Geograph - photograph every grid square

Entering Renton from the south

This view is intended to complement William Craig's earlier photo, NS3877 : Renton, main Street, which shows more of NS3877 : Wylie Park 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 NS3977 : The Howgate. 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 NS3878 : Renton Primary school. It is shown in its new position in NS3878 : War Memorial, Renton. For the adjacent monument, see NS3878 : Latin inscription on the Smollett Monument.

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 NS3977 : The former site of Dalquhurn House).

[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.]