Battle of Bonnymuir – 1820s – Local horseback militia put down 50 Radicals, after riding through the Pend under the Canal. I did not know about this until recently. This was potentially the first general strike with 60,000 workers threatening to down tools in Glasgow, alone.
Burke and Hare
Doctor’s Wood – John McColl explained the association with Burk & Hare leaving bodies in the wood while travelling back from Glasgow to Edinburgh
Greenhill Railway Train Types
Lower railway line was associated with the old LMS company and used steam engines designed by Fowler and Stanier – Jubillee, Patriot, Princess “Black 5” class.
Higher railway line was associated with the old LNER company and used steam engines designed by Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley – A1,2,3 & 4 Pacific. Classes A4 streamlined shape – Mallard famous engine, A3 famous engine the Flying Scotsman.
Latterly, Deltic Diesel Electric engines – I reversed Ballymoss into Haymarket Engine Shed – all of about 20 feet, but the most powerful thing I have driven – 3300bhp, I believe!
Lines cross near Allandale, before the Castlecary Viaduct.
Sheep Rescue!
My Dad worked for Smith & Wellstood’s and one morning, walking along the Canal Bank from Barley Hill to the Bridge, was part of the rescue of a sheep which had fallen in and was struggling to get out, having a water-logged fleece. My Dad grabbed hold of a horn which promptly fell off! Several men got hold of different parts of the animal to eventually pull it out of the water!
I fell in the canal
Forth & Clyde Canal – I was certainly someone who fell in! My friend Jack Swan and I were firing stones from catapults at bottles and other debris floating by. I leaned out to try and get a cardboard box out and fell in!
Smith & Wellstood and Shackleton
Smith and Wellstood provided cookers/ heaters for Shackleton’s doomed Antarctic Expedition. I am sure I saw one in pictures from their base in South Georgia (nr. Falklands)
I understand the ESSE brand and designs continue from a foundry in Lancashire, ironically.
Smith & Wellstood’s
Smith & Wellstood’s Foundry. We moved to Bonnybridge in 1957 when S & W closed their Liverpool Office. As shipping moved from coal power to oil, with associated lesser crew numbers, on-board cooking ranges changed to the detriment of S & W.
Stars
“Stars” – lumps of metal which I think were used to batter the surface of cast metal items before they were coated in enamel. The items eventually lost their star shapes leaving them vaguely egg-shaped. These small items were found in the roads around the Foundry and much prized by the local children.
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