The Hidden Glasgow Forums

Junkcatcher,
My sister was going to Uddingston Grammar School at the time Manuel was around, and she usually got off the bus at Hamilton Road and walked over Mount Vernon Avenue to the Church Army Houses at Barrachnie, where she and I lived. When one of Manuel's victims was found buried next to the farm track, just off the avenue, it became too risky for her to take that lonely walk, and she stayed on the bus till she got to Parkhead. Then she got a tram back down Westmuir St, and through Shettleston, to get to Barrachnie.

There was definitely a threat in the air when you walked the avenue at that time. In those days, when you came up the hill from Hamilton Road and reached the railway bridge, a corner turned to the right and you could see Burntbroom Farm squatting on a hill when you reached the next corner, the sharp corner with the farm track running off it to the side. Did you say this was Hamilton's Farm, because I thought it was Burntbroom Farm?

Apart from the farm, and the tall chimney belonging to the brickworks, there was no signs of civilisation - no houses, just fields. And then from here, the road climbed upwards gradually, until you reached the highest point, but even here there were no houses to the right of the road as you looked towards Barrachnie. There was the lodge, nestling in amongst the trees down to the left, and beyond that you could see the Church Army Houses and Garrowhill, but no other houses.

...There is still a short stretch of the original tarmac left down near the sharp corner. If you walked the avenue at night, the sharp corner was in pitch darkness because it was enclosed by tall hawthorn hedges and trees, and it was an eerie, silent place that sent shivers down your spine. I sometimes started running because it was so scarey. There were no street lights on the avenue.

Here you are War Baby, junction of MVA and Burntbroom road.

Icecube,
Yes, that's what I call the "sharpest corner" before Mount Vernon Avenue was straightened out. The farm track ran east from there, with one of Peter Manuel's victims buried about a hundred yards along. So glad someone knew what I was talking about when I mentioned the old tarmac. ...Do you see the line of Beech trees there...? Well they bordered the right side of the road as you go uphill on the way to Barrachnie. To the east of the line of trees was a large field, which usually grew potatoes or turnips.

... You see that grassy bit where folk walk their dogs...? Well, the left side of the road was bordered by hawthorn bushes and then another really big field stretched across that grass all the way to the wood that grows to the west of the present M.V. Avenue. That was a HUGE field. The old road was peaceful through the day, eerie at night.

I think he buried Isabel Cook in the field to the left of this fork in the road.

As for the farmer of Burntbroom I recall in my early days we called him Johnnie Wilson, I got hired once or twice to go to the tattie howking in his parks.

Icecube,
Yes, it was to the left and along a short distance. There is an old photo of some police inspectors standing looking down at the spot where he buried that girl. It is in one of the books about Manuel & his murders. They descibed the countryside there at that time as BLEAK - what a nerve!

I went to have a look at that corner where you took the photo. Although there are only four of the original beech trees left standing, the part of the road that rises gradually upwards seems to be trying to return to its old state, with a tangled mixture of some new beech trees and bushes at each side which must be over ten feet high again. This is what made the road so dark and eerie at night when I was young.

Ever heard of the "Coo Hill" or the "Sandy Hole?" No? I think most folk at Barrachnie knew these places, but I think it was local knowledge.

P.S. The stink when you passed Burntbroom Farm was awesome.

Was the park Manuel buried Isabel Cook in not ploughed at the time? Presumably that made it easier for him to dispose of her. As far as I can determine the site of her shallow grave hasn't been built on, part of the present open space to the left of MVA today.

I was only five at the time but have quite clear memories of the mood hanging over the district at the time (the door getting locked for the first time ever etc.) and the elation when they (finally) charged him.

Was the Sandy Hole the down the hill below Burntbroom? The old sand quarry?

War Baby,

Clicking on the below link will open up an OS plan from the mid-1930s.

http://maps.nls.uk/os/25inch-2nd-and-la ... 2=82891938

Barrachnie, Mount Vernon Avenue, Burntbroom Farm, etc is on the left hand side of the plan.

Glesga Steve,
Thanks for letting us see the map. I actually have some 25 inch maps of Barrachnie, going quite far back. The first is dated 1857, the second 1897 and the third one 1910. Intriguing to see the changes taking place as the years go by.

The two oldest buildings in Barrachnie must be the Barrachnie Inn, and an old building at the north west corner of Barrachnie park.

What about the cottage in Barrachnie Road on the left just after the bookies WB?

Icecube,
It could be a contender, but I am not quite sure. The houses there on the old maps are at higglety-pigglety angles, not quite in the right position in relation to Barrachnie Rd. It is a "contender" though. When I was a boy, the entrance to McFadyens garrage was about there. I went to school with a boy from the Lodge on Mount Vernon Avenue, Douglas Graham, and the M'Fadyens were related to him. A McFadyen lived in the flats above the Barrachnie Inn, and I went there with Douglas and it was there that I saw a television for the first time in my life. There was a long corridor on the upper floor above the Barrachnie Inn, with doors at each side.

There used to be a doctor's surgery near to the old house in Barrachnie Road - this was in the 1950's.
I think there was a Doctor White, and a Doctor Bell. In fact, I think there was also another surgery right next to those flower beds at the pub, but that might have been before my time.

I was 16 when manuel was executed but i remember it because the papers were full of the case. Manuel was an American from New York whose family came to live in Scotland and he became a criminal legend because of his brutal slaying of two families. The newspapers were full of the trial, page after page, but one of the interesting things i remember was that Manuel dismissed his legal team and conducted his own defence. I can remember the day he was execute as people would comment on it

Just found this whilst searching for something else:
victims

Given the executed to victims ratio, it really brings it home that Manuel was in a leauge of his own for his time & place.

nice one there hollowhorn

Albert Pierrepoint and Thomas Pierrepoint as hangmen. I wonder if they were related?

DickyHart wrote:nice one there hollowhorn

Albert Pierrepoint and Thomas Pierrepoint as hangmen. I wonder if they were related?

I think Thomas was Albert's uncle.

RDR wrote:

DickyHart wrote:nice one there hollowhorn

Albert Pierrepoint and Thomas Pierrepoint as hangmen. I wonder if they were related?

I think Thomas was Albert's uncle.

Thomas was Albert's Uncle, - Albert's father was Henry Pierrepoint - who was also an official UK Hangman, and was often assisted by Thomas until Henry retired from the job, when his son applied to the Home Office for the position.