Blantyre, South Lanarkshire
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- This article is about the location in Scotland. See also Blantyre, Malawi.
Blantyre is a burgh in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Essentially a large suburb of Hamilton (Blantyre's pop. c17 000), it is best-known as the birthplace of David Livingstone, the well-known explorer and missionary who was the first white man to see (and name) the Victoria Falls. His former house is now a museum which is at the end of Station Road, on the banks of the River Clyde. Also nearby is Bothwell Castle, dating from the thirteenth century.
Blantyre has a number of smaller areas, each with their own identity. High Blantyre is the area to the west and north of Burnbrae Road and continues to High Blantyre cross at the north It is thought to be the area of earliest settlement, with a possible bronze age viallage at the site of High Blantyre Church. Blantyre is loosely divided in half by Glasgow Road, to the east of which are Priory Bridge - the former Priory being home to monks from around 1235, Coatshill and the village, the oldest industrially developed part of Blantyre. Glasgow Road continues south via Springwell and eventually joins to Burnbank.
Mine disaster
Blantyre is the site for the famous Blantyre Mining Disaster, where 207 miners were killed when a coal mine exploded due to methane gas. There is little doubt that safety regulations were not adhered to. Christy Moore wrote a song about this disaster. A monument to the disaster is at High Blantyre cross. The site of the mine now lies under the East Kilbride expressway.
Football
Blantyre has in the past also had two teams in the Scottish Junior League, namely Blantyre Victoria and Blantyre Celtic. The Vics won the Scottish Junior Cup (the highest achievement in junior football) in 1950, 1970 and 1982
Location and getting there
Blantyre is on the Hamilton Circle Railway line and can be reached in 20 minutes from Glasgow Central. By road it can be reached via the East Kilbride Expressway which connects to the M74 motorway which runs from Glasgow to Carlisle
External links The history of Blantyre (http://floti.bell.ac.uk/bhsip/default_enter.htm)
Blantyre community website (http://www.blantyre.biz/)