A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

[mike mccann]

Just heard the sad news this afternoon from Saltcoats that Jim McAuley dropped dead from a massive heart attack this morning. May He Hest In Peace .

[Penny Tray]

I mentioned Jim on the stroll away back on 1 October 2010, making reference to his joinery business in Saltcoats in the 60s. I haven't met him since that time but always remembered his pleasant personality. I'm so sorry to here this news.

[down south]

I'm sure many others too will be sorry to hear that, Mike.

Moving on now from Old Raise Road, down Victoria Road and Braehead Place to arrive at the junction of Raise Street and Argyle Road. Here still in the sixties I believe stood Braehead House , one of the old mansions of Saltcoats, which has been recalled in some detail here.

Also nearby at 94 Raise Street, in that short stretch that seems more like part of Sharphill Road, was one of Macphersons' grocery and dairy shops; a newsagent in a cabin seems now to stand on that site.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.63759 ... 56!6m1!1e1

And round the corner a short way into Argyle Road, at No 36, was Gonella's Venetian Cafe, recently mentioned on the Stroll; and famed for its ice-cream, of which there have been many appreciations elsewhere on this site, such as here .But it seems as though it may have been gone by the mid-seventies, because this business was by then advertising itself at that address:

Susan

[down south]

We've looked at the Raise Street area earlier on the Stroll, around p62/3; but one place we didn't visit then, was the side street known in those days as Factory Place. So round a corner or two now to there.

Where there was indeed a factory in the sixties era; Glenhusky, which manufactured suede and leather goods, and I think I've seen mention of knitwear as well? They must have had a factory shop of some kind too, for there were adverts like this one from time to time for clearance sales:

But Factory Place isn't named after that one, because the name dates back to the nineteenth century, when it was Factory Lane. Here's one earlier manufacturing business there, in a Herald Files from 1906 :

" August 3, 1906. Messrs Arnott and Crawford have just built a commodious establishment for cabinet making in Factory Place, Saltcoats; a large erection on three storeys on every floor of which there is bustling activity. "

But even then it can't have been the first, since the name preceded it. You would have to guess though that the original factory might have been something to do with the local textile trade which throve in those days in the Raise Street " Weaverland ".

There's still a little cluster of small businesses round what's now known mostly as Rennie Place; and I believe there used to be several others besides Glenhusky in the past. So what else was there ?

Susan

[calleytwo]

Did Glenhusky's take over what we knew as "the Hosiery" in the 1950's? (Don't know what the actual name was}. And did Dougie Peeble have a carpenter's shop there? Finally had Nobby Clarke's cobblers shop on the corner of Raise Street and Factory Place/Lane gone by the 1960's? Wee Ali

[Hughie]

Here's an advert from before WW2 for the rink in Factory place. I remember playing billiards there probably around 1955.

Later around 1958 I recall Macpherson Dairies opening a bottling shop in factory Place - at that time I was a message boy out of Baillie's butcher shop in Raise Street.

[calleytwo]

Yeh I remember the billiard room on the right wasn't it? Was there a bookies there or was that nearer Raise Street behind the Italian cafe that sold ice cream? Wee Ali

[geomacintyre]

Can I just retrace our steps slightly. Down South asked if we knew any more shops/businesses in Old Raise Road. I came across this recently. Must confess it doesn't stir any memories.

[down south]

Thanks a lot George; I'd quite forgotten that the Cafe Colette advertisements used to include a branch at Old Raise Road.

Here meanwhile gleaned from old posts are a couple of other premises that used to be at Factory Place:Stewarts' bus garage; and Harris' TV workshop.

Interesting to read about the holiday camp; I'd imagine this was connected with the camp site Scott has marked just round the corner on Parkend Road, but though I had heard of that separately I had no idea it would have had all those facilities and attractions, at least at the time of the advertisement. The name given to it of The Rink tends to suggest it must have started out soon after the actual roller-skating rink nearby opened in 1910 ( to which we'll be coming shortly ).

Susan

[Penny Tray]

Just as a wee aside, Tom Hamilton, who was the proprietor of the Rink Holiday Camp played goalkeeper for Rangers in five League Championship and four Scottish Cup wins.

He is also remember apparently for making an "important and amazing" save against Celtic in the 1928 Cup Final in front of 118,115 fans.

He actually finished his career with Falkirk FC but I don't suppose that would have had the same impact on his advert.

[boots1]

what year is this photo taken of of auchenharvie house, am looking also for a photo of when auchenharvie house started to get demolished can anyone help me is this photo above from 1970

[down south]

I'm afraid I don't have an exact date for the photo of Auchenharvie House, John. It appeared a few years after the event, as part of an article ( one of a series on changes to local places ) looking at the " before and after " aspects of Auchenharvie and giving some of the history. So though one would expect that it was taken soon before Auchenharvie House was demolished, it's impossible to be sure.

1970 does sound about the right date for the demolition, and I daresay if you looked in the papers of that year there may well be photos of the event; I just wasn't interested enough at the time to think of keeping any.

Susan