for Falkirk & District United Co-operative Society Ltd,
Thornhill Road
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J G Callander’s second commission for the Falkirk and District United Co-operative Society Ltd in 1931 was for a smaller store in the Thornhill area serving the suburb near Victoria Park. Although smaller in scale than that at Larbert it has much the same style with the use of pale buff sandstone, a granite basal plinth and large plate glass windows for the façade. It too has a short flat parapet wall with carved detailing and horizontal panels of leaded glass above the main display windows. This fronts a large piended shed.
The outer stonework of the façade is now painted red whilst the inner frame with its dentilled border is cream, thus exaggerating the geometry of the banding. By contrast the leaded windows are masked by the protective shutters. However, the building is still a handsome one. The dentillation echoes that often found on concrete fronts of the 1930s, as does the stepped nature of the border; it is even more noticeable on the two short lengths of façade that take this decoration round the chamfered corner into Mary Street. When the store was built this was a busy through road and hence this corner received special treatment.
The Thornhill Branch of Falkirk and District United Co-operative Society was opened on 5 December by Provost Logan. J G Callander presented Logan with an inscribed gold key in his name and that of the contractors. The new store amalgamated three previous shops. The floor consisted of the latest in panel tiles in a blue tone – a departure from the sawdust store floor of popular conception. It was of the open-store type – the departments consisted of grocery, fleshing, bakery, fruit and dairy with ample accommodation for the stock on view and attractive display stands. For the butcher and grocery departments there was refrigerator and cold-storage plant. The building cost between £7,000 and £8,000.
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Thornhill Road Co-operative Store SMR 2231 NS 8932 8166
Falkirk Local History Society 