Nostalgic memories of Motherwell's local history
Share your own memories of Motherwell and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 11 - 20 of 20 in total
Brandon High's 1957/8 Christmas show featured a spot by a fellow named Willie McAloney who played guitar and sang “Worried Man Blues”. He later played in a group called The Electrons and sometimes performed at the local Majestic at the top of Brandon Street, a venue long since demolished. When I got my first guitar at the age of 13 Willie, who was a couple of years older, taught me to play 'Move It', and also ...see more
If you were a boy in the 1950’s did you ever own, like I did, a gird and cleek? Many Motherwell fathers at the time worked in the local steelworks and some would make a gird and cleek for their young sons. Girls, on the other hand, preferred to play with a whip and peerie instead, though despite being a boy I enjoyed both. Anyway, the gird was simply a metal hoop and the cleek a metal rod with a hook at one end. ...see more
Motherwell in the 1950’s seemed fairly dull to me, which is where the Rex Café next to the Rex cinema comes into the picture, if you’ll pardon the pun. It was 1958 when I first feasted my eyes on the café’s flashy jukebox. It looked like something from another planet. I think it was a Rock-Ola jukebox, a state-of-the-art music machine made in the USA. I’m also reminded of Mills music shop, which was on Brandon ...see more
Another memory I have of Brandon High is being taught Scottish Country Dancing, an ordeal exacerbated by the fact that boys and girls were otherwise segregated and consequently perceived one another as members of an alien species. Girls would enter the gym through one door and boys another, then made to line up facing one another like opposing armies before reluctantly having to take a dancing partner. There ...see more
Memories of Brandon High also reminded me of the time I developed a crush on an attractive girl who also attended the school. I decided that a sure-fire method of gaining her attention was to present her with a box of chocolates. As soon as she emerged through the school gates I thrust the chocolates at her. She obviously thought I was some kind of weirdo because she gave a loud shriek and scurried away as fast as ...see more
Mr Potter’s angling experience on the River Clyde reminded me of an unfortunate incident in 1958 when I was fishing at Strathclyde Country Park. I was casting the line when I felt a sharp tug on it. Thinking it had caught on the grass behind me I gave the line a harder yank, but to no avail. It was only when I looked over my shoulder did I discover I had hooked the woollen cardigan of a little girl who happened to ...see more
I attended Ladywell Primary School from 1950 to around 1954. In those days the school was comprised of two prefab buildings running parallel with each other and separated by a cinder-covered playground. One morning, along with another boy, I was crossing this playground to reach the opposite building when Miss White, the headmistress in those days, banged on her window and summoned us both to her office. I ...see more
Having been an exiled Scot since 1966 I was rather dismayed to discover that Motherwell Central School (later known as Brandon High), which I attended in the late 1950’s, had been demolished recently. I clearly remember ‘Bluenose’ the maths teacher, who once gave me three out of a hundred for spelling my name correctly in an exam – the only thing I got right! I also remember the PT teacher, whose name ...see more
My grandfather James McCormack was brought up at this address and I am trying to find where exactly this is. He was a North Motherwell man; can anyone can point me in the right direction?
I think it might be Jerviston in Motherwell but not sure.
Hi all, I used to live on Easter Moffet golf course and attended Motherwell central school, my father was the club master in the early 1950s (Jack Potter). I used to go fishing down on the River Clyde between Motherwell and Hamilton near the Hamilton Mausoleum. I also fished in the Strathclyde Loch, I don't think it was called that when I was young. I also belonged to the Motherwell Scouts in Airbles Street near the bing ...see more