Sorry to but in but this post has caught my attention, my Grandmother Elizabeth Clelland Liddle Munn stated on her marriage registration that she was a laundry worker residing in Cambuslang. A quick search on the internet has revealed that the Initial Rentokil group closed this establisment in 2004.
The following was taken from The Rutherglen Reformer website
Another little piece of town history goes as laundry is demolished
Dec 13 2007 By Douglas Dickie, Rutherglen Reformer
ANOTHER part of Rutherglen disappeared with the demolition of the Richmond Park Laundry building last week.
The building, which had stood for over 100 years, was reduced to rubble after workmen moved in to clear the land, which is expected to be used for housing.
The laundry had become synonymous with the Burgh and even to the present day had become an important focal point for people on buses or looking for directions.
It filled a similar role to that of Hoover in Cambuslang, with generations of families working in it when it was one of the main employers in the area.
At one point, it was regarded as Britain’s largest single employing laundry, with over 1000 workers. It vied with industrial powerhouses like Whites as Rutherglen enjoyed a boom era.
However, with the decline of the industrial sector in the town, work started to tail off and the laundry’s last owner, Rentokil Initial Textile Services announced in 2005 that it was ending work at the building, which had by then been deemed unsafe.
In recent years, the building had become best known as a bus terminus for the number 12 service.
South Lanarkshire Council leader and Rutherglen resident Eddie McAvoy recalled: “It had been here a long time and was part of industrial Rutherglen when many years ago we had shipbuilding, engineering and ropeworks in the town.
“This was the last of that side of Rutherglen that was left. Everything has now gone and been replaced with things like supermarkets.
“I suppose it is progress and moving on. When I left school, you would walk into a job and serve your apprenticeship but it has completely changed now.”
The land is likely to be sold for housing, with the finalised South Lanarkshire wide plan listing the land as being for residential use.
l Did you once work in the Richmond Park Laundry or have any photos of the building?
If so, contact the Reformer on 0141 647 2271 and tell us your story
