Old Motherwell and Newarthill

Motherwell is shown here at a time when trams clattered down Brandon Street (later to be completely demolished and rebuilt as Brandon Parade) and landmarks such as the Motherwell Inn were still standing. A couple of interesting pictures from the early 1960s show the town in transition before the planners really got stuck into redeveloping it. A picture of West Hamilton Street proved virtually impossible to locate because almost every single building in it had been knocked down - it took a good few minutes' scrutiny by two lifelong residents of the town to finally identify it. Ten pictures of Newarthill birthplace of Sir Robert McAlpine and an early mining settlement tell the story of this nearby village.