1965
1965
1965
1965
1965
PB THE CAIRN
Lochwinnoch through the Ages
Newton of Barr
These pages will display a series of photographs showing the street as it was as early as the late 1800's through to the present time (2018).
A series of early photographs of Newton of Barr. The street has not changed much from the earliest map I have dated (1856). The smithy did not appear on a map untill 1897. The water pump on the street suggests some or all
of the houses had no
running water. The lady at
the water pump is the
mother of Jim McGrann.
She was born in 1882 and
died aged 66. Jim was born
in 1908. Mrs McGrann looks
around 30 years old. This
would date the photograph
to 1910/15.
The first two photographs
are probably the earliest
shots given the absence of
the two windows on the
gable end which are present
in the third photograph of this series.
Next is a series of recent photographs of Newton of Barr. The first was taken on May 2011. The second was shot on July 1989. I'm fairly sure these are not the same painters in the second shot above given
the possible 100 years time gap. I have heard watching paint dry can be a very slow process so maybe with the time between coats...... (No offence to the two guys on the ladders). The third shot was taken in Oct 1984, Struthers garage on the left was completely destroyed in an explosion in 1969. The shot of the chimney stack is looking pretty much in the same direction as the top right photograph in the
overview selection above. The smithy was demolished around June 1986. One building was retained and converted to a bungalow and a newbungalow was built on the remaining land. The two shots of this were taken in March 88 and March 2015.
The map at the top is dated 1911 and in the image below I have overlayed the junction with a satellite image.
Smithy
No longer present
No longer present
The purpose of this is to show how the road alignment has changed. The road going to the Engine Tees is much straighter in 1911 and allows quite a large building (now gone) to have been present adjacent to the Calder. Also shown are the Calderhaugh houses and a large complex where the new houses are now. There was a bleachfield in Calderhaugh. I have not seen any buildings marked as such, perhaps one or other of these was the bleachfield.
Its an odd name "Engine Tees" and like everything it has an explanation. I thought it related in some way to the (steam) engines of the trains that crossed the bridge at this location. More likely it is due to the old coal workings in the area which were probably drift mined ie the seam outcropped at the surface, no shaft was necessary to get at the coal. In mining parlance einganee is the entrance to a drift mine, corrupted to Engine Tees.