Milndavie

Our Memories of the Old School

Our Memories of the Old School

In July 2023 we posted on the local Strathblanefield FACEBOOK group asking people to share their memories of the old school. Here are some of the responses: It’s so nice to create a bit of history about the old school. I was only there my first two years of school...

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Dumbrock Mills and Bleachfields

Dumbrock Mills and Bleachfields

Stained Glass panel from Maryhill Burgh Halls showing bleachfield workers The abundance of water meant that bleaching and water-driven industries were commonplace in the parish in the 18th century and lasted well into the 19th century. By 1870 most of them had closed...

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Missing Men – George Douglas Wilson

Missing Men – George Douglas Wilson

George Wilson’s Gravestone George Douglas Wilson, Lt Royal Field Artillery, aged 45 The country edition of the Stirling Observer of September 23 1916 contains a simple stark sentence in its war news: “Lieut. Col. Douglas Wilson, Royal Field Artillery, late of...

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Missing Men – John Douglas Walker

Missing Men – John Douglas Walker

John Douglas Walker, Gunner Royal Garrison Artillery, aged 36 It is easy to imagine the wife and children of Gunner John Douglas Walker celebrating the news of the Armistice of 1918 and joyfully anticipating his return to Blanefield from the Front. It was a Monday...

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Mugdock

Mugdock

Mugdock Village Mugdock was at one time the most important place in the Parish of Strathblane. It was "The Towne and Burgh of Mugdock" and the "head Burgh of the Regalitie of Montrose” with a “weekly mercat ilk fryday and two free faires yearlie", granted by a 1661...

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STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 15 JAMES MACINTYRE

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 15 JAMES MACINTYRE

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 15 JAMES MACINTYRE, PRIVATE SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS, AGED 19. The atlas from his Aunt Rhoda that James took to war The pressed wild rosebud marked "Ardlui June 1916" The calendar tab for September 1916 on which James was marking off his days in...

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STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 10 ALEXANDER MITCHELL

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 10 ALEXANDER MITCHELL

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 10 ALEXANDER MITCHELL, PRIVATE CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES), AGED 36. Silk postcards sent by Sandy Mitchell to his wife at Duntreath Alexander Mitchel- family grave Strichen Parish Churchyard, Aberdeenshire Sandra Mitchell, Sandy's...

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Edenkill/Edenkiln

Edenkill/Edenkiln

View from Old Mugdock Road, where a lone cyclist contemplates the grandeur of the Campsies. Edenkill (now Edenkiln) occupied the heart of the community we now call Strathblane and was one of the three villages that comprised the parish, along with Netherton...

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Water

Water

Local Workmen with the Water BoardLeft to right : Tom McCulloch, Jimmy Baxter, Tommy Miller, David Getty , John Harkins The Glasgow Water Supply The Blane Valley is the final stage of what justifiably can be called one of the greatest civil engineering achievements of...

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Farming

Farming

Blane Valley from the Cuilt Brae Until the mid-20th century farming was very much an integral part of the life of the parish of Strathblane. The school log contains frequent references to children skipping school to help with the harvest. The Blanefield printworks...

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Children’s Home Hospital (1903-1994)

Children’s Home Hospital (1903-1994)

“Often a child made a dramatic recovery on the back of good food, fresh air & loving care” - Margaret McIntyre, who worked at Strathblane Children’s Home Hospital for two periods between 1958 and its closure in 1994.  Penelope Ker  The rapid...

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The Campsies and the Land of Lennox by Iain C Lees (1933)

The Campsies and the Land of Lennox by Iain C Lees (1933)

Extracts from The Campsies and the Land of Lennox by Iain C Lees, describing walks around Strathblane. (Blackie & Sons, Glasgow, 1933) Secrets of the Campsie Fells The rich valley of the Blane, which can be traced to its junction with Strathendrick, is the finest...

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Missing Men

Missing Men

For various reasons, a number of men from the parish fell in the First World War yet are not commemorated on the War Memorial. These men are also therefore only briefly mentioned in "A Village Remembers", a book about the men commemorated on Strathblane War Memorial...

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A Village Remembers: Strathblane First World War Project

A Village Remembers: Strathblane First World War Project

Families of some of the men on the memorial A Village Remembers (pdf)Download Contents Foreword by the Wright family Introduction by Anne Balfour (nee Johnstone) Jack Barr, inventor’s son Robert Blair, gardener James Cartwright, joiner William Cartwright, storeman...

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The Poems of Thomas Thorpe

The Poems of Thomas Thorpe

The poet Thomas Thorpe was born on 9 March, 1829 in Milton, Dunbartonshire, son of a block printer at the local works. When he was five, he moved with his family to Strathblane. One of his earliest childhood memories was being with his sisters in a wood where wild...

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