Look back in time

Today we took the wee ones to Low Parks Museum in Hamilton, which is housed in beautiful and historically significant buildings which were once part of the Duke of Hamilton’s estate. The 18th century Assembly Room, with its original plasterwork and musicians’ gallery, forms a striking centrepiece to the buildings. The Museum itself is extremely interesting with a large section devoted to the Cameronian regiment, which was raised in South Lanarkshire and, unitl its disbandment in 1968, held a proud place as Scotland’s only rifle regiment.  There are also sections devoted to coal mining, farming and weaving. In the past, all of these industries were very big in Lanarkshire.  The wee ones had fun crawling through a (very small) mine tunnel. My father was a coal miner so I found the coal mining section interesting.  There was also an old fire engine from the 1800s and the wee ones were able to dress up in fireman clothes. Two large galleries also house a changing programme of temporary exhibitions, ensuring that there is always something new to see.  The Victorian kitchen brought back memories of my grandparents' house in the small village of Hallside, which grew after the establishment of the steel works there around 1872.  I remember the cooking range at the fire, from which I have the toasting fork, where we used to make toast at bedtime and also a skillet which hung from a hook over the fire.  I have both of these objects and a clay hot water bottle like the one in the picture.  When I became a primary school teacher I asked my aunt for these objects and used them when teaching pupils about life in Victorian times. At the end of the visit, the grandchildren told their mum they'd had a good day out.