jbg06003 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 A Guid New Year to all. I'm sure that some are already aware of this site but worth revisiting, I feel - a tremendous collection of nostalgic streetscenes. http://urbanglasgow.co.uk/ftopic1654-0-asc-0.php� Lots to take in - and thats just the first page. Bruce Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Thanks for posting that. Many, many memories brought back of my years in Glasgow during the 70's. So much of which during recent visits has changed beyond recognition and not all for the better. I used to walk home most nights past the Citizens and probably was one of the many who saw the show following the "advertising" that was inadvertently given to it. My memories of Glasgow are quite grim, the buildings always a fascinating mix of dereliction and architectural brilliance, but the warmth and humor of its inhabitants unequaled. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Having spent a lot of my pre teen years in Glasgow, I really appreciated that. The only thing missing were the trams, but sadly they had all gone by the '70's. Off to search for my birthplace which I'm fairly sure will appear somewhere in the threads as a quick search brought up many mentions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I was a regular in Glasgow during the sixties (staying in Clarkston, actually closer to Williamwood Station). I felt at home there. I wonder if anyone remembers "The Country Club"? This was really a Tea Stall that was open very late and where I witnessed a sword fight, no less, between members of the Cumbies and some other gang. I can't remember the location, however. I loved that town much, much more than Edinburgh which I always thought rather "poncy"! Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg06003 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Pete, Bloomin' predictive text - 'refined' was what you were trying to type. I strongly suspect what you saw were machetes or claymores - swords are too 'refined' for Glesga. Thats the weapon of choice in Embra!!! Bruce Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Reid Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Pete, Bloomin' predictive text - 'refined' was what you were trying to type. I strongly suspect what you saw were machetes or claymores - swords are too 'refined' for Glesga. Thats the weapon of choice in Embra!!! Bruce Nah it was swords alright - you couldn't hide a claymore in your crombie!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 That's right! Way too refined for me! Claymores it were........and yes they were the only people wearing long coats, bit of a giveaway, really. Back for more! Yes the official Claymoe would have been way too long but (and correct me if I'm wrong) the term "claymore" was commonly used in Glasgow. Cheers, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Reid Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 In the 70s at least I only remember the neds calling them swords. My mother was on a High Court murder trial jury for a guy who'd allegedly done it during a gang fight south of the river adjacent to the central station approaches. The judge intervened during the prosecutions evidence after they said the crombie coats were "altered" to be able to hide a sword - asking the defendant how he had managed to find a sword in the middle of this "fist fight" he replied - I just reached down sur - and there it wus! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 swords are too 'refined' for Glesga. Thats the weapon of choice in Embra!!! Oh, I don't know - in my experience any blade will do. One of my dubious "part time" earners was as a "heavie hand" working for a rather less than "reputable" agency out of an upper floor "office" in Hope Street. Bars and night clubs from as far afield as Wishaw and East Kilbride and everywhere in between. Moved on a daily basis so the locals didn't get used to our faces. Paid really well but saw my fair share of blades being drawn and used. The worst of which was a multiple stabbing by a guy we had just lifted out of a salubrious pub under the Hielanman's Umbrella. But made many friends there and have always found the Glaswegian to be the most friendly and openhearted of all the cities I have lived in. Just never get involved in an argument unless you know exactly the strengths and weaknesses of those involved. But I guess that is a pretty good motto for life anyway. Once it had acquired the title "City of Culture" (which it deserved) the place started to clean up its act. The clearance of the tenement slums and occupants into the distant city limits and their high rise shoe boxes undoubtedly helped. The passing of the docks and shipbuilding and other heavy industry allowed the museums, and art to shine through. But at a price, the edge has gone from that neighborliness and welcome to strangers. It seems to be more and more like the cold almost foreign Edinburgh on each return visit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridwatcher Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Brilliant stuff Bruce. Amazingly similar to Manchester at the time. Its the cars that do it for me, so much crap on the roads back then. The main difference between Manchester and Glasgow being football then and now....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 What always amazes me about mid 1970s city photographs, is the relative lack of traffic. I always assume that traffic jams in cities were the norm back then, but obviously they were not - unless all photos just happened to be taken on a quiet day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Well, most families, if they owned cars back then only had one. I took a virtual walk down my old road where I was brought up and it looks absurd now with what were nice front gardens converted into mini-parking lots with up to three cars jammed on them - and that is on a road with driveways and garages! The mind boggles....but it is one of the things I really dislike about the UK now, the sheer volume of traffic in a small place. It's very noticeable when you are an Ex-Pat and don't return home regularly Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg06003 Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Si, Not just the cars but the street furniture - and fashions, buses, sign-writing, architecture, atmosphere and industry. As a photographer of trains I used to go to lengths to exclude brightly coloured cars and people from the shot but this is something that I regret greatly now. The station approach (and the 180deg reverse view) shot is greatly undervalued. As you might suspect, I can't agree on the football thing - for a period in the 60's Manchester could only envy Glasgows achievements (ok, one season!!!!) and today there is a definate parallel - one club in freefall, while the other flourishes. Bruce Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ngram Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Fascinating stuff. i lived in Glasgow for two years in the early seventies and my best pal there was a CAMRA guy intent on visiting every pub in Glasgow (and beyond) so twice a week we would have a curry in Gibson St and then visit as many pubs as we could in a designated area (usually by car as well!) having a half pint in each. I thus saw parts of Glasgow i wouldn't have believe existed - and met some wonderful characters. ps He finished all the pubs in (Greater) Glasgow shortly after I left in 1973, "did" Edinburgh after than and when I came back to Aberdeen in 1974 he would come up a once a month to try to get all the Aberdeen ones as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Reid Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Fascinating stuff. i lived in Glasgow for two years in the early seventies and my best pal there was a CAMRA guy intent on visiting every pub in Glasgow (and beyond) so twice a week we would have a curry in Gibson St and then visit as many pubs as we could in a designated area (usually by car as well!) having a half pint in each. I thus saw parts of Glasgow i wouldn't have believe existed - and met some wonderful characters. ps He finished all the pubs in (Greater) Glasgow shortly after I left in 1973, "did" Edinburgh after than and when I came back to Aberdeen in 1974 he would come up a once a month to try to get all the Aberdeen ones as well. The 'Shish Mahal' in Gibson Street - Glasgow's first - and once reputed to be the best - Indian Restaurant (I believe) I worked across the road from it in Otago Street before I started my apprenticeship..... See if you can recognise the owner http://www.shishmahal.co.uk/photographs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg06003 Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Bob, Dunno about Mr Ali but the suit in the first picture is worthy of a thread (??!!) on its own... Does illustrate another small facet of the city - the possibly surprising extent to which cricket is played and supported. Bruce Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 The 'Shish Mahal' in Gibson Street - Glasgow's first - and once reputed to be the best - Indian Restaurant (I believe) I worked across the road from it in Otago Street before I started my apprenticeship..... Oh My, Do I remember it! Has it not moved? As last time SWMBO and I were in Glasgow (last year) the old area around there was considerably changed and we could not find it. It was a regular haunt for the students falling out from the union bar at the top of the road. IIRC it was the first place I took SWMBO out for a meal we lived on Partickhill at the time and it was an easy walk and the best curry by any distance. I also remember the queue up round the corner and all the way back to the main university gate when they did a 10 year celebration event - everything at 1960's prices. They repeated it again in the 1980s and we made a special journey back from London for that and a wedding. Wonderful memories. Of course Glasgow had many other very good curry houses. Many of them sampled but always returning to the "local" and dependable. I am going to make a note of the new location for our next visit. I think the deserted streets is one of those selective photographic anomalies. Sure there were less cars around but I have childhood memories of virtual gridlock in Dorchester in the 1950's. We lived for a few years on the A30 not far from the Barracks. On the street there was only one car owner, a taxi driver, yet in the summer months the queue would be stationary and going nowhere for hours. But on a autumn day any photograph might have only one or two cars at most. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Reid Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 It's moved just up the road Kenton (see here) to Park Road just off Great Western Road. When I worked in Otago Street it was pre-74 and they'd still at that time avoided all of the dreaded sandblasting equipment (only slightly better than demolition).... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Yeh remember much of the sand blasting about then, though personally I think it was for the better. The architectural heritage of many of the buildings in Glasgow the different coloured sandstones and actually being able to see the mortar joins - made the place more welcoming to the visitor. I remember The Great Western Hotel being blasted and many of the properties along the road giving them all less of a "slum" appearance all the way down to the junction with Maryhill - though much harder to imagine that as less of a slum . I lived in Glasgow for just over 4 years in the early 70's in different areas doing all sorts of peculiar jobs to support myself through a second degree at Glasgow Uni. The flat we had in Partickhill was by far the best and most luxurious with a stunning view out over the Clyde to the rear and a bowling green and tennis courts to the front. Despite being English! some memorable and enjoyable years. Always like to return there and one of the few places I would consider moving back to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flubrush Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 When I worked in Otago Street it was pre-74 and they'd still at that time avoided all of the dreaded sandblasting equipment (only slightly better than demolition).... I agree with Kenton. I think one of the best things to happen to the west end of Glasgow was the cleaning up and modernising of the tenement properties - especially the grey sandstone ones which then became a light, almost Cotswold stone golden colour. I worked at the BBC at Queen Margaret Drive through the 60s and 70s and saw a lot of what the Glasgow City Council thought was best for the city - basically bulldozing down the tenements and building high rise. I used to walk up QM Drive into Maryhill and take photographs of some of the tenements before they were demolished and there was some very fine architecture there - just as in the Gorbals. I think it was the early 70s when someone had the idea of modernising the tenements instead of razing them and I can remember filming some tenements in Springburn where the single ends had been converted into bathrooms and toilets for the other flats and the whole block had been sandblasted to get the golden colour. It wasn't long after that that I remember the same thing happening to grey sandstone tenements along Great Western Road. I reckon that Glasgow without tenements and wally closes would be unthinkable. Jim. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Some amazing stuff on there, the one of Wellington St/ Argyll St corner is particulary nostalgic for me, Electrolux occupied one of the floors of the corner building above the Waterloo bar (Third I think it was) and my elder cousin worked there for many years. Whilst on one of my regular visits to her as a teenager in the late 70's, I spent a couple of days in the city centre, gricing round the stations and visiting the model shops - Argyll Model Dockyard and SMS who were in St Enochs (the building to the right in the pic of St Enochs subway station) - whilst she was at work. Her boss was away on one of the days and I spent an afternoon at his desk building a couple of Ian Kirk 21t mineral wagon kits I'd acquired from SMS! His office was on the Argylle St side which gave a good view of the traffic, mainly GGPTE and SBG buses. The Wellington St side had a great view of the excavation work of the former Central LL station which was in the early stages of being rebuilt for the Argyll line extension of the blue train network. I can remember opposite on Argyll St was the "What Every Woman Wants" store which seemed to grow like topsy, taking over adjoining shops and spawned "What Every Man Wants and "What Every Kid Wants". They all became a familiar part of the Glasgow retail scane as the business grew, eventually becoming a national chain of stores across the UK as "What Everyone Wants". The Candleriggs pic showing Goldbergs was another dose of nostalgia, she'd an account there which was paid off every month there by direct debit from her hubby's bank account! Super stuff! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I reckon that Glasgow without tenements and wally closes would be unthinkable. Not forgetting all those tiled open stairways and all the cleaning entailed. Of course if you were in a posher area (Milngavie, Hyndland, Rutherglen you had a door on it usually with some pretty impressive stained glass. Also the places could hardly be called soundproofed or eco friendly, with high ceilings you simply passed the warmth upwards. Though several other cities have tenements - none were quite like Glasgow. The policy of knocking them down and replacing them with soulless concrete towers was the biggest mistake that could have been made. The upheaval simply broke up long standing community and brought about isolation, it did nothing to ease the impoverished conditions just provided running water and an indoor bath and sanitation (condensation, mildew and a dependency on lifts that frequently didn't work and if they did got mistaken for the sanitation) - Sure Glasgow was not alone in building these monstrosities but somehow they were more depressing combined with the typical weather. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg06003 Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 A natural progression from curry houses is http://www.oldglasgowpubs.co.uk/ The progression of course does not stop there - many activities are available in a city such as Glasgow . Those websites you can find for yourselves......... Bruce Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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