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Blantyre Mine

Uddingston, Blantyre Farm, Lanarkshire.

Mine

The Clay mine provided clay for Newton Brickworks until it was either too expensive or too unsafe to Mine then they got clay from Open cast mining in the fields at the old road leading to Townfoot farm that is now blocked off. They also mined across the road what is now the pond in Redlees Park and formerly the 2nd Glen of Finmeoot. The brickworks did not last as the clay from the open cast produced an inferior type of Facing Brick which I believe led to its closure. [Colin Wothertrspoon. BlantyreProject]

Blantyreferme area had beautiful green fields and Orchards along the banks of the Clyde ,it also had many Brickworks who were using the pit bings to make common bricks Blantyre ferme brickwork used most of Newton pit bings,and in the 50s a new Brickwork was opened on Blantyreferme Rd next to Haughhead farm Newton Brickworks making special bricks facing bricks and it had it's own clay mine as part of the project and it was booming until one year the clay was producing faulty bricks and the claymine was closed and they started open cast mining round the old army camp they dug a couple of mines but the bricks still were not great so those two were later filled in and they dug one that didn't lastonthe banks of the cawther on one of the most beautiful glens in the whole of Blantyreferme area braw green grass rolling down to the banks of the Cawther above a cliff also on the banks that had a lovely wee woodsfilled with Bluebells in Spring that little woods is still there today but nobody sees it and the last of the claymines is the pond of Redlees park but was also a trout farm before becoming the park it is still a lovely area but lots of it has been lost to progress but we need our countryside. [Finmeoot Friends]

Alternative Names: Blantyre Clay Mine

Notes: Blantyrefarm Colliery, No 3 - Associated brickworks operated between 1924 and 1974, and was supplied by a drift mine sunk to extract fireclay. [anmore, M K Oglethorpe, 2006]