Do you or somebody you know live in the ‘Crescents’ area of Blantyre? Morris Crescent, Small Crescent or Hardie Street?
Here in Summer 2024, the Crescents homes are now a Century old! Construction first began in 1923, just half a decade after WW1, with the first resident moving in at the end of that year. Construction continued for a couple of years into 1925, through the majority of residents moved in during the Summer of 1924, after the County Council released a large batch of completed Council homes, primarily to house local mining families.
These homes must have seemed palatial to many mining families who had seen their own homes demolished as part of the Council’s slum clearance drive throughout Lanarkshire. The Crescents, named after mining agents associated with Blantyre proved hugely popular with more than 1 bedroom, indoor toilets and gardens. Many of the first residents didn’t know what to do with all the space, and often took in lodgers in spare rooms to supplement their income, something the council frowned upon in the 1920s.
These homes were conveniently close to Auchinraith Colliery, Auchinraith, Stonefield and Calder Street Schools and walking distance to Glasgow Road shops. Centrally located at the time, they were surrounded by fields and would have had rural views. Today, the Crescents remain desirable, neat homes, are nicely kept and are recognised in their own right as an area of Blantyre with ‘Crescents’ noted on street signs. The houses are pictured in the 30s, 50s and 2010s.
