by gap74 » Sat Mar 05, 2005 7:43 pm
Yeah, I know Fin Me Oot - a small miner's village more properly called Caldervale, due to it being on the banks of the Rotten Calder.
The nickname arises from the fact that it's not the easiest of places to find, although I have no idea if it was known as Fin Me Oot whilst still an active village.
My dad first told me about it about 15 years ago, used to take my dog a walk down there all the time. Only a few fragments of buildings survive, most having been swept away long before I first got there. Looks like it was made up of simple brick rows, of which only one structure remains, although it looks possibly too small to me to have been a house, and only a small corner of it survives.
The entrance from Blantyreferme Rd is fairly easy to spot, it's near the railway overbridge and Clydeway Golf Range. You can identify it by a public right of way signpost next to the gate, and a large sign that now warns of the dangerous bridge.
The dangerous bridge is a little green pedestrian effort - from Fin Me Oot, you go under the railway and down alongside it till the bridge carries you over the Rotten Calder. It's dwarved by the railway alongside, carried over the river on a massive embankment, the bridge for which resembles a long canal tunnel! This was once the route the miners took to work, with the collieries of Newton at the top of a steep path on the other side. Again, only the bings and a few scattered structures remain of the pit workings.
The bridge itself is still passable, but has been condemned and the middle section has no floor! Those brave enough can still climb along on the side railings!
Been meaning to take pics of the place for ages, this seems like a good excuse to get down there! Will try to sort some out when I get back from Amsterdam next week.
Incidentally, some old fellas rescued the name from oblivion by making a bench there, and painting "FIN ME OOT - CALDERVALE" on the back of it - is this the sign that you mean has gone now?
Have yet to find any pics of the place when still inhabited, would be great to see them. Anyone travelling on the railway line between Newton and Uddingston gets a birds eye view of it if they look to the north.
Gary