PB the Cairn
Lochwinnoch
The purpose of the site is to help those new to the village to connect with its past and for those who have left for pastures new to remember what was left behind
The Changing Face of Lochwinnoch
by
Dr Brian Smith
Lochwinnoch, like so many places has changed dramatically over the years, even in my lifetime. The village underwent it first major development between 1776 and 1810 when it moved away from Kirktoun (around Auld Simon) to a new centre based on "The Cross". The second was more recent with the developments of council housing on Calderpark Street, the White Houses, Crookhill Gardens and the prefabs during the 1940's to 1960. The last phase has been the private housing developments on the former industrial land occupied by the various cabinet works.
This section presents a photographic record of the village spanning the mid 1800's up to the present day when the most recent photographs have been taken. Through these years the village character has changed to serve the needs of the time. Initially to serve a farming community and one of the premier country estates in Scotland, then to service the needs of growing industrialisation and finally as a dormitory town for the larger conurbations of central Scotland such as Glasgow, Paisley and Renfrew.
In the image below are two superimposed views of the village spanning 162 years. I have used Photoshop to overlay a map of Lochwinnoch dated 1856 with an ariel photograph of Lochwinnoch as it was in 2015. The superimposed map shows the second phase of development of the village away from the Kirktoun centred on Auld Simon to a new centre based on the Cross.
Over time the Castle Semple estate owned most of the land the village was sited on. The process of redesigning the village began during 1788 - 1795 when McDowall feu'd parts of Calderhaugh for a cotton mill. He also feu'd land to build 53 houses on what is now High Street and Main Street for mill workers. Hitherto large estates were focussed on farming but coinciding with improved farming practices (requiring less manpower) industrialisation was beginning apace which required a new workforce. Wealthy landowners such as McDowall were instrumental in investing in new mills and could also provide the land to house the new workforce.
The Calderpark Mill (initially owned by McDowall) at the top of Calder Street can be seen to be located where Russells garage used to be. An ariel photograph of the garage can be seen in one of the galleries in this section. There are three large houses on Braehead (only two now). The middle one was the Manse for the Free Church (the West Church, now gone but you can see pictures of it in this section of the site) and latterly it became Dr Waterson's house and surgery. The house on the right was demolished to make way for Calderpark Street and a photograph of it can be seen in this section.
The New Mill or Calderhaugh Mill can be seen at its original size before the fire of 1878 reduced it to a third of its original size. McDowall granted a feu charter in 1791 for the land and water rights to build this mill to Messrs Fulton, Buchanan and Pollock. The mills at Burnfoot are shown adjacent to the clubhouse of the golf course. The houses (now gone) on the left hand side of Main Street at Calderhaugh leading to Lochwinnoch bridge can be seen. Our grandparents used to rent No.11 Calderhaugh for their summer holiday before moving permanently from Glasgow to Lochwinnoch in 1918.
The following three maps dated 1785, 1808 and 1848 show the transition from hamlet to industrial town.
Textiles transformed Lochwinnoch as they did for the entire UK and ultimately the world. The Industrial Revolution had arrived. But the good times were not to last. The Napoleonic Wars caused great hardship during the early part of the 19th century. The American civil war during the 1860's was the next great disruption. Between those events and catastrophic fires Lochwinnoch's textile industry all but ended by the late 19th century.
But the emergence of great towns and cities, the development of steam to power ocean going liners all created a demand for furniture. Lochwinnoch got its second wind from the furniture trade. Three factories emerged, Calder Cabinet Works, Lochhead Cabinet Works and the biggest and best in Scotland (maybe the UK) Joseph Johnstone's Viewfield Chair and Cabinet Works. These transformed the village yet further as can been seen from the 1911 and 1965 street maps below.
The image above is of the village as I knew it in the 1960's.
The aerial view above is a montage of 3 separate images and I am guessing they were taken in the late 1950's. I was born in 1955 and we lived at No.1 Harvey Terrace. These tenements can be seen in this photograph. We had to move to 42 Calderpark Street in 1956 because they were condemned. I think by 1960 they were demolished placing this photograph between 1957 and 1960.
These photographs illustrate the phases of development Lochwinnoch has gone through. The mills redesigned Lochwinnoch to be centred on the Cross and provided the impetus for the first expansion. The cabinet works provided the impetus for an even larger expansion with Calderpark Street, Crookhill Gardens, the White Houses, Keanie Buildings on Church Street, the Prefabs on Breahead and Glenpark Road, together with some infilling here and there. Oh, and not to forget the Marina and Muirshiel visitor centre as part of the Clyde Muirshiel Park
The Mills are gone, the furniture works are gone, a cooperage, aeriated water factory, various joinery businesses, Beechburn engineering have all come and gone but Lochwinnoch continues to develop. This next to last photograph shows the transition from 1965 to today's dormitory town. The industrial areas of Viewfield and Calderhaugh including the fields behind and leading up to Bridgend have all been taken up by residential buildings. The Lochhead site and the land behind stretching to the Calder is also entirely residential. The site of the railway station and land behind Johnshill and adjacent to Crookhill also has new developments (well not so new now as the years pass!).
The photograph above shows the developments mentioned in the last paragraph. Lochwinnoch has evolved from a community serving surrounding farms and a large private estate to becoming an industrial powerhouse to becoming a dormitory town for nearby large conurbations. Is this progress or is it a sign of our economic decline that we can no longer produce economically the goods that the world wants? Have we lost the entrepreneurship shown by our predecessors such that we cannot invest to keep ahead of the game unlike, for example Germany and the USA? These are questions for another website.
To finish this page the photograph below, taken in 2015, shows the village as viewed from the roadhead. It is little wonder Lochwinnoch is a popular town given its setting against the Renfrewshire hills. The village is also partly sited on rising ground affording pleasing views of the loch and the wider valley stretching southwest towards the coast and northeast towards Glasgow and the Gleniffer Braes. The village is also filled with many volunteers who give up their own time to ensure that although Lochwinnoch is a dormitory town it is not sleepy.
