IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Tontine Park, DUMBARTON, G82 4LP

This George VI postbox is situated on the corner of Tontine Park (a street) and Renton Road. Tontine Park is also the name of this part of Renton. Built in the late 1920s, it retains the name of an original Tontine Park that was located here, and which was the home ground of Renton Football Club. The present-day park located on the other (i.e. western) side of Renton Road is called Wylie Park.

Residential street in Renton.

This view is intended to complement William Craig's earlier photo, Image, which shows more of Image to the left (west) of the main road. The houses on the right are in the Tontine Park area of Renton. The area in the foreground, on the right, where a bench is visible, was the original site of Renton's War Memorial. Jim Murphy's book "Renton Between the Wars" (2007) provides much information about the history of the monument, only a summary of which is presented below. The original unveiling ceremony was performed in September, 1922, here at Image After the Second World War, further names were added, and the second unveiling was carried out in November, 1949. The memorial was later vandalised. Because of this, it was, on October 1, 1988, relocated to a position next to the Smollett Monument, at Image It is shown in its new position in Image For the adjacent monument, see Image In the present photograph, a dark sign can be seen on the left-hand side of the road, close to the nearest car. That sign says "Welcome to Renton, birthplace of Tobias Smollett"; it has a portrait of Smollett on it (on whom, see the last-cited link, and Image). [The Howgate, mentioned above, is a track which begins where, in the present photograph, a bus stop can be seen, on the right-hand side of the road, at the speed limit sign; it leads down towards the lower-right corner of the photo, behind the area where the bench is located, and then turns eastward, leading to the River Leven.]

Looking North

The B857 looking south.

The hall appears (labelled simply "Hall") on the 1936/37 revision of the OS map, but was not present on the 1914 revision. It is now, as it was just before the Second World War, just to the north of a bowling green (Renton Veteran's Bowling Club). To me, it has the look of a church hall. It was presumably associated with Image: in the late Jim Murphy's very useful book "Renton Between the Wars" (2007), a photograph on page 46 includes this hall, and the accompanying caption states that "the local Parish Church authorities have kindly allowed the veterans the use of the adjoining hall for carpet bowls and social functions". The white building at the far right was, several decades ago, a clinic, and perhaps still is. A short lane behind (i.e., just south of) that building leads to the main road (Lennox Street). The lane is not named on maps, but in a diagram in the book just cited, it is labelled Scot's Avenue, which was perhaps a nickname of long standing. I suspect (but cannot confirm) that the name is connected to the Scotts who once lived in Dalquhurn Cottage: see Image The lane itself preserves the line of a road that used to lead past Dalquhurn Cottage (as reference to the first-edition OS map, surveyed in 1860, will reveal), and which long pre-dates the nearby present-day John Street.

The B857 looking north.

See Image for Lairich Rig's description of the hall.

John Street Renton looking south

Dalquharn Works Renton once a Cotton Mill and Print and Dye works