Month: September 2015

Jimmy Brunton 1919-2014. Jimmy’s father originally came from Peebles. Jimmy was a proud Old Town man and lived in Hamilton all of his life. He was one of Hamilton’s Last Cattle Walkers. He used to walk the Cattle from the Slaughter House (Next to the current Lightbodys on Bothwell Road) down Muir Street and in to the Market. Jimmy was once gored by a bull during his work but kept on working. He was also well-known in Hamilton, along with his friends for having a sing-song in the middle of Cadzow Street when the pubs had closed, another one of Hamilton’s finest characters.

Today we are posting the second picture that was sent in by David Rams. In the picture is an aerial photograph, looking over the old town and also features the construction of the M74 motorway c1965.

The land at the far left of this picture was part of Hamilton Palace’s Farm Estates, where they grew vegetables for the Duke. Local man Wullie Gardner (also known as Watery Wull) had a farm on this ssection of land. The houses at Mote Hill now occupies the land where his farm was.

At the top of the picture you can see the large football parks where the annual fair used to put on a show twice a year and is now called the Palace Grounds where the retail park and fitness club are today.

If you would like to share some old photos of the town then send them to us on a PM or by email at HistoricHamilton@icloud.com

Neil has lived in Hamilton his whole life & Christine (nee Gardner) is originally from Blantyre. The couple have lived in Hamilton all of their married life.

They met when they both worked in the Water Department in the old Lanark County Council in 1958 and were asked to go out one night in a foursome with some friends, they got engaged 6 months later.

The couple then got married at Blantyre Old Parish Church on the 18th of March 1961.They have 2 sons and 1 daughter who are all married and they have 11 grandchildren.

I had the pleasure of meeting Neil & Christine yesterday when they invited me to their home. The charming couple were telling me about their time in Hamilton and we also spoke about local & family history.

Neil’s mother Agnes R Scott (1901-1987) was a local Hamilton historian and she documented stories & wrote about the town’s history, these stories were published in the Hamilton Advertiser in 1966. Neil has kindly donated his mothers Journals to Historic Hamilton and will be republished on the page in due course, so look out for the monuments of memories of Agnes R Scott.

David Rams sent us this fantastic picture of the outdoor Regent Way Shopping Centre from c1981.

In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990’s you can see why people travelled from all over Lanarkshire to visit Hamilton to do their shopping! Hamilton in my eyes had the best choice of shops to choose from where you could buy anything from sweets & cakes to all the latest fashionable clothes.

In the Regent, before going to get your messages you would go in to Radio Rentals to pay your rent on your TV & video and then you would head across the precinct to the large Woolworths to buy anything from Pick & Mix to birthday presents. You would then possibly go over to Auld’s the bakers to get a cup of tea & a sausage roll and then, as you walked down the hill you would browse through the great choice of shops before heading into the local supermarket Safeway.

What was your memories of the Regent Shopping Centre? Did you work in any of the shops here, and if you did, why not send us your pictures & stories.

You can contact us by sending a PM or by email at HistoricHamilton@icloud.com

Not so long ago you could drive for five minutes in any direction and you would be able to buy petrol!
Garages, petrol stations & petrol pumps were everywhere in the town.

In the picture is a Chieftain bus stopping at a petrol pump at High Blantyre road in Burnbank, it is ready for it’s journey up to East Kilbride probably via the Blantyre back roads. You can see the parish church in the background and the buildings to the right are still standing, however the land where the bus depot and pump are situated are now landscaped, Picture courtesy of David Laurie.