by Cyclo2000 » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:22 am
DonL, Those flats used to be offices, IIRC.
Watson's Personal Finance and the offices of Anthony Karpe, the Jewelers.
As to Chambers, that was my local for many years and used to be called the Crown. It was one of the few places in Lanarkshire (the Heathery in Wishaw being another) where you could see a live band. It was my friend's dad who held the license back then and he held it through the refurbishment into Chambers and for many years after, until the brewery bought it back from him. For a while it was the place to go!
They're was another floor on the building then (it was still there up till about ten years ago). There were two flats, one of which was rented out and my friends lived in the other, larger flat. To the rear were the original, Victorian Hamilton Public Baths - the demolition of which was a damned disgrace.
That whole street has been decimated. On the next corner down, where the Hamilton Water Palace is now, stood a proper Grocers, like Arkwrights in "Open All Hours" called Kenilworths. It was run by two brothers and everything was kept behind the counter. Most of their loyal customers were batchelors (like me at the time) and we used to leave the boys a list of what we wanted in the morning and pick it up all packed in a box at night.
On that same stretch of street there were two bars, a cafe, a fried chicken joint and a sweety shop. One of the bars was a shrine to the Accies and run by the guy who now runs (or he ran, I think he's deed) the Bay Horse in Bothwell Road.
Talking of Bothwell Road...just up the street from the Bay Horse is a Chinese joint called Chims. Originally (well, Duh!) a private house, it was owned by the father of Old Mr. Begg, of Begg and Whiteford, the veterinary surgeons in Stra'ven. I don't even know if Begg and Whiteford still exists as such cos Young Mr. Begg has long since retired. I know the original Whiteford's been dead for a long time too.
I noticed in yer photo albums a pic of the railings outside Hamilton College - these are the surviving panels of the Hamilton Palace fence. The rumour is (and has been since their installation) that they're upside down. Whaddya think?
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