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Jimmy Monson Recalls

My thanks go to Jimmy Monson for taking the time out and writing this for us, your a true gent Jimmy. There should be more like you because I can only say that this is a treasure and will live on for a long time! Now give me a photo of yourself (if you can sign on "to my friend the Webbie" I would be delighted

Memories Of Inchinnan

The following is my recollection of Inchinnan as it was back in the thirties and early forties. It contains my own personal memories of places and people in the area, sprinkled with facts learned about even earlier days, not from history books but more from the older people of the area still living at that time.

To me, Inchinnan was not a community per se but more of a district consisting of various small communities. The borders of the district as I knew it, starting at the point where the River Cart joins the River Clyde then upstream to the Gryffe River and on past what used to be India Tyres to the Barnsfield bridge then along to the Red Smiddy. From there, including South Bar Estate, to Erskine Ferry then back along the River Clyde to the mouth of the River Cart where we started. That is what I considered the district of Inchinnan to be.

The original communities within this district were Broomlands, Luckensford, Craigiehall, Barsale, Rashilea and Erskine. Then when Beardmore built the hanger etc. for the dirigible in the early twenties the houses for their employees were built at what is now known as Beardmore Cottages. When Beardmore's venture failed the property was purchased in the late twenties by
an American company called India Tyres from Akron, Ohio to develop it into a tyre production factory. The first manager was Paul Worth who had a house right on the factory grounds. He was still the manager when I started work there in the mid fifties (I worked there for ten years before immigrating to Canada in 1967) though he no longer lived on the property. His house was converted into the Fire Dept.

The factory eventually employed around two thousand people and houses were built for employees when the factory was being developed. This became known as India Drive. More houses were built later in what was to become Allands Avenue (named after the Allands Farm nearby).

I was born at the original Luckensford in 1929 when my parents were renting a room from Mrs. McMillan who was midwife at my birth. Her husband worked for what was known then as the Clyde Trust, later known as the Clyde Port Authority. Mrs McMillan had quite a few children of her own and they lived in one of a block of houses located on the right hand side about 200 yards up the road, past Adam Earl's park (where the new masonic hall was built) towards the Freeland Farm from the main road. This later became known as "McMillan's Old Backs" after the houses were demolished and the residents had moved into the new council houses, which had been built across the road. The concrete foundations remained there for many a year and it was a regular place of play for local children. In those days my father worked for Alex Lang at Garnieland Farm. We eventually moved into the ploughman's cottage at the farm and that is where I spent my formative years.

All who are familiar with the area knows where India Drive and Allands Avenue are. Also Beardmore Cottages and what may be called the new Luckensford. The other small communities and where they were may not be so well known. I will identify each, and where they used to be, by starting at Beardmore Cottages on the road going to Erskine Ferry. First though, the wooded hill behind Beardmore Cottages was known as the "Chuckeen" and at the summit of the hill among the trees there used to be an old well surrounded by a brick wall. I have no idea what it was originally used for and I wouldn't
doubt that it is still there.

On leaving Beardmore Cottages there was a large  wooden gate in the six foot high sandstone dyke beside the road and another road winding up through the field to North Bar House (more on that later) and another gate leading into the grounds. Halfway up that road, on the left, there was a windmill, which pumped water from a well into a large holding pond surrounded by high rhododendrons. Among other things, this water was used to flood a low point in the field in wintertime, which froze to ice and was the local curling pond. It was never used as such in my day and became overgrown with weeds but
it was still known as the curling pond. In the 1950's someone bought the land near the curling pond and built a cottage type house there and landscaped the area. This was directly across the road from Greenhead Farm which was owned by
Willie Murray till he died, I think around the end of the war. Willie Murray grazed his cattle in the field where that house is now. I believe his daughter Alma took over the farm. As I recall there was a curling stone on the step at each side of the door into the farmhouse. Local tennis enthusiasts built a tennis court right beside Greenhead Farm that was used for many years.

Also across the road from Greenhead Farm was the school. When I first attended this school it was the original old school built of grey sandstone and the schoolmaster's house was attached to the school. Tam Buchanan was the schoolmaster in those days and he was also the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. My birth certificate bears his signature and the
Registry Office was in the schoolhouse. There were some houses up among the trees behind the school as well. My Uncle John lived in one of them. A family named Disher lived in another but I don't recall the others. This place was called Craigiehall. These residents moved into the new council houses when they were built at Luckensford and Craigiehall was demolished. The concrete foundations were still there when I became an adult and may still be there.

The new school was built between where Craigiehall was and the main road and we moved into it around 1935. The old school was remodeled as a gymnasium and the schoolmaster's house remained. I can't remember if Tam Buchanan died before or after the new school opened but I do remember the whole school walking up the hill to the graveyard for the burial. We all filed past and viewed the coffin in the grave. Jimmy MacIntyre became the new headmaster and was still there when my school years were over. We were not long in the new school when there was the Coronation of King George V1 (or perhaps the one who abdicated to marry the American divorcee Mrs. Simpson). It was called the "Jubilee" and all school children were presented with a mug with the Union Jack and a picture of the King on it. I had mine for many years.

The schoolhouse had a large garden by the roadside surrounded by trees and in the higher classes the boys were at times assigned to hoe the weeds on the paths around the garden. (Or was it Jimmy MacIntyre's way of punishing us for a misdemeanour?) I'm not quite sure but I do know there were some good apple trees in the garden??

On past the school were the original village of Broomlands houses, the first low one owned by the Blairs. Mr Blair was a wheelwright and coachbuilder and had his workshop alongside the house. He was a master craftsman and I recall him having a beautifully finished horse drawn carriage he had built on display outside his workshop. As an aside, Tinkers were quite
common in those days and I remember walking home from school one day and there was an wizened old Tinker lady sitting at the bottom of the tree at the entrance to Blair's yard comfortably smoking on a short clay pipe. Her horse and wagon were standing at the roadside. I was fascinated by those Tinkers wagons with their curtained windows and the chimney pipe sticking up through the roof of the wagon.

The other buildings had houses up and down stairs. A pen close passed through at ground level and the doors into the lower houses were off the close. To get to the upstairs houses there was a concrete stair up to them at the back of the building. Then Maggie Earl's shop, which also served as the Post Office was at the corner. Many a gallon of paraffin I carried out of
Maggie Earls for our lamp, as we had no electricity in the ploughman's cottage at the Garnieland. The gravel road to the Garnieland was directly opposite to Maggie Earl's shop. From there, the gravel road to the left went on past Luckensford to the Freeland Farm, owned at that time by Jimmy Rennie, then on down to the main road to the Red Smiddy. On a few occasions when I was old enough I rode a Clydesdale horse from the Garnieland bareback over that road to the Smiddy to have a new shoe put on. Danny Smith was the blacksmith in those days and I watched as Danny removed the old shoe and prepared the hoof for a new one. Then I would pump the bellows for the Smiddy fire and watch Danny fashion a new shoe out of red hot iron to fit the horse then nail the new shoe on to the hoof. I can still hear his hammer ringing like music on the anvil.

Up the hill from the Broomlands past the graveyard and at the bottom of the hill on the other side was Barsale off to the right among the trees. There was a little pond there where as boys we used to go and play for a little while during the school dinner hour. On a few occasions we were late getting back to school at 1.00 o'clock and our schoolteacher, big Meg MacMillan was really proud of us. The concrete foundations of the old houses were still there but how many houses had been there and who lived in them I have no idea.
The gravel road into Barsale went on to the small holdings and on round to the left to Mitchell's dairy farm at Rashilea and to the right towards Hamilton's dairy farm behind Fleming's big house and estate.

Proceeding on along the Erskine Ferry road to Kilpatrick's small holding at Craigend there was another gravel road on the right which also led to Rashilea and joined the other road from Barsale. The little community of Rashilea was down past Mitchell's farm near the Clyde. The original foundations remained there also after the houses were demolished. The residents in these houses were moved to the new council houses at Luckensford also. Names of people who lived at Rashilea that I can remember were the Patons. Andersons and I think the Paisleys and maybe the Troups as well. It is quite common for small communities to have the same name as nearby farms such as Rashilea and Mitchell's farm also called Rashilea and Matt (Boy) Gilmour's farm across from the SMT garage called Town of Inchinnan Farm (where my father finished his working days). I have often wondered which came first, the farm or the community. My guess would be the farm.

At the head of the gravel road to Rashilea at Craigend there was a fairly big grey sandstone house with a big yard and I believe it may have been called Craigend. People by the name of McKenzie lived in that house and their son Hamish was around my age and went to Inchinnan School also. Getting close to Erskine Ferry on the right away back among the trees there was what appeared to be the remains of an old castle or estate house. There was a really good orchard there surrounded by a sandstone wall about ten feet high but we were able to climb the trees close to the wall and get to the plums,
pears and I believe damsons. We used to call that place "The Paddy's". I would imagine that place is now built over by the new town of Erskine.

There were quite a few houses and a shop at Erskine Ferry as well as the main entrance into the Erskine Hospital grounds. I remember the high iron railings and the big iron gates at the entrance. The veterans in the hospital had a good dance band and in later years we would hire them for dances. I remember the dulcimer player had only one hand but he could sure
play the dulcimer. When the Ferry was really busy there were times when there was a line up of cars all the way back up the ferry road and the Tinkers used to play the bagpipes and collect money from the people in the waiting cars.

Going back now to the Broomlands and Maggie Earl's shop. The gravel road opposite the shop went down towards the Clyde and Garnieland Farm.
Not far down, the road split in a Y, the left branch going up a treed avenue, which we called the Lodge Road, to the smallholdings and Fleming's Estate and big house. I don't recall the name of the house but it may have been The Lodge. The Fleming's were in the shipping business and may have been the Fleming of Fleming & Ferguson shipyard in Paisley. There was a gatekeepers house at the start of the avenue and when the new school opened about 1935 the school janitor, Mr. Cowie, lived in that house. There was a gate at the driveway up to the big house, which was fronted by beautiful lawns, and
spreading chestnut trees. The grey sandstone outbuildings were back among the trees behind the big house where the chauffeur and gardener's houses were also located. The chauffeur was Mr. Gilchrist who had two daughters, Chrissie and
Violet who went to school with us. I can remember Mr. Gilchrist taking us to see Mr. Fleming's collection of exotic birds swimming around in a miniature pond.

Mr. Fleming (better known as Will Fleming) was a tall man and a bachelor who looked about 60 years of age, and many times we saw him walking down the road on his way home from town. He had a ruddy face and purple nose from too much alcohol. He died in the late '30's or early '40's at the age of 36 years. When the estate was settled the big house was empty and Mr. Gilchrist moved to India Drive and became a chauffeur for India Tyres. In 1945 when the war ended we held a Victory dance in the drawing room of the big house, as there was no community hall in the area. Peter Paton played the
accordion for the dance.

The other branch of the road went on to Garnieland Farm and the ploughman's cottage, where we lived, was just ahead of the main farm buildings and farmhouse. On the hill up from the cottage was North Bar House, at that time owned by Robbie Murray who I believe was a brother to Willie Murray of Greenhead Farm. There was a windmill at the top of the hill near North Bar House and a holding tank for water. This was our water supply. The W.C., wash house and coal shed were out back of the cottage. Across the fields behind the cottage there was a copse of trees which was known as Sandilands and beyond that there was a gravel road which came back past Dick's farm called the Florish and on to the main Renfrew road.

There was a lot of history to North Bar House which I never did know much about. I do know that Robbie Murray was a retired policeman and married a woman many years his junior. They had a son Roy who was a few years younger than me. Roy was just a young boy when his mother lost her life in some sort of tragic accident at North Bar House. I can't remember the details but I do remember hearing the adults discussing it. Nor can I remember what happened to North Bar House after that or if Robbie Murray stayed on there.

It is well documented what happened to the River Clyde when the shipbuilding industry blossomed in the upper reaches of the river and Glasgow became a port for overseas shipping. Part of Garnieland Farm was Newshot Island, which was just down the gravel road from the farm. In the early days the river flowed around each side of the island which is about half
a mile, or more, long and about 200 yards wide as it is today. The main channel of the river was on the north side of the island with a lesser channel on the south side. At the end of the gravel road from the farm there is a causeway about 100 yards long over to the island, The causeway is wide enough for a horse and cart to cross and is built of quarried rocks with very coarse gravel or pebbles on top. We used to herd cattle across it to the island for grazing. The causeway crosses to the west half of the island on which there still stands what was a fisherman's house at one time. The walls are very stoutly built of sandstone at least 18 inches thick and there are slates on the roof. The south side of the house is open and it is used as a cattle shelter now. The north wall has no openings but I seem to recall that there was a date carved in the sandstone on the outside of the north wall.

Dividing the island in two there is a dyke built with large stones and legend had it that the stones came from some ruined castle in the area. I know for a fact that many of the stones which capped the dyke were square and flat and must have come from some kind of a building. Near the river there is an opening in the dyke with a gate so that cattle or horses could be moved from one half of the island to the other. The West End of the island came to a point and there was a huge notice board erected there with a message for ships sailing upriver. I can't recall what the message was. Just down river from the point of the island there were floating barges with little red huts on them, which we used to call "The Punts". They belonged to the Clyde Trust but what purpose they served I have no idea. They were located at a place called Gibby's Quay and Mr. McMillan (in whose house I was born at Luckensford) worked there. Just up from Gibby's Quay was Sandy Hay's farm,
which I think was called Park Mains. While we were living at the Garnieland one of the workers on "The Punts" fell into the river and drowned. I remember it took a few days to find the body underneath the barges but I can't recall who it was.

When the main channel of the Clyde on the north side of Newshot Island was being widened and deepened to take large ships, the excavated earth was used to fill in most of East End of the lesser channel on the south side of the island. The West End with the causeway crossing it remained and was affected by the tides. During high spring tides the causeway was many times under water. We used to call this "The Gullets" and as boys we had a swimming hole there. On the mainland side of "The Gullets" at the west end of the island there were the skeletons of two wooden ships that had been there for a long number of years and are probably still there. It would be interesting to know how they got there and where they came from.

About 50 yards of the East End is still open to the river. Of the part that was filled in, the west half was finished and cultivated but the east half remained rough and became overgrown with bushes and grass. We called that the "Rough Ground" and it was a haven for rabbits and other wildlife. We spent many happy hours hunting in that place. The west part, which was cultivated, was called the "Made-up Ground" and when coal was scarce during the war we gathered many a bag of coal from it. The coal got there with the back fill that was used when the main channel was widened and deepened.

The East End of Newshot Island is almost directly across the Clyde from John Brown's Shipyard and I well remember standing on the bank watching the launch of the Queen Elizabeth. There were hundreds of people there. The launch was necessarily at high tide and the river was almost overflowing the banks. When that huge ship entered the water the river did
overflow the banks a little and I remember the people all running back from it. It didn't bother me a bit because I was barefoot and used to it. A year or so later the teachers at Inchinnan School took us all to watch this huge liner going "Doon the Watter". I was assigned as guide so I had them watch from the north side of Robbie Murray's hill at North Bar, not far from the school. There was a perfect view from there. Those who are still around will remember that day well. A few years earlier my father had taken me to watch the launch of the Queen Mary also but I don't remember that too well. I also watched that huge Cunarder going "Doon the Watter".

Directly across the Clyde from the cattle shelter on the island was the Singer Sewing Machine factory with its huge tower clock and tall spire. There was a model of a sewing machine on the tower beside the clock and in prewar years it was all lit up with lights that twinkled to make it look as though the machine was running. The blackout during the war put an end to the
lit up sewing machine and I don't recall ever seeing it lit up again, though it could have been after the war ended. I've since heard that Singers clock has been demolished which is a great pity. It was a famous landmark, known around the world because of the many foreign ships sailing up and down the Clyde over the years. We could tell the time on that clock from the Garnieland Farm.

After the war started in 1939 there were barrage balloon stations all over the area manned by the RAF and we had one in the field behind our house. Filled with nitrogen, which is lighter than air, these balloons were floated up to heights of 5 or 6 thousand feet. A wire hawser attached to a mobile winch held them. Their purpose was to stop German aircraft from flying
too low. Each station was manned by about ten RAF boys who were billeted in a well-equipped hut. They also had a brick air raid shelter, which we used as well during the two worst nights of the Clydebank blitz. That was a scary two nights. A German landmine, dropped by parachute missed the farm by about 200 yards. When it exploded it left a crater 90 feet deep in the field in front of Alex Lang's farmhouse. The next day I went with the RAF boys when they measured the depth of the crater and collected pieces of the parachute as souvenirs. The blast from the explosion brought down part of the plaster
ceiling in our house. In the early 1960's when I was living in Renfrew I took my two oldest sons to the Garnieland to let them see the crater left by that landmine. The crater was full of water and trees had grown all around it. It is still there.

From the window of our house we had a clear view down the Clyde as far as Bowling, where there was a battery of huge oil storage tanks. One of these tanks was hit by a bomb, which set it on fire. It burned for about a week, billowing thick black smoke into the air. At grey dawn in the morning, when the all clear sounded, we were walking back across the field to our house when my sister tripped over a wire and got a mild electric shock. We had no idea where the wire had come from. At daylight we looked out the window and there was a barrage balloon floating right in the middle of the Clyde near Bowling. It was the one from behind our house. It had been hit by shrapnel which brought it down. This was the wire my sister had tripped over and it crossed power lines somewhere between the downed balloon and the winch. I visited my sister in New Zealand in 1981 and she still had the mark from that wire on her shin.

During the nights, at the height of the blitz, it was a scary sight to look across the Clyde from outside the shelter and see all the houses on fire. I especially remember the ones in the Holy City on the hill up behind Clydebank. I think it was the battleship Duke of York which was almost complete and fitting out in the basin at John Brown's shipyard at the time.
The sound of her anti-aircraft guns, and the guns on Duntocher hill, firing at the German aircraft was just as scary as the bombs. I will never forget the droning sound of those German Stuka bombers flying over us in droves. 

There were happy times during the war too. One being the fact that because of soldiers being billeted in St. James' School in Renfrew, the pupils from that school attended school for half the day at Inchinnan School and we attended the other half of the day. Only half a day at school suited us fine. When we had the afternoons off, the boys from the village were regular
visitors to the Garnieland. Davy Paton, Eddie , Jock and Jim (Arden) Potts, Ian Kilpatrick from Craigend, Wattie Richmond from India Drive are a few I can remember. We spent many happy hours exploring the flotsam and jetsam left on Newshot Island after a high tide, or hunting for rabbits in the "Rough Ground". Many times, on Saturday afternoons, my father would yoke a horse and wagon and we would go to the island and load the wagon with planks and keel blocks washed up during a high tide. Especially after the launch of a ship in one of the Clyde shipyards. This was sawn up on the Sunday and split up for
firewood. That would keep the home fire burning when coal was scarce during the war, though it was a routine job before the war too. Nowadays it would be considered a terrible waste.

Reading through this manuscript, I'm not sure if it could be considered a history of Inchinnan or an autobiography. I know my literary talents leave a lot to be desired but it's the best I could do. My memory is not nearly as good as it used to be. However you are welcome to glean from it anything you feel may of use to you in setting up your Inchinnan web site.
Consider it my contribution to the land of my birth and a token of my appreciation in return for so many happy days spent in the area. More especially my boyhood years at Garnieland Farm. If it were possible, I would appreciate it if the facts related here were confirmed and if convenient, some members of your committee were to visit Newshot Island and inform me by e-mail if it has changed any over the years. On approaching Garnieland Farmhouse take the gravel road to the left to reach the causeway across to the island. I would caution you to wear stout boots, as it may be muddy on the island side of the causeway, unless there has been a long dry spell. 

Jimmy Monson.