In the 19th century, the stretch of grass set aside for the drying and bleaching of clothes and linens was referred to as a bleaching green. Whether you were laying off-white linen out on the ground to bleach in the sun or hanging laundry out to dry on a line, you would want a sunny, grassy spot, sheltered from the strongest winds and protected from wandering animals and dusty roads. In Lundin Mill, the spot pictured provided a suitable location. Known then as 'Pump Green', owing to the water pump sited there, the bleaching green would have covered a much larger area than shown (incorporating the adjacent space out of shot to the near left hand side where the Doctor's Surgery now is). As Esther Menzies wrote in her 1974 memoires, the green was...
"surrounded by a high stone wall following the line of the posts and chain there at present but protruding in an arc for several yards at the south end. There was a gap of about four yards with an iron pump with a turning knob....The washing was laid out to bleach in the curved end and we did not play on the green if the washing was there. At other times it was a playground. The grass patch beyond was near oblong. It was crossed by paths - one leading round by the curved wall to Emsdorf Place Houses, another at the east edge in front of their doors and another from Woodlands Road cutting through to meet the one passing alongside the Pump Green wall and leading up to the HIllhead."
"surrounded by a high stone wall following the line of the posts and chain there at present but protruding in an arc for several yards at the south end. There was a gap of about four yards with an iron pump with a turning knob....The washing was laid out to bleach in the curved end and we did not play on the green if the washing was there. At other times it was a playground. The grass patch beyond was near oblong. It was crossed by paths - one leading round by the curved wall to Emsdorf Place Houses, another at the east edge in front of their doors and another from Woodlands Road cutting through to meet the one passing alongside the Pump Green wall and leading up to the HIllhead."
Such was the importance of this busy site, that travelling entertainers and pedlars would set up here. Mrs Menzies mentioned an organ grinder with his barrel organ, or "hurdy gurdy", and men with knife-sharpening machines. Tramps (referred to then as "gangrels") also tended to rest here. The articles also refer to how this area was maintained...
"Both greens were scythed periodically, by Jimmie Brown from Hatton Law, and the grass carted away for his horse."
I love this little glimpse into a lost way of life. As yet, I haven't come across any photograph of Pump Green in the days of its active use - but the small image shown here of another Scottish green might evoke a sense of the days of the bleaching green.
"Both greens were scythed periodically, by Jimmie Brown from Hatton Law, and the grass carted away for his horse."
I love this little glimpse into a lost way of life. As yet, I haven't come across any photograph of Pump Green in the days of its active use - but the small image shown here of another Scottish green might evoke a sense of the days of the bleaching green.
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