LANARK LANIMER DAY
An ancient celebration held within the Royal Burgh of Lanark on the Thursday between the Sixth and Twelfth days of June annually since the year 1140.
 

The High Street

by Ken Liddell

The High Street is the focus of Lanimer activity through the entire week of festivities.

In late 2003, plans were revealed to reconfigure Lanark High Street to a more pedestrian friendly environment. Work on this project has, as 1 write, not yet begun, and the finer points are still being debated, however it does seem that this familiar streetscape will soon look quite different. It is timely, therefore, to take a brief dip into the album and see how the street has changed.

The High Street was formerly the area known as "Hietoun" until the 18th century, a disordered jumble of houses and businesses surrounding a central thoroughfare wider than that recognised today. Gradual demolition and realigned new building helped to form a more recognisable "street" and, indeed, the term "High Street" came into common usage in the mid eighteenth century.

Before this time, of course, the main Lanark thoroughfare was the Castlegate, a much broader street than now, stretching in the early days down to the Castle. This was the hub of town business and the principal area where markets were held. So, despite tile appearance of a planned town centre with broad main street, vennels running parallel behind and closes linking these thoroughfares, the Hietoun merely brought order to itself through an evolving process, this process in itself resulting in a shift in the business hub to the High Street.

One fixture identified with the High Street/Hietoun for many centuries but concealed today, was the "Puddin" Burn, formerly a clear stream, latterly an open sewer, finally completely closed over in 1843. The culverting of the major portion of the burn in 1834 was an integral part of the second raising of the level of the High Street {first done in 1777) to create a smoother rise from mid to top. Under the central reservation, the "Puddin" Hum trickles on regardless, to this day, meandering down the High Street, Castlegate and Broomgate, before emerging on the latter part of its journey to the Clyde.

The early view of Lanark depicted here (1870's) demonstrates how little the general layout of the buildings at the bottom north side has changed, while tile church and Tolbooth are instantly recognisable to the centre and left respectively.

A similar but more animated view from the early Edwardian years highlights Andrew Melrose's Royal Teas & Coffees, obtainable from the premises of Walter Chalmers, Provision and Grain Merchant. Ironically, Andrew Melrose (Melrose Tea Company), has, in 2004, undergone something of a makeover itself, ending a near 200 year association with Scotland by switching production from Edinburgh to Moreton, England.

Reversing the angle and looking east from the Cross, the prominent foreground "attraction" in this 1920's view is the underground lavatory surrounded here by its band of loyal supporters. One wonders whether the "Puddin Burn" could have provided a continuous flushing facility here! This public convenience was removed in 1947.

Stepping further back towards the church, this Edwardian snapshot captures a lively High Street, and, on the extreme left the premises of Thomas Rogers, Stationer.

Fast forwarding to the late 1950's, Rogers is still in prominence on this site 50 years later (and indeed was still in business until well into the 1980's).

Arguably, the biggest change to the High Street in the last century has been the subdivision, in 1947, of the carriageway seen in the above view, for traffic management purposes. As you might expect, this was not well received, but the "chained tombstones" have survived both verbal and automotive abuse through to the 21st century aided by strategically sited flowerbeds and hanging baskets. Who knows, once the High Street makeover is complete, we might even see them adorning Lanark gardens or suitably inscribed over a true Lanarkian's final resting place.

We look forward with interest to these imminent changes and hope that the sensitivities of Lanarkians are not over inflamed by the outcome.