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My Kitten wrote:If we knew that we couldve come up for a cuppa tea, as theres "no food" in hamilton after 5
Cyclo2000 wrote: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?
Cyclo2000 wrote:Hardies was a decent place when Martin had it (Martin Feeney oversaw Hardies for years. He was a Cordon Blue chef. Hardies was converted from George Lloyd's Moped World [I'm not making this up] which itself was converted from the Co-op grocery), Martin runs The Courtyard in Campbell Street now I think - unless he's finally retired of course!
On a side note, George Lloyds motorcycle place at the time MopedWorld was extant was at the foot of Hamilton Parish Church gates, in what became Rococco Nightclub. I see from the pics posted here that the building has been raised and flats built. George of course moved the whole operation up to Peacock Cross in the early 80's, into the building thats currently occupied by a sofa shop.
I always liked the County Buildings, supposedly designed to look like the United Nations. The round council chamber is a real joy. It's a pity it's hardly ever used!
Most of the demolition of Armada Street and environs took place relatively recently, after the old County Councils were disolved. The bottom half of the street was nearly all sandstone tenements. How they ever approved the removal of them is beyond me but the Council were very keen to to build a new swimming pool to replace the Victorian baths and seemed to rush through application after application in order to facilitate their scheme. At around that same time they also authorised the removal of the last bit of the Cameronian barracks in Bothwell Road. I was a bit upset to see that Douglasdale, the house on the corner opposite the County Buildings, is now lying empty. You'd think a fine Edwardian villa like thon would be snapped up by developers, even if it is a noisy corner. The Victorian terrace running down that side of Armada street towards Peacock Cross is quite interesting, lovey wrought iron work around the dormer syle windows.
I nearly bought an upstairs flat on the opposite corner (Armada Chambers?) many years back. I think now that the street is entirely ruined, as is most of Hamilton's town centre. In guidebooks of yore Hamilton was described as "a rare example of an attractive industrial town", I wonder what the guidebooks say now, if they mention the place at all that is.
Cyclo2000 wrote:In the past, the slope at the front of the lodge had a much gentler incline but the aggregate was all dug away to pay debts and the lodge was abandoned. There was a grand avenue of trees which connected to Hamilton Palace.
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