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Crawford
Crawford maps
Historic maps of Crawford and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Crawford maps
Crawford area books
Displaying 1 of 2 books about Crawford and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Crawford
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Lanarkshire memories
New Lanark Mills
New Lanark World Heritage Centre, the Mills and Robert Owen's and David Dale's houses belonged to my grandfather the late Jack Williamson, his company was Metal Extractions. It is a travesty and a tragedy that his property was compulsory purchased for the paultry sum of 30K to make way for The World Heritage Centre. Furthermore to add insult to injury there is no mention of him in the History/museum at New Lanark. I think this is a disgrace, not only have they stolen our family heritage, they have erased us from its history.
The People of Mirkirk
I lived in Muirkirk for a few short years and did not want to leave. The people of Muirkirk are fantastic, I moved there about 1978 when I left Edinburgh. My dad got a job in the area, he was not long out of the forces and came from Ayrshire and we have family in Mauchline anyway. When we arrived the very first night a group of teenagers came to our door and introduced themselves and took my sister and I out, from then on we had loads of friends from the village and had a great time there, swimming in the dam in summer, Tibbies Brig, the discos in the centre and who could forget the pie shop where we used to go early hours after the disco. The walks were lovely. The bus journey to Auchinleck Academy was a great laugh and I will never forget the time I made cakes in home ec and the boys from the village threw them at everyone on our bus, much... Read more
Rebuilding of Waygateshaw House
My name is Jimmy Campbell. I purchased Waygateshaw House around 1980 when it had been destroyed by fire, and over a period of 4/5years we rebuilt it in to what is is today. We had the 27 acres of land and the gatehouse which we lived in while we rebuilt the main house. I remember we purchased the central heating boiler which was used to heat the old Dalserf Primary School, it was a coal fired boiler with a auto feeder and worked well for many years. During the winter we had many power cuts due to the overhead power lines, so we fitted in one of the outbuildings a generator to supply the house during the frequent power cuts. I sold the property around the early 1990s to Mr Jim Ratter who lived in the Clyde valley. Jimmy Campbell
The Horse Racing Years
My father purchased Waygateshaw House, the Gatehouse, and 27 acres from Mr Campbell in 1989 for an equestrian pursuit, namely training racehorses. We were called Silverbell Racing. We had many visitors from the racing world, Red Rum stabled with us, and Johnjo O'Neil advised on the gallop construction and Ron Barry built the stables, a 32-box yard, state of the art.We had a first class trainer, Ian Semple, who left John Dunlop in Arundel to join us, and many winners were trained at the yard. The house itself was in a lovely private situation in the Clyde valley, but we believe it was haunted, we found tables and statues and ornaments turned in different directions at night when we came downstairs, and the noise of a train - yes, you read it correctly, a train! - used to emanate from the corridors upstairs. My window sometimes rattled furiously on calm nights, and a scratching noise was heard, and my sister-in-law Florence saw a woman in 18th century dress at the top of... Read more
Happy Days
To me there is nowhere like Skares was, and anyone who came from there will say the same. Everybody knew everybody else and they were always ready to help anyone that needed it. You could go out and leave your door open without worrying about anything being pinched. In the summer we used to all go on a picnic doon the blackwater when it was nice, and we'd go for walks roon the pluck. My mother sometimes took us up to the Covenanters monument up the Knockdunder hills. She used to take us picking rasberries to make jam in the summer, and when the brambles were ready she'd take us to pick them and scribes to make jelly. It was guid. We used to take our mother's clothes pole and loup the burn. At Halloween we'd go roon knocking on doors and we'd sing or say a poem and get sweeties, nuts and fruit. We were always made welcome. At Hogmanay some folk would go first fittin'. My granny (Meg... Read more
Born Near Stewarton, Lived In Newmilns For 11 Years
I lived in the pre-fabs built a few years after the war, on Strath Crescent. That would have been around 1953. Later, those 'white boxes' were to be demolished, so we moved to new council semi-detached houses at Persian Sands (I don't know what it's called now) near Greenside (I think that was the name) Park. I recall walks along 'The Broon's Road', playing near The Meal Mill, being in the Newmilns Boys' Brigade, 'scatters' at weddings at all the churches, buying 'The Beezer', 'The Dandy', 'The Hotspur' and 'The 'Beano' at the newsagents. While on Strath Crescent, I remember 'The Bleachfield', 'The Bing', and 'Heron Nancy's' (I always wondered how it got that name). I moved to Canada when I was 12 and often wondered what happened to childhood friends and classmates that I of course lost contact with after emigrating. I'd love to get in touch with some of them after 46 years. I wonder if they stayed in the area or moved to other parts.
Americans Enjoying Christmas at The Silvertrees Hotel
I lived at 13 Fallside Rd, and I remember as a child going up to the hotel window with other children to see these Americans celebrating Christmas, with a real Christmas tree. I think they missed their own families because I remember them coming and talking to us. My mother came and dragged me home with an American running after her, apologising to her and explaining that they mean'nt no harm. I left Bothwell in 1949 to emigrate to South australia
