It was November 1979 when my fiancé and I were offered the Schoolhouse in Lochend Road. At the time we were both teachers in Dalmuir, near Clydebank.
My first memory of the house is not a pretty one - it was a cold, dark evening when we drove down Lochend Road. ( Prior to that there had been quite a bit of searching the road atlas to ascertain exactly where Gartcosh was!) The road looked really unwelcoming with derelict houses opposite and I remember a full moon shining eerily through the shadowy shapes.
The Schoolhouse had been empty for quite a time, the windows were boarded up and there was no power!
The late Robert Thompson, the janitor of the adjoining primary school, met us at the gate and gave us a quick "tour" of the building by torchlight.
It was like stepping back in time................. The entrance hall still reflected the grandeur of bygone days with its oak floorboards, coving and wrought iron newels. There was no central heating, just open fires,very high ceilings and what looked like rather misfitting old windows beautifully draped by cobwebs.
Both the kitchen and the bathroom were sparsely fitted and the dark, damp atmosphere was, I felt, so creepy that I didn't venture upstairs with Robert for that part of the "tour"...................unlike Gerry, who had fallen in love with the place almost instantly.
The second viewing was in daylight. I remember looking over the wall to wasteland and a derelict shop further down the hill (Joe Lowe)....the only sign of life was a single cottage. (Torwood). Across the road were the last of the derelict houses with Margaretville and Chaseville peeping out. Gartcosh Steelworks blocked off most of the view towards Coatbridge but a railway line could be seen. At the top of the hill stood the Village Hall and a boarded up building.(The Co-op)
Thirty years on ...... and yes ...... I AM STILL HERE......The cobwebs and those derelict buildings obviously didn't put me off !
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RANDOM MEMORIES
"Popping into the Post Office is a happy memory. (Bunty and Mary's down at Church side of Lochend Road) We had to collect our mail as the Postie was "slightly intimidated" by our first Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Magnus I.
Magnus I loved this arrangement because Bunty and Mary fed him cakes and biscuits. He would bolt at every opportunity and make his wat to the PO where poor Mac (Mary's husband) had the task of dragging him back on a string 'lead' - no mean feat!"
"The Village Shop was run by Peter Ward................I loved the way he 'measured' 3lbs of potatoes by hand......" Yep-That's around three pounds of potatoes, Liz!" Why did he have scales in his shop?"
"A bemused villager once stopped Gerry and told him there was a sheep in our garden-that was Gartcosh's first view of an adult Pyrenean Mountain Dog!"
"We had a Magnus I, II & III ......................... many thought it was the same dog ................... and "awfy auld""
"Mr & Mrs Kerr (Chaseville) had a donkey on the spare ground , now part of Newgate. He loved a daily apple."
"Trying to get to and from work at a time when the cows weren't being taken for milking. If you did get held up and had your window down, they enjoyed peering into your car!"
"On the odd occasion, a stray cow would venture down past the school."
"The wee calves were lovely and the manure heap was great free fertiliser............I miss having the farm in the village- it added to the atmosphere! "
"May and Tom Blincow's home-grown vegetables. May "mothered" Gerry when he stayed here alone- making sure he got through to work in Dalmuir on time."
"The excitement when a house was built in the ground next to us............. neighbours!!!!"
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY LIZ WARD for 2010 GLHG Display.