Hidden Cumbernauld.

[mjw]

Unfortunately my thinking on the town centre is increasingly limited to does it serve the purpose nowadays, I think that since there's gates on the fourth floor that presumably means all the offices are vacant, so on floors 3 and 4 all that is there is the library and a nursery. The only thing still keeping those levels going is that it'd be too costly and difficult to knock them down. One thing I'd like to see before they do demolish the penthouses is to turn one of them into a museum with furniture from the 60s and let people see how it was supposed to have turned out. Don't get me wrong I actually like the town centre but it's a shell of what it is was.

[mjw]

Out for my morning constitutional walk today and walked over the bridge from Abronhill to Spruce Road, that walk down between the flats with the community centre at the end is still something special. Pity about the community centre which I like, seems to be unused now.


Walking down Broom Road I thought I'd visit the limekiln under it after Purplepantman's photo of the other limekiln near the railway arches, just to see if it was ok. Guess what it's not a limekiln but a tunnel under the road.




God knows what it was used for? a riverside walk for the Fleming family? surely Broom Road/Slamannan Road wasn't that busy. Sorry for the quality of photo, taken with mobile.

[mjw]

The water's gushing out the mine again, only had my phone with me, here's a pic and a poor vid. By the way if you're investigating it be careful when I jumped the ditch I very nearly fell backwards into the stream anyone with shorter legs and they'd be fishing a body out of the glen.



http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j408/mjw252000/MOV01322.mp4

[appleofglasgow]

mjw That is very true. Of course, demolishing just a portion of the building would be unfeasible, but realistically, as you say, the top 2 floors and next to pointless. I would also like to see the penthouse's in such a way, an additional attraction to the library museum...perhaps a new museum up there will lots of pictures and things like that. Would be a lovely thing, but sadly will never happen. As previously vented, even just to see the floor and rooms would be enough for me.

As for being a shell of what it was, the more I learn about the place, and the more I see the complexity and fullness of the sprawling outdoor area where the Antonine now slobs, I have to agree that the remains of Phase 1 do seem lost.

It's a shame really, I can't help but feel sorry for the building, I'm actually getting attached to it. Worrying and sad to the extreme. But it's just a shame that no one see's it for anything other than a disgusting mess that has to be demolished. If only everyone watched Town for Tomorrow which I think sums up why I love the place so much: the good intentions of centralised and radical new living and for a while, working out exactly as planned.

I tried the lift nearest Tesco, which incidentally was the lift I was talking about in the first place, but no joy. Whilst when you do get to Level 3 the lift will say "Going up" and the arrow will point up, the doors close and nothing comes of it. No idea if I'll ever get to 4 again...

Just in case you haven't seen it, Town for Tommorrow in it's (almost) entirity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0GMYdDs1J4

[mjw]

I've love to see inside the penthouses too Apple, actually I tried going up the lift too but that particular one wasn't working when I tried, guess it's out of reach now. I walked along the path between the Royal Legion and the high flats and you can see an old hedgerow which i guess may well have been a back garden from the old demolished Muirhead village, thanks for posting the link to town for tomorrow, if you pause your video at 8.31 and 1.44 you can see an old path/road? just to the left of the snake bridge. Years ago you could see the tarmac from the path at the old folks home, now it's totally overgrown but does anyone else remember it and was it pre-new town or was it used during the building works. By the way did anyone catch the 40 years flashback story from the Cumbie News a few months back where the CDC announced they were knocking down the houses at Muirhead as they were giving the town centre a bad image , interestingly it described the houses as WWII temporary houses but from the pic in the Old Cumbernauld book they look grand houses really nice and sturdily built, it must mean different houses further along maybe at the new Police Station?

[Icecube]

Anyone know what this is? is it a lint pond? must've walked past this hundreds of times and never noticed it, it's near the mine entrance, the walls are made of bricks.

I was up there today and happened to notice a wee bit of darkness in the moss about 6ft. from the old pond and after scraping around it with a walking pole it became a big hole, nasty and dangerous, it has just a covering of moss and grass.



I've stuck a branch in it so nobody will miss it and fall in. Surprised nobody has before this.



I'm sure it is a manhole type thing as the it felt like a square opening, a chamber of sorts to do with the the pond. The water level is about 3ft. below the surface. No further info.

[purplepantman]

FFS Icecube, I walked around that about three times only a fortnight ago.

That's a leg-breaker! Scary stuff!

[Icecube]

8O FFS Icecube, I walked around that about three times only a fortnight ago.

That's a leg-breaker! Scary stuff!

Thats why I put the branch in it, wiz worried about ye Matt.

[mjw]

Where's Avon Walk in the town centre? there's a planning notice in this week's Cumbie News about a conversion to flats, is it the penthouses? Also anyone else notice the closing down of the old folks home next to the high flats, all boarded up now, strange how you believe things will always be there.

[My Kitten]

Where's Avon Walk in the town centre? there's a planning notice in this week's Cumbie News about a conversion to flats, is it the penthouses? Also anyone else notice the closing down of the old folks home next to the high flats, all boarded up now, strange how you believe things will always be there.

Think its up that way, never used the names of the "walks" when I lived there.

[mjw]

Funny how these things work out, anyone else notice the 25 years back flashback in the Cumbie News. It announces the conversion of the penthouses to offices, I'd have thought it happened long before then. Christ I'd love to have a look at the News photo archive, and with the North Lan archives moving next year this'd be the last chance to see those records locally before they move to Motherwell.

[mjw]

A couple of photos of East Forest farm just off the Slamannan Road, one of three farms - West Forest farm is buried under an unofficial dump by the CDC/CKDC, and Mid Forest about to get built on through the South Cumbernauld expansion plans.

[purplepantman]

A couple of photos of East Forest farm just off the Slamannan Road, one of three farms

I've been up there a few times over the winter as it's near where I stay.
I'm sure someone lives rough up there. I really felt like I was being watched and also found some kind of trap-like
thing. Walk up Fannyside Road and take the (first) old entrance (not the one further up where the gate is but
the one downhill from it where you can just about make out the old track) and there's a weird box thing a few yards
in, just off the main road. I'll try and get a pic - if it's still there. A strange thing!

Mid Forest about to get built on through the South Cumbernauld expansion plans.

I noticed recently the farm had no livestock in the fields and there's no lambs to go "awe look!!" at this year.

[craigx]

hello all

just joined this forum because the pictures of old cumbernauld totally intrigued me

ive lived in cumbernauld all my life, and i have vivid memories of how the town centre used to be, and like alot of other people, im pretty disappointed about what its become ....

im gonna try and get up to the 4th floor in the next couple of weeks, so i'll put up some pictures if i get there...

if anyone has any other requests of pictures from round about cumbernauld, im more than happy to try and get some for you guys ...

do any people remember the old whisky bond that used to be in condorrat? its been covered by housing, just wondered if anyone had any pictures or info about it....

cheers
craigx

[purplepantman]

im gonna try and get up to the 4th floor in the next couple of weeks, so i'll put up some pictures if i get there...

if anyone has any other requests of pictures from round about cumbernauld, im more than happy to try and get some for you guys ...

Just some pictures of the "4th floor" will do for starters, Craig.

Good luck and welcome!

PS. I don't know anything about an old whisky bond down Condorrat.
I'll need to have a look at some old maps.