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Paisley - My Pics Of Old Or Unusual Buildings Or Places Of Interest.


Sonny

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PICTURE 80 is 1-5 Moss Street. A row of tenements built nearly 200 years ago in 1822. Category B Listed. (Second image).

(Note that my old house in Glenburn was demolished after only 40 years. Back in 1822 they knew how to build houses that last!)

Today's PICTURE 81 CLUE is ......

Sonny - did we nearly lose those buildings during thier refurbishment ? ( around 20 years ago?) During the refurb all that was really left was the front facing facade and i seem to remember at the time talk of it being unstable to the point it might have to be brought down.

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PICTURE 81 shows the steps in Ferguslie Park leading down to the pond (1st image). Two further images of the park in images 2 & 3.

It is only in the last few years that I have come to realise just what an amazing place Ferguslie was and its impact an Paisley.

Ferguslie has origins dating back to the 16th century, and was the site of a large estate associated with the monks based at Paisley. The modern town, however, was born in the 1850s around an iron-stone mining settlement known as Inkerman. At its closure, the town was demolished and its residents moved to Ferguslie or nearby Elderslie.

Image 4 - Ferguslie House

Ferguslie House was best known as the home of Mr Thomas Coats of the well-known firm of J and P Coats, thread manufacturers in Paisley. It was built in 1828 by Hippolyte J Blanc with additions by Abercrombie of Paisley, converted into a hospital in 1916 and demolished in 1920. In 1845, it was recorded that the remains of a castle were also on the site, the land having been granted in 1544 by the Abbot of Paisley to a man called John Hamilton. The house was situated across the main road from the giant Ferguslie Mills complex.

Image 5 - Aerial photo of Ferguslie House and Mills

The aerial photo shows how close it was to the mills. It is the white building in the top middle above the pond that is still there now.

Image 6 - Ferguslie Pond

This postcard shows the ornamental pond in the gardens of Ferguslie House as it was in the very early years of the twentieth century. A bridge connects the island to the banks and these have been extensively Iandscaped with trees and flower beds.

Image 7 - Glencoats House

The house was completed in 1890 in Ferguslie Park on the other side of the railway line from Ferguslie House, again close to the family business, Ferguslie Mills. It is said to have been built on the site of the old Ferguslie Castle. The architect Hippolyte J Blanc's design was exhibited in 1887, the stables were built to his design in 1888 as was the lodge in 1891. There were at least two extensions to the house including one phase in 1908. It was gifted to the Royal Alexandra Infirmary as an auxilliary hospital in 1934, closed in 1972 and demolished in 1980.

Image 8 - Aerial view of Glencoats House and Ferguslie Mill.

This 1930 photo shows the mills, the pond in Ferguslie gardens, Ferguslie House and Glencoats.

Glen-Coats

Son of the late Mr. Thomas Coats, of Ferguslie and Maxwelltown, and Margaret, daughter of Mr. Thomas Glen, Thornhill, Renfrewshire, SirThomas Glen-Coats was born at Ferguslie House, Paisley in 184, and was educated at Queenwood College, Hampshire. He was a director of the great thread-making firm of J. & P. Coats, Ltd. He also had a long and honourable service as an officer of volunteers, being an Honorary Colonel and formerly Commandant of the 2nd V.B. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

He assumed the additional surname of Glen in 1894, and received the honour of a baronetcy in the same year. A Liberal in politics, he was a member of various Liberal clubs and organisations in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London. He was elected M.P. for West Renfrewshire in 1906 and on the death of Lord Blythswood was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire in August, 1908. He had two sons and one daughter. Lady Glen Coats was a very well respected political campaigner in her own right.

His son Thomas Glen-Coats was an illustrious designer who worked for A Mylne & Co as a naval architect and produced some wonderful race winning yachts. His most famous victory was winning Gold for Great Britain in the 1908 Olympics. Contested in his home waters of the Clyde, sailing onboard ‘Hera’, Glen-Coats pushed the Alfred Mylne designed yacht ‘Mouchette’ into Silver medal position. On his father's death in 1922 he became a baronet. The baronetcy became extinct on his death as he had no children.

BBC - The Yacht Hera: Paisley's Olympic Champion 1908

The Coats name became famous worldwide. This is one of the stranger episodes.

Coats Land, a one-hundred-and-fifty mile stretch of the coast of the Antarctic continent discovered by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-1904, was named after the Paisley thread-manufacturing family, to which the main financial backers of the Expedition belonged.

Major Andrew Coats and his younger brother James Coats junior between them provided over £30,000 of the £36,405 raised to finance the Expedition, while another brother, Sir Thomas Glen Coats, contributed generously to the costs of publishing some of the scientific results.

Image 9

The mansion house and part of the pleasure grounds of Ferguslie Park, Paisley, have been presented to the Royal Alexandra Infirmary, Paisley, as a memorial to the late Sir Thomas and Lady Glen-Coats and Major A. Harold Glen-Coats, together with a sum of money to form an endowment fund which will make a substantial contribution towards the cost of maintenance and running expenses. The donors are Sir Thomas Glen-Coats, Mrs.E. H. T. Parsons, and Harold Glen-Coats.

One bizarre postcript to the gift of the hospital to the people of Paisley was the legend of the ghost of Lady Glen Coats. It was said that she could be heard playing the piano in the upper part of the building, when not standing over sleeping patients. The story was reported in the Paisley Daily Express so it must be true !

So the park I once played in as a child was originally part of the magnificent gardens of two Paisley mansions of very eminent Buddies.

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Edited by Sonny
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Ferguslie has origins dating back to the 16th century, and was the site of a large estate associated with the monks based at Paisley. The modern town, however, was born in the 1850s around an iron-stone mining settlement known as Inkerman. At its closure, the town was demolished and its residents moved to Ferguslie or nearby Elderslie.

Some of my mob were from the Inkerman mining families.

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Sonny - did we nearly lose those buildings during thier refurbishment ? ( around 20 years ago?) During the refurb all that was really left was the front facing facade and i seem to remember at the time talk of it being unstable to the point it might have to be brought down.

that is true ped, only the walls remained due to years of neglect of the upper apartments being disused or used only as storage, the shops below suffered through lack of custom and could not afford the high maintenance costs, so they closed or relocated, presently i don't think the flats above are being used as much more than storage - i may be wrong
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that is true ped, only the walls remained due to years of neglect of the upper apartments being disused or used only as storage, the shops below suffered through lack of custom and could not afford the high maintenance costs, so they closed or relocated, presently i don't think the flats above are being used as much more than storage - i may be wrong

Thanks for the post. Glad they saved that building - Paisley town planners have a poor record and would no doubt have replaced it with something f**kin horrible !!

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Sonny, did you ever find out about the circle of stones up the back of Ferguslie Park? We used to call it the witches circle.

I dont know for certain but would guess the stones are either from the Glen-Coats House after its demolition or long beforehand from the old Ferguslie Castle which dated back to around 1544.

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Here's a before and after image.

http://www.alamoburnsclub.org.uk/index_files/Page17211.htm

Scroll down to the 4th.

The only bombings were in the WE.

In the turn of century pic, there were Temperance cafes in that block - for me, well worthy of demolition.

Excellent site you found there , Bluto. Great pictures and the first time I have heard a proper explanation for the 14th centuary knight being surrounded by the 20th centuary troops. I've wondered about that for most of my life, lol. .

Regarding the bombing , I remember an old relative telling me that he came out of his families air raid shelter and there was large spent cartridge lying on the back green. Apparently , ze Germans used to try and bomb Beardmores plant(which became Pressed steel l believe), the cartridge case had came from the British anti-aircraft guns down there. .

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Excellent site you found there , Bluto. Great pictures and the first time I have heard a proper explanation for the 14th centuary knight being surrounded by the 20th centuary troops. I've wondered about that for most of my life, lol. .

Regarding the bombing , I remember an old relative telling me that he came out of his families air raid shelter and there was large spent cartridge lying on the back green. Apparently , ze Germans used to try and bomb Beardmores plant(which became Pressed steel l believe), the cartridge case had came from the British anti-aircraft guns down there. .

There's a display about Beardmores at the new Transport Museum. A very good display about Paisley and the RAF too...mostly around Pinkerton.

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Excellent site you found there , Bluto. Great pictures and the first time I have heard a proper explanation for the 14th centuary knight being surrounded by the 20th centuary troops. I've wondered about that for most of my life.

It also informed me...

Being romantically inclined, I'd deduced that it was probably symbolic and this was Wallace or Bruce giving succour/shelter to a new generation of Bonnie Scots Fechters....

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Sorry about the delay guys - I had a game to go to today.

All together now 'YMCA....YMCA...' smile.png . PICTURE 63 is another B Listed building by the great TG. Built in 1908.

Not really too sure what the building is used for now. I know that Reid Kerr use a part of it. Only been in it once. I assume in the past that a Photographer used part of the building or got himself a great advertising billboard.

PICTURE 64 CLUE is the 4th image.

EDIT: Got my numbers mixed up - correct now.

I'm guesing the YMCA at the corner of hew street

Bleeding obvious, if you read the threid!

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Off topic but heartwarmingly Buddie...

Sitting in a York pub this evening, out of the babel of noise a phrase leapt out for me...

"She's a St Mirren fan!"

I looked over to see a woman sitting at a table, scots accent, talking to someoneat the bar.

Nosy, I wandered over.

Excuse me did I hear you say...?

The wee lassie (3 to 6 months old) had been born in Paisley. The mother was from Edinburgh and to annoy her hertz parents always says the wean is a saints fan. Her and her man (on a week's holiday) live in bridge of weir.

The end. :)

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It also informed me...

Being romantically inclined, I'd deduced that it was probably symbolic and this was Wallace or Bruce giving succour/shelter to a new generation of Bonnie Scots Fechters....

I always though it was modelled on Robert the Bruce too, it's quite similar to the Bannockburn statue I think (although that's possibly just because of the horsey!)

There is however a statue of The Bruce elsewhere in Paisley - does anyone else know where it is?

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