the corner, was, at one time, a grocer’s, and then the Co-op drapers. Michie’s shop was originally a two room, kitchen and bathroom house, before Mr Bruce, from Tollcross, bought it and converted it into a grocer’s.
Bunty McKinlay was next door, and Nan McKinlay had the baker’s shop. Their brother, Davie, had a bakery where Robert Neil’s garage is today.
Another butcher’s shop owned by Kate and Jimmy Robertson, was next, and then the Post Office occupied by two Miss Eagleshams, and later Mrs Milligan. The re-furbished tenement building opposite Dornie Drive, was called Ivy Bank Terrace. Then there was a hut and Fraser’s Joinery business. Two small cottages were next and one of the owners kept hens which wandered all the way down Orchard Park, to River Road - they were certainly free range!
The next little shop was owned by two Italian ice-cream makers. Louis and Vincent made the ice-cream on the premises, then went around the district with a cart and two horses, selling it.
There was Magieyard Place, then the Co-op dairy, which later moved to Gardenside Avenue where the present Post Office is. Where the butcher’s shop is now, in Gardenside Avenue, was previously the Co-op butcher’s, and before that, it was the Co-op paraffin store. The “Raws” had no other form of light, therefore paraffin at 1/2d a gallon, was a necessary commodity.
There was Barnett’s Fruit shop and Lloyd Philip’s plumbers, before another three houses and a wee white cottage, with a gate on the pavement.
The Auld Hoose (Top Shop) had a building above it, with a close entrance at the back of the pub. Then there were two farm cottages, where farm hands Bob Young and Jimmy Campbell lived.
Most of the shops mentioned, changed hands and location several times during the 20th century. This information, given to me, and passed on to you will, hopefully, result in further reminiscences.
I used to help Queenie Wallace deliver the Sunday papers, and I had to go right up to London Road, carrying four big bags, to Ross’s shop, then away along past the Murray Volvo showroom, then on to Kenmuirhill building, down Kenmuir Road and back up Carmyle Avenue to Wallace’s shop.
Situated at an angle to the station, was the shop owned by Mr Patterson. It was a newsagent and tobacconist’s and was erected on iron stilts. Customers went there for five Woodbine, bunch of sticks, a penny caramel or coconut straw. They sold magazines and comics, such as People’s Friend, Secrets, Boys Own and Film Fun - the boys got free cigarette cards in this one.
Another shop was built, right at the end of the single track railway line, just before the Inzievar “Steps”. It was like a wooden hut and they sold groceries and broken biscuits - which you got in a newspaper “poke”. The shop was moved across the road to the site just at the side of Gopals, and it sunk into the low ground, therefore you stepped down to it. As the years went by it sunk lower and lower.
Magie
yard Place.
Farm horses led by Davie Brown.
Walter Buchanan in the cart.
