About Blantyre
Blantyre (Gaelic: Baile an t-Saoir) is a burgh in South Lanarkshire, Scotland with a population of about 17,000. It is bounded by the River Clyde to the north, the Rotten Calder to the west, the Park Burn to the east and the Rotten Burn to the south.
It is best known as the birthplace of David Livingstone, the well-known explorer and missionary who was the first European to see (and name) the Victoria Falls. His former house is now a museum which is at the end of Station Road, on the banks of the River Clyde. Also nearby is Bothwell Castle, dating from the thirteenth century.
Blantyre has a number of small Hamlets. High Blantyre is the area to the west and north of Burnbrae Road and continues to High Blantyre cross at the north. It is thought to be the area of earliest settlement, with a Bronze Age village near Auchintibber 2 miles south of Blantyre Parish Church (High Blantyre). Also to the west is Greenhall Park, where the Calder flows to eventually join the Clyde near Flemington.
Blantyre is loosely divided in half by Main Street, High Blantyre. At the west-end is Priory Bridge - named after the former Priory to the north which was home to monks from around 1235. There is also Coatshill and the village, the oldest industrially developed part of Blantyre. Glasgow Road continues south via Springwell and eventually joins to Burnbank.
Next to the David Livingstone museum, at the end of Station Road, is an iron suspension footbridge which crosses the River Clyde giving pedestrian access to Bothwell.
Mine disaster
On October 22, 1877 Blantyre was the site of the infamous Blantyre mining disaster, where 207 miners (men and boys) were killed when a coal mine exploded due to methane gas. There is little doubt that safety regulations were not adhered to. Christy Moore recorded a well-known version of the traditional song about this disaster.
A monument to the disaster of which the youngest victim was a boy of 11 is at High Blantyre cross. The site of the mine now lies under the East Kilbride expressway.