Strathaven

The Village of my Birthplace

I was born at no 24 Miller Street, Glassford in the year 1938 and lived there till 1948. I have very happy memories of my childhood there. Dad was a miner and was transferred to the east coast when I was 10 years old. I am the youngest in the family. I emigrated to New Zealand in 1958, got married and settled in Dunedin. I loved the freedom we had living in the countryside. I have been home on holiday four times and I always have a visit to 'the glessert' on my 'must do' list. Last time I was there we had a meal at Steayban eating place. That was in 2003.

Titled."Summers in Kirkmuirhill".....My Granny Brown lived there and as a wee boy I was sent from my home in Glasgow to stay with my Granny for the summer. I loved the time there and enjoyed the fequent walks with my Uncle Dan down by the river Nethan, where he would guddle for trout. There was a pub on the main road and a little shop was nest to it. On a Friday my uncle always said he was going to see a "man about a dog". Naturally he was going to the pub. I would walk along with him and waited on the wall beside the pub with a "jotter" and pencil in my hand which he gave me to copy down the registration of any cars and buses passing. Of course in those days hardly anyone had a car and the bus passed every hour. Needless to say I never logged too many numbers. I still have fond memories of those days and think of it often in Canada... Read more

I Was Born in Ashgill

I was born above the old post office in Ashgill and my family moved to Cornsilloch when I was around 6 months old.
My whole family from my grannie and grandad Nellie Waddell and John Smith and their parents Hugh Smith all lived in Ashgill Prospect Drive and Douglas drive.
My uncle Sandy had tomato houses out at Ayr road, I spent many a school holiday working in them.
Many a great time I spent in my formative years visiting the area.
Now here I am living in the great state of Wisconsin USA.
Happy happy memories,

John Smith.
tshanter@hotmail.com

Fond Memories of Ashgill

My Dad was from Ashgill and my Mum was from Stonehouse. Emigrated to Canada in 1957 where I was born. First visit to Scotland in 1967 and met my grandparents in Ashgill - 15 Bogside Rd - Peter and Jeanie Hamilton. My Dad was Willie Hamilton, or Bill. Am very familiar with the school in Dalserf - Dempsters garage - the Fingerpost - the old Post Office. The old miners houses at the bottom of the hill called Tint-a-view? (one of Dad's cousins lived there. There was no bathtub or shower and it was only one bedroom) and the Meeting Hall at the bottom of the hill - the farms up top (the Marlege?) Moved to Scotland in the early 1970s and attended Larkhall Academy while living in Stonehouse. My few years in Lanarkshire allowed me to see the whole village with my Dad's Uncle Geordie on our Sunday walks. Moved back to Canada in the mid 1970s but have been over... Read more

Granda

I remember Ashgill well, my mum was born and brought up there. They lived at 51 Bogside Rd, granda was a miner. I never met my gran, she died when my mum was very young - their name was Dodds. There was Lizzie, Mary, Matt, Jeannie and John. Can anyone tell me if there was a wee shop at the bottom of Bogside Rd called Queenies? I am sure there was - anyway great times was had in Ashgill.

Happy Days

Ferniegair is very dear to my heart. Being fortunate to have two sets of relatives who lived there we spent many happy times visiting them. As soon as we arrived at one Aunt's house it was off with the coats and across the road to see the other relatives then of up the high parks to play on the swings and the giant chute, it was ever so high and how we loved it. We had a cousin who just loved us children and had such a vivid imagination and could relate stories (and still does) that fascinated us. Having grown up and had family of my own, Ferniegair featured high on their list of favourite places and it was good to see the same cousin tell my son and daughter the same stories. Then we had the Gala Days which we attended every year and won lots of prizes for our fancy dress costumes. My children are now grown up but still delight in... Read more

The Norfolk Family Settle in East Kilbride

Work brought me to Scotland in 1975 and I needed to live within commuting distance of the Bank of England branch in Glasgow. Elizabeth and I looked around the south side of the City and fell in love with a beautifully restored eighteenth century style weavers cottage in Calderwood, East Kilbride. A new town is a lovely place to live when you are young and we loved it. Our son was born in 1977 and altogether we had three happy years living in Scotland before work made us move home yet again! We were very sorry to leave our lovely cottage home behind, and the garden which Elizabeth designed and built. Happily our dear neighbours also liked our wee house and bought it from us to make it their home. We have stayed in touch with them all these years as they became our son David's godparents. Just recently they invited us to visit and it was so nice to go into our old home and see it so... Read more