Memory Lane, August 7 2008

Aug 7 2008 by Lesley Brown, Hamilton Advertiser

100 years ago

A YOUNG girl from Uddingston appeared in Hamilton court charged with theft after stealing a silver watch from her neighbour.

Solicitor Mr J. B. Ritchie, who appeared on the girl’s behalf, put forward a guilty plea.

He went on to explain that the girl’s father had died some years ago, and that she assisted her mother in household work.

She had been in the habit of borrowing books from her neighbour’s house, with permission, and this had been her intent when she entered the property on the day of the incident.

Taking the watch after observing it lying exposed on a dresser, the girl’s behaviour was described by Mr Ritchie as mere ‘girlish folly’. The Justices agreed, and put the girl on probation.

75 years ago

A POLICEMAN from Lanarkshire Constabulary was fined £10 at Glasgow Sheriff Court for stealing suit fabric from a haberdasher. The fiscal explained that William Marr, from Hamilton, had only just been reinstated to the force after dismissal, when the offence was committed.

Mr Marr was caught after his colleague, who Marr sold part of the fabric to, went to have a suit made up.

The tailor he visited was the same one Marr had stolen the cloth from, and he recognised his property.

Sheriff Berry said that as it was the accused’s first offence he would deal leniently with him – and offered the fine with an option of three months’ imprisonment.

50 years ago

UDDINGSTON cinema and the adjoining school-house closed their doors for the last time after it was announced they were to be demolished to make way for extensions to the Grammar School.

The building was originally erected as a public hall, and hosted many performances of local operatic and choral groups.

The silent ‘pictures’ were first brought to Uddingston by a Mr White, a plumber, and a Mr Young, an electrician.

Later, Mr Lionel Horton took over the hall and renamed the building the Picture House.

Mr James Walker, rector of the Grammar School and former occupant of the school house, announced that he was relocating to Bellisle Avenue to allow the works to be carried out.

40 years ago

RESIDENTS in the Glenlee and Russell Street area of Burnbank cut down their fruit trees in an attempt to prevent marauding gangs of youths.

They said that gang activity had got so bad that cultivating their gardens had become pointless.

Youths were roaming the streets at all hours of the evening ringing door bells.

Said one resident: “The technique is quite simple. If they get an answer, they enquire if there is any fallen fruit in the garden. If they get no answer, they immediately burst open the locked gate and trample down plants. All this for the purpose of eating fruit which has not yet reached eating condition.”

30 years ago

UDDINGSTON residents became increasingly concerned about their pets’ safety after several cats mysteriously disappeared in the town.

Some of them were found brutally kicked to death.

One family, who lived in Powburn Crescent, said they had five or six cats vanish in just two years.

One was found in their driveway with a broken neck while another had died from internal injuries after suffering trauma to the abdomen.

Neighbours, too, had their cats disappear.

Mrs Marian Marley said: “We haven’t a clue who can be doing this but certainly someone in the Uddingston area is killing these poor animals.

20 years ago

A LANARKSHIRE businessman announced plans to build a £3m “superdisco” in Hamilton’s Keith Street.

Mr Gordon Bavaird said he would be employing up to 300 people at the disco and leisure complex and hoped to build on the site of the former 3-D’s disco which was destroyed in 1987.

The disco would have been one of the biggest in Scotland.

Mr Bavaird said the three-storey development would have the capacity to hold 1200 people, and would include two lounge bars, disco, restaurant and two roof-top restaurants.

10 years ago

AMBITIOUS plans were unveiled by South Lanarkshire Council for the Vogue Bingo Hall on Keith Street in Hamilton.

The building was set to undergo a massive £11m transformation, turning it into an arts centre – complete with library and a theatre.

The facade of the bingo hall, a grade B listed building with twin turrets, was incorporated into the 8900 sq metre, four-storey arts centre.

South Lanarkshire Council wanted the building to front the new town square, and planned to include a 500-seat theatre, 3500 sq metre library, several painting studios and a roof garden.