Street in Blackburn, West Lothian

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:06 pm

I had a certificate from 1944, the address on it is 27 May Street Blackburn in West Lothian

I can't find it on any of the maps I have, or on the older or modern on-line ones.

Does anyone know where it was?

I can see several streets named after trees but no May!

I was wondering if it fell victim to the M8 motorway

Post by **AndrewP** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:34 pm

Hi Wilma,

No sign of May Street on the 1938 1:10560 Ordnance Survey map. Most streets are named on it. The nearest to May Street that I can see are West Main Street and East Main Street.

All the best,

AndrewP

Rockford · Post by **Rockford** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:41 pm

Hi Wilma,

I'm from Blackburn and I don't know of any May Street, certainly since the 1970s. Is there a chance that it could have been a miner's row? The reason being that there were some miner's houses pulled down at the West End of the village on the site of what is now St Kentigern's Academy.

I don't think any streets in Blackburn were pulled down for the M8. The village has always been centred on the Cross and Bathgate Road. I think that the village expanded in the 1960s and 1970s up to the M8 boundary when there was an explosion in housing to meet the demands of the old BMC (British Leyland) factory.

Could it be Main Street as AndrewP suggests?

Best wishes

Brian

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:27 pm

It's definitely MAY TERRACE .[ sorry got that wrong

]

But it was most likely a Miners Row as his father was a coal miner and moved about with his job.

I was hoping to find a map of the 1940-50 era [ but being WWII, I don't suppose there were any!].

I can only find 1 other reference to it on the web [ somebody died there in 1945].

I'll keep searching.....

Rockford · Post by **Rockford** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:55 pm

Hi Wilma,

I've solved it! The answer dawned on me this afternoon.

I've got a book called 'Blackburn: West Lothian's Cotton and Coal Town' written by Sybil Cavanagh, who is the Library Manager (I think!) at the Local History Library in Blackburn.

Anyway, the book has a reference to May Terrace, which was one of the row's of miners' houses. My great grandfather stayed in George Terrace which was on the other side of the street and the book actually has a couple of pictures of George Terrace, taken from West Lothian Council Libraries Archive.

The houses were apparently built in 1913 by Robert Forrester & Company, who owned nearby Whitrigg Colliery. May Terrace and George Terrace were named for the King and Queen and May Terrace was on the south side of West Main Street and comprised of 34 two-apartment houses.

Most of George Terrace, May Terrace and the rows nearby seem to have been demolished in the 1960s and the North Side of West Main Street became the site for St Kentigern's Academy - so I was half right last night! If you go to something like multimap and put the school's postcode in [EH47 7LX], you see where the houses were situated. The South side of the street is now a small industrial estate.

Best wishes

Brian

PS what was your relation's name - we might be related!!

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:41 pm

Thanks!

That's great information, the houses seem to have been built and demolished in between map printings!

We've driven through Blackburn fairly frequently, but only recently found out the address on my Father-in-Law's BC, so were flummoxed when I couldn't find it on a map.

Our surname is Marshall, but the family are local to this area [ Falkirk Braes], though an old great Aunt died there a few years ago and my husband can't remember her married name

. She was buried from the Gospel Hall in Blackburn , if that would ring any bells with you?

You can always rely on a Talking Scotty to come up with an answer =D>

Rockford · Post by **Rockford** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:04 pm

WilmaM wrote: The houses seem to have been built and demolished in between map printings!

I hate it when that happens!!

I haven't found any relations being buried from the Gospel Hall, [yet!]. But it's still there if you're interested. It's on Bathgate Road just up from the Cross [the left hand side if you're coming down from Bathgate] and was originally the school!

Glad I could help,

Brian