| | Baillieston in the Early 20th. Century | Notes on Community Life by James Ramsay, Archie McDonald and the Wilson Family Compiled in 1978 by Pat Woods, Librarian, Baillieston Library. BAILLIESTON Information collected from Mr. James Ramsay, 4 Huntingtower Road, Mr. ArchieMcDonald, Main Street and the Wilson family, 60 Main Street. MINING Baillieston until the 1930s was essentially a mining community, and James
Ramsay worked in Brachnie Pit. The pits in the Baillieston district were
notoriously wet, and difficult to work, in. Over the years, there was a
chain reaction of flooding due to water from the Airdrie district, and it
was often a full time job to pump the pits dry? At Brachnie, a kist was
placed in the cage and lowered, to clear away enough water so that the
pumps could be reached. Some of the seams were so low that the hutches
could not be filled to capacity. were few facilities. Within living memory,
miners coming off a shift were seen swimming in the nearby canal to wash
themselves; this was more convenient than heating water in days before bathrooms. Mr. Ramsay's grandfather retired from the pits at the age of 73. His job
was to keep the fires for getting up the steam. He had to clean out the
ashes and load them onto a bogie, hoist them up with a winch and take the
bogie down again for another load. He began life as a canal boatman, and
he and his wife had a family of 12. Prior to the First World the favourite pastime of boys was to sit on the
Hangman's Brae waiting for the coal lorry and follow it. When it made a
delivery, the boys would offer to carry in the coal to earn some money.
The Buchanan family, who built the Episcopal Church in 1850, were mine
owners. Much of the housing in Baillieston was either built or owned by
the various colliery companies. Some of the pits were named as follows:
Daldowie, Calderbank, Elllsmuir, Bredisholm, Bartonshill, New Brachnie,
Old Brachnie, Gartloch, and the Whisky. BAILLIESTON SHOPS Baillieston had a wealth of different shops, and the traders held an annual
outing, photographs of which still survive. The Co op was very important,
the Co op building housing a drapers, boot shop, dairy, butchers and grocers.
Some people paid their messages on a quarterly basis, and John Hamilton,
the Manager had a novel way of ensuring that folk paid up. At the end of
the quarter, his shop assistants could be seen standing at the door in their
white aprons, Mr. Hamilton issuing them with the "lines" of those who had
forgotten. The names of the debtors were quickly known, and people were
shamed into paying up. Barr's Bakery was one of the most popular shops in
the village. Early in the morning, a queue four abreast, 100 yards long,
waiting for hot rolls and pies could be seen in the pend. Mrs. Barr and
her daughters made delicious currant cake in large steel trays, and after
handed the cuttings, which they saved in a tin box, to the weans through
the fence at the top of their pend.
The Barr’s were among the first to have delivery motors in the district.
James Ramsay worked in the bakery as a boy on Saturdays, when the wage was 2/- and the hours were 6.30a.m. 6p.m. Carts selling paraffin and fuel for miners' lamps came round the district, and within living memory goat's milk, was sold in the streets from itinerant herds passing through.
EMPLOYMENT Weaving was the earliest trade in the village. The Wilson family house at
60 Main Street was a two loomed weaver's house, which formerly belonged to the Jeffrey family, and Mr. Wilson's grandmother, as a young girl(c.1855), remembered going into the house to collect pirns. The Wilson family have been associated with the typical kinds of employment in Baillieston. Three brothers were in mining, and were killed sinking a pit at Swinton. One was a farm worker at Springhill where the Findlay’s reared champion Clydesdale Horses. An other member, William Reid, played for Rangers F.C., while another footballer James learned the trade of Lemonade manufacture, and set up a small ginger factory on the back of the land at the back of 60 Main Street. Pieces of ginger bottles can still be found in the back yard.The ginger factory only employed a few however.
A large source of employment was the. jam factory of Geordie McFarlane;
some 2/3rds of the women worked there. Other women went into either farm
service or genteel service. On of the prominent farms in the village was
Wilson's the present Cat's Eyes pub building. The present Smiddy at the
back was the barn but the farm itself was at Calderbank. Baillieston was
surrounded by farms on all sides. Daldowie farm stretched from the present
crematorium area to Main Street. (Wilson's at corner of present Dyke Street/Main Street). FAMILY LIFE Many houses, such as those at Sparrow Row were single ends, and with big
families, living conditions could he rather cramped. Space was utilised to
the full; the recess beds were high, and coal could be stored beneath.
The board or `cuddy` had a mattress and tyke on top. The storage area
was hidden by the bed "pawn" or curtain. Prior to the First World War,
open middens were the rule, and water was collected from, an outside well.
Wash houses were a thankful addition to the amenities and after the wash
was done, the children and the dog could be washed in the water.
There were 3 or 4 Wooden boynes in the wash house, and older women would tramp some of the clothes ( boyne = washing tub ) In spite of cooking difficulties, women had always something boiling on
the range or hanging from the swee. COMMUNITY LIFE Baillieston had its own band, first a flute, then subsequently a brass band.
Band Hall still survives in Church Street. The Free Gardeners were prominent. They held a dance in the Gardener's Hall (a 2 storey building in Kelly's Loan) every Fair, and a walk on the following Clay. The Shepherds and Rechabites also had a strong membership. Dyke Street, near the Cat's Eyes, was a gathering place. Nearby was a slaughterhouse, where boys could get a ”blether" (Bladder) for football.Annual Sunday school trips to Garelochhead on the Lucy Ashton Steamerwere popular. About 1910, Baillieston Pavilion picture house was opened by ArchibaldMacDonald, a coal contractor; it was locally known as "Baldie's". It had plush and leather seats, with wooden forms in the front of the hall. The Go As You Please night was one of the most popular events. The star turn was Johnny Maddon, the hypnotist, who could induce his volunteers to remove their jackets or trousers. John's Hall was the most popular church hall in the district. The parish church hall was not built until 1924. PLACE NAMES Baillieston has many peculiar place names e.g. The Serpent's Twist (Old Wood Road),the Cat's Close, the Baulks, Pender's Row (Buchanan Street), and Kelly's Loan.
The area beside the Cat's Eye and Sparrow Row is still known as the Terminus the place where the trams changed points and turned.
Narrative, exactly reproduced from the book in Baillieston Library. |
