Central Glasgow Past in Pictures

glasgow situated on the north bank of the clyde has been occupied from ancient times and certainly since the romans who had a base here over two thousand years ago the origin of the name seems to stem from the old gaelic glass coup meaning deer green place this is in total contrast to how most glaswegians remember the city with its grimy streets fog bend and blackened by the suit of industry glasgow probably started out as a small fishing village on the slopes of the meandering river clade and has over time been a small market town a religious center a seat of learning a home to merchant adventurers a gateway to the new world and a major industrial hub amongst the tower blocks and tenements is a treasure trove of architectural jams with examples of victorian georgian venetian and art deco buildings however it was not that long ago that the story could have been much different thanks are due in the main to a group of concerned individuals known as the new glasgow society which was formed to prevent the piecemeal destruction of these old buildings which in the view of the city corporation were an eyesore and needed to be knocked down the group persuaded the corporation to review its policy and instead of demolition turn its attention to stripping out the buildings and refurbishing gradually the buildings revealed the original warm honey color of the stonework something which took everyone by surprise all of this helped to gain the title for glasgow european city of culture in 1990 let us begin therefore our journey through glasgow the friendly city through a collection of old photographs we start with the original heart of the city glasgow cross and here we see two views this view of about 1910 shows the statue of william of orange and he appears to be pointing towards the tron church the church was built in 1594 and was burnt down in 1793 during a hellfire club drunken revel the steeple added to the church in 1631 survived the fire and was the basis of a later church it is now the tron theatre this view from the other side of the tron church looking back towards glasgow cross shows king street off to the right the scotch clothing company store in the corner is crammed with bargains and next door is the short-lived tron tea rooms in the center of the picture is a policeman on point duty with a caledonian railway passenger train parcel van doing a u-turn behind him from tron gate runs stockhold street towards clyde street and the brigade here was an ancient lane known as goose dubs and we see an edwardian postcard from the glasgow girls series which was a take-off of the glasgow boys school of painters this 1910 picture is a view along great hamilton street now known as london road with kent street off to the left where at the provision store you could buy your marshall semolina a little further on we see saint alfonso's church still in use today and across the road is fox the florist in the bridge gate or brigade area since the 19th century is paddy's market a haven for the irish immigrants and here we see it at the railway arches there have been many attempts to dispense with the market but it remains a glasgow institution another well-known market is the barras a traditional weekend market that caters for those wishing to buy second-hand furniture clothing and brickabrack this view along kent street from gallagher towards monker street was taken about 1974. looking somewhat older but in actual fact about 1960 is this view of tram number 29 to mary hill in gallergate to the left is ross street which connects to london road with glasgow cross ahead of us and behind is barrowland gallagher was originally as the name implies gallows muir and was the site of the gallows in 1898 the people's palace and museum of glasgow history was built in glasgow green here we see the palace about 1910 said to have been designed in the shape of the upturned hull of hms victory john dunn had his bakery at 274 abercrombie street and here we see his van with two very cold looking lads on the horse near glasgow green glasgow green has been a public place since the 12th century although originally an open space is now bounded by the high-rise flats of the gobles across the river bonnie prince charlie mustered his armies here and the glasgow fair instituted in 1190 is still celebrated the last fortnight each july on the park the olympia theatre of varieties in brigton cross was built in 1911 and in this view soon afterwards we see that the top of the bill were gorman's juveniles with the good olds of supporting act another view shows brighton cross a part of the old east end with the umbrella which still remains showing at the olympia is sleeping beauty and the empire girls when it was a theater in this view taken in the 1960s we see that the van on the right belongs to gilmer and deans the color printers who had recently removed to hamilton the police box in the centre of the picture has long since gone and the traffic can no longer circle the umbrella the great fire of ingram street occurred about midnight on the 17th of august 1909. the fire was believed to have started in a provision store and spread rapidly until the whole block from high street to shuttle street and college street was destroyed thankfully no lives were lost but 20 firms were put out of business and the damage was estimated to have been in excess of 250 000 pounds glasgow royal infirmary was built in 1904 and replaced the more admired adam building of 1791 this view across john knox street shows the infirmary looking very clean and new and has since been extended up castle street into alexandria parade there appears to be a young lad enjoying the wintry weather by sliding down the hill behind the railings which surrounded the statue of king william on the side of his mind to the initials srcs which stood for synth rolex cooperative society this is the front door of province lordship built in 1471 and part of saint nicholas's hospital for the support of 12 aged men this building presumably the house of the master or preceptor is the last remaining part to survive from the original hospital at the end of the 19th century it was being used as a nail house but has long since been a museum open to the public here we see glasgow cathedral from the necropolis taken about 1910 the graveyard in the foreground has become a tourist attraction due to the many varied and somewhat spectacular gravestones and monuments because of its ghostly atmosphere it has been used as a location setting in many films argyle street and sucky hall street contained between them the commercial center of glasgow here we see argyll street and this view of the 1920s with woolworth selling nothing in these stores over sixpence the store has since moved down by jamaica street to the left is the argyle cinema opened in 1910 in a converted roller skating rink and closed in 1960 showing if i were queen another railway van this time belonging to the glasgow and south western railway as part of the curb in this view we see glasgow's best-known department store in its day john anderson's royal polytechnic above the windows of the pulley can be seen in large letters at delphi hotel the adelphi later moved to union street corner and anderson's made way for lewis's in the 1920s this picture taken about 1914 shows trams three abreast taking up most of the street at the junction of queen street and argyle street was until the 1980s the canal worth hotel this view from the 1900s shows the hotel in all its glory and had the reputation of being the place to go for a good old-fashioned high tea before a visit to the theater across the road from the royal exchange ingram street faces queen street on the left-hand corner the bank of scotland building has replaced the rounded building and across the road the fine block was replaced following damage incurred during the war the duke of wellington statue also remains and in this view is looking across queen street to the left can be seen the columns of the exchange and next to it the premises of sturrican sons royal exchange square hairdressers who proudly boast that they serve the queen and the royal family looking along argyle street from centennial square we see the sign for the centenary picture theatre projecting out from the building on the left look carefully and you will see montague burton the tailor of taste boots and mansfields on the right in this view from the 1920s trams are prominent while horse-drawn traffic is still in evidence although to the left the chauffeur stands waiting by his open-top car this is the crossing at the junction of buchanan street and centenary square with argyle street about 1914 on the corner of buchanan street are the premises of robber scott pearl and diamond merchants on the opposite corner is rw for scythe hatters and housiers we are now at santina square as it was about 1908 although it dates from the 1770s in the center the entrance led to the subway system and when the system was updated in the 1980s the building which is a travel agents was raised a few feet the subway opened in 1896 and was originally cable operated in 1922 the corporation took it over and it was electrified in the 1930s and renamed the underground in deference to the london underground centenary station in the early 1970s originally it was the terminus of the glasgow and southwestern railway until incorporation into the lms in 1923 the building was due for demolition in the 1960s and a listed building has seen a new lease of life as a car park another view of argyll street in the 1920s showing on the right the argyle hotel this has changed several times to become the adelphi boost the canvas and most recently dylan's bookshop on the left is the queen anne restaurant sadly destroyed by fire in 1951 which also took away arnot simpson's store on the jamaica street corner the unhappy baby on the top of the building right of center is an advertisement for nestle's this is the junction of argyll street with union street in jamaica street taken about 1905 at sherry's shaving parlor you can have a shave for tuppence a haircut for four pence and finally finish off with the most up-to-date hygienic hair brushing machine in the city the main tram route south from the city was along union street and here we see it at the height of a busy day in the 1920s the women in the center appears to be taking a life in our own hands whilst dodging the motorbike and the ever-present trams to the amusement of the passengers of the open-toed trams another lady on the right tries her best to keep a hat on whilst overseeing it all as the unhappy nestle's baby this is the corner of argyll street and union street in the 1930s with the adelphi hotel and boots the chemist on the ground floor the tram is about to turn left into jamaica street on its way to paisley west this was part of the long route from airdrie to ferguson mills a journey was took an hour and three quarters and caused top and safety looking from jamaica street towards argyll street in the early 1960s showing boots corner even this relatively recent view has changed that the building has been replaced with one with a macintosh touch the traffic was still too way at this time and the trams had not long since finished operating this view of brumilo corner jamaica street shows the route from argyll street to glasgow bridge about 1910 this is a busy shopping street and stores such as paisley's and the colosseum both gone and gardner's cast iron building at midland street higher up was the grand central cinema which had an attraction for a certain section of the male fraternity on the clyde street corner was james brown shop where he sold chairs piano stools and cabinets made in don warnock since then the royal stewart hotel was built on the site but this is now the home of students from strathclyde university further along argyle street at finiston cross where claremont streets and vincent street and finnison street join some original tournaments remain from this view of about 1920 finiston street itself led to the dublin steamers at one time and used to have a one-man shuttle tram service there was also an old tunnel in queens dock where the exhibition and conference center now stands finally at number 470 argyle street was anderson house a large red sandstone building with carvings of king neptune along with other watery themes carved into the frontage on the pit street wall there is a plaque inscribed neptune buildings whilst at the other end of the building is the glasgow and government boot making and repairing company boots and shoes are on sale at seven shillings eleven pins and ten chilling sixpence although ironically you can see a young barefoot boy standing on the corner this is a common sight until the 1920s now we look along buchanan street in the height of the 1930s fashion note phrases on the right of the picture and across the road are mcdonald and wiley and lockheed stores nowadays known as frasers on the right past jaeger house is wiley hill a favorite for toys stationery in china and like many similar local farms sadly closed in the 1960s a little further on the stewart cranston's tea rooms which closed in the 1950s at the argyle arcade and note also the magnificent daimler waiting by the carb side this view of edwardian buchanan street now regarded as the city's most prestigious shopping area shows a kodak shop on the right kodak had many such shops in all the major towns and the design of the interiors was a contract for glasgow designer george walton behind the kodak shop is ww logan jewelers and this is a view of saint vincent's place and its elegant buildings note also the elegant public toilets in the middle of the road which catered for men and women alike underground the large building to the left was the clydesdale bank next the evening citizens premises then the anchor lane offices and finally the bank of scotland here we see a closer view of the evening citizen one of three evening newspapers which ceased in 1974. the red sandstone building based on the best french and flemish tradition was designed by t.l watson do you remember jackson's doghouse and dundas street sadly this building was cleared some years ago there having been a tavern on this corner since 1846 when james anderson named the place the kohinoor after the famous diamond which was in the news at the time the name remained until 1908 when it later became jackson's doghouse buchanan street station closed in 1966 and although not very grand was nevertheless very busy for trains to the north here we see an open express setting off in may 1936 however changing trains from central or centina stations was not easy and usually meant an exhausting sprint up the hill on the way you would pass bus stations in kiliman street and dundas street where walter alexander's or lawson's double deck has waited murray's abc railway timetable was the guide to have with its familiar violet cover not only did it give the times fares and mileages but also gave some bus air and steamer details now we have an elevated view of george square from the southeast corner so walter scott on top of his column keeps a weather eye on the happenings below including on friday 30th of january 1919 the huge demonstration led by willie gallacher and david kirkwood in support of a strike for a 40-hour week all was peaceful until the people's flag was raised the international was sung and the police unwisely commenced baton charges which started a riot more than 50 people including 19 police officers ended up in hospital staff from the post office rooftop watched in amazement as charge after charge took place like as someone said it was like a scene from an eisenstein movie the following day tanks and armed troops appeared in the city the strike ended and nothing like it has happened since in glasgow a more peaceful gathering in george square this time coronation day 12th of may 1937 to the left is george street where a tram has just passed the royal college of science and technology now strathclyde university shows the municipal buildings illuminated for the coronation the city's coat of arms shows up well as to the royal monograms although more recently the front of the building displayed a mr happy much to the annoyance of traditionalists outside the municipal building stands glasgow cenotaph which was dedicated by earl hague in 1924 more grandiose plans were suggested for a memorial in 1919 such as a vast circular auditorium similar to london's royal albert hall which would have taken up most of the square it was here that nelson mandela danced having received the freedom of the city saint george's place was renamed for him during the time of his imprisonment this is the entrance to the royal maternity hospital in rotten road taken about 1908 rotten row was an ancient street running from high street to montrose street many glaswegians were born here and countless midwives and medics were taught their professions perhaps the three gentlemen waiting for the entrance are expecting fathers between sterling road and parliamentary road and above john street was grafton square here we see it in a view from about 1904 a welcome open space in a crowded part of the city but sadly long since gone the area now houses colleges of further education surrounding a rather featureless area we now see a white tram passing central station on the left of union street bound for the university terminus in the early 1930s on the right is the kedora building which was originally a furniture warehouse then a restaurant it recently suffered a fire following which it was restored to the original plan minus the top floor as we move along union street towards the point where gordon street divides it from renfield street we see rw for size the outfitters on the corner they also had premises on edinburgh's princess street the sides closed in the 1980s next to it is cranston's building which took its name from the stuart cranston tea rooms of 1897 and cranston's deluxe cinema of 1916 and has recently been restored as shops and offices note the improved tram at cunarda seen here in brand new livery and the last word in glasgow trams this is the view across union street from gordon street towards hope street building to the left is the canopy of central station whilst on the right the smaller canopy of the grosvenor restaurant can be seen this is hope street at gordon street with both will street off to the left about 1904 on the corner are the premises of heaton taylor and company with the norwich union chambers rising behind the view is instantly recognizable today although the traffic is much heavier said vincent street is one of the longest in glasgow running from george square to finniston on the left in this early view is the newly built hat track 10 stories high but less than 30 feet wide the basement housed the last craig's tea room to be opened this later view shows the massive style of building of the bank of scotland's chief glasgow office james miller's building was based on the design of a bank on new york's broadway the tall building at west nile street to the left houses the northern assurance company whilst at the hope street corner to the far left of the picture is claude hamilton a car dealer advertising crossley morris and harold johnston cars the saint vincent street church of 1859 is alexander greek thompson's best loved building currently awaiting restoration but still in use by the free church of scotland at one time the view of the church was obscured from the junction of pitt street and bothwell street by the premises of georgian jobling a ford car sales and service center it was later taken over by habitat this view of anfield street from gordon street about 1911 shows a brand new argyle car registration gd1 leading a traffic what price that number played nowadays behind the car drury street and vincent street lead off to the right the clock in the left does not have numbers but spells out cranston's instead the vehicle outside of forsyth to the left is a deloney belleville whilst across the road a horse-drawn couch complete with driver and tophat waits patiently outside of galbraith's music show this elevated view of renfield street taken in the 1950s shows the sign for the odeon way up on the street on the right beyond the odeon were the regent and greens playhouse cinemas back down at ground level a view of a sunny crowded renfield street in the 1940s before the new look took over note the absence of traffic even then this is renfield street showing at the top the pavilion theater about 1912. it survives as the only unsubsidised theater in the city and the performances regularly emphasize the width and wisdom of glasgow since stephen's church at the sucky hall street corner was demolished to make way for british home stores in the 1970s to the left of the tram the lyric theatre advertises its current attraction the imposter sucky hole street runs all the way to kelvin grove and nowadays has been bisected by the m8 motorway the name of the street is said to come from the willows which once grew on the marshy hulk the area was shown as sucky hulk on some 18th century maps and with the westward expansion of the city throughout the 19th century building continued to pace in the 1970s there was no street to rival the prime shopping and entertainment available on sucky hole street trams ran to almost all destinations from here and following the demise in the 1960s came the opportunity to pedestrianize some of its length and plant some trees gradually however the big stores closed one by one along with the cinemas and the street lost some of its magic the tall tower on the right belongs to the methodist church at west nile street and was swept away in the 1960s the view from hope street in 1933 shows parliamentary street in the distance going off to the left at an angle to buchanan street at left the entrance to the royal hotel was next to a net dress shop and the only traffic to be seen is a six wheeled aec and two trams the ymca advert advises don't drift join the ymca it is summer 1957 and we're looking east between renfield street and hope street to the left beneath the billiard sign are the crown sail rooms of morris and mccleary later taken over by phillips auctioneers british home stores followed alexander henderson's the department store on the right and tram number 23 is bound for gearbraid avenue in mary hill surely that's not stan laurel newspaper in hand making his way towards the ymca at the top of hope street was the savoy music hall seen here about 1912. this became the new savoy cinema about 1916 and the majestic ballroom in 1972 when it gave way to the savoy indoor market to the left is campbell's perth die works and j.w smith is selling postcards a black and tenement building dominates renfrew street since replaced by the new royal scottish academy of music and drama at the top is the 1907 mcconnell building which escaped demolition plans in the 1970s here we see sucky hall street south side from hope street in the early 1930s what brothers ladies outfitters still survives although the adjacent premises of james craig's rule restaurants and function rooms had gone by the 1950s the cloak belongs to copeland's and the dome of pettigrew and stephen stories in the distance note also the sandwich board man advertising a sale of railway lost property the west end of bath street had several churches and here we see three of them on the left at holland street is the baptist church which still stands and now has a restaurant crash and guest house too the tower at elmbank street is now the site of a large office block and in the distance the spire was at the corner of newton street sucky hall street in 1965 and the street is now one way in the distance is glasgow's first high-rise block saint andrew house to the left is grafton's dress shop with the entrance to victor sylvester's dance studio to the right side of it only the best picture screened was the motto of la scala seen here on the left in the 1920s the scala closed in 1984. the spinning wheel above the shop and the right denotes a john smith and company's wool shop beyond wellington street was copeland's and pettigrew's lasted until the 1970s and was replaced by the sucky hall centre both stores were of a large rambling nature and customer loyalty was strong only daly's next door sold more exclusive garments the kensington restaurant in the right was designed as kate cranston's willow tea rooms in 1903 by charles rennie mcintosh closing in 1927 it became part of delhi's dress shop although the original design survived sufficiently well to enable restoration in recent years now henderson's jewelers tea can once again be taken inside the shop on willow pattern crookery treyron ac which had no french connection whatsoever apart from her name was a large independent store with a regular clientele until 1986 when fire meant the closure of the business luckily the mcclellan galleries next door were protected by a dividing wall and survived almost intact the facade remains and now incorporates small shops and offices fronting a modern restored art gallery this view from 1924 shows the rose street end towards the west in this view from the dalhousie end of weight tram number 749 heads towards the university at the gallery is the world sunday school convention exhibition i wonder how many remember lions society stationers on the right of this view it was still here in 1968 until a runaway lorry careered down garnet street into the shop tragically one person died and 27 more were injured lions moved to some vincent street but did not survive much longer after the disaster there is a block of flats on the site now the building on the left side does survive and in the distance on the end wall of the next building are advertisements for oxo and at king's the ghost train and here on the left is the beresford hotel built in the 1930s in striking art deco stone the facade was a vivid red and yellow but this has long since been hidden it was built by william beresford ingles the cinema owner and was completed in time for their majesty's arrival to open the empire exhibition in 1938 it originally housed betty beresford a dress shop and the beresford bar at street level the bar became a favorite hunt of gis during the second world war and gained a reputation all of its own following the war it was taken over by ici as offices later still becoming the beared hall of strathclyde university [Music] another view of charing crossing the mansions which were built by sir jj burnett in 1891 these were later extended as albany chambers many other public buildings in the city were his and it was said that he was even consulted on the design of the upper decks of glasgow's old tram cars a lane of trams passes the grand hotel was to the left a curry and mcgillivray of lanarkshire bus follows behind this view from the grand hotel in the mid-1930s shows william skinner's tea rooms at the corner of newton street on the right skinners was founded in 1835 and to the same high standards as cranstons or craigs were just as popular sadly skinners closed in 1961 newton street originally ended at bath street but now continues all the way to kingston bridge note also the carved stone clock face to the far left which became a clock again in the 1970s after many years [Music] now a decidedly wintry scene looking from the grand hotel down sucky hole street in the early 1900s mutant street stretches away to the right with sandyford place in the left-hand distance this marvelous view from george's mansions downstream george's road to the start of woodland road shows how much has changed the only remaining buildings being charing cross mansions renfrew street runs off to the left whilst in the distance is the church in newton street which was taken down a few years after the second world war this is glasgow high school about 1905 and which was closed by the council in 1976. originally glasgow academy until 1876 it is said that the high school had 12th century origins the archway on the extreme right led through to the old ear nose and throat hospital until it too closed in the 1980s and here is india street which ran from saint vincent street to elm bank crescent behind the king's theatre this elegant terrace was on the east side of the street whilst on the west side were some typical victorian tenements moore's hotel is in the middle and occupied number 16 to 20. the street was redeveloped in the 1970s when the ex-strathclyde regional council built the headquarters here the rest of india street is now taken up with modern office blocks this is a late 19th century view along eldersley street from sucky hull street and shows the entrance to the park district in the distance are the towers of trinity college in linder street and the park church in lindick place although the church itself has since been replaced by flats here we see the mitchell library in north street opened in 1911 and was the bequest of tobacco merchant stephen mitchell local tradition has it that the books were brought from miller street to the library in a tram the library backed onto saint andrews hall and when the whole burnt down in 1962 it took over the whole site this is the fitzroy hotel one fitzroy place on the south side of sucky hole street at claremont street this was one of many smaller private hotels in being at the time in 1948 it was taken over by the then british legion now royal british legion and known as hague house it is still their home here we see the queen's rooms at one lebel place built in 1857 as a concert hall for the newly developed district the architect who also designed the adjacent stylish tenement block was charles wilson the building then became the first church of christ scientists and is now a hindu temple in linder place in here from park quadrant was the scots guards club at number 12 and number four were the cameronians and at number nine the argyle and sutherland highlanders this magnificent panorama shows the elegance of the park district in the 1920s long known as the west end park and later as kelvin grove park we see park terrace on the right and park quadrant on the left the wide entrance of park gate leads into park circus church and college towers are prominent in the right background whilst the spire of woodland's church is to the left of park circus woodland road itself is further left with the north woodside houses and factory chimneys of the northern district away in the hays and this is part church as built around 1860 when the church was taken down in 1969 the tower was retained converted into flats and painted white it remains as a local landmark to the left is the old trinity free church college showing the two smaller towers under construction another elevated view shows the woodland road area in the 1920s with woodland's church for saint jude's congregation of the free presbyterian church of scotland the scene is still recognizable today with arlington street opposite the tram passes west end park street a pub known now as the hulk bar which is the headquarters of the lobby dossier appreciation society lobidorso was the creation of newspaper cartoonist bud neal who captured the essence of the sharp glasgow humor the regulars of the hult bar were instrumental in raising the public subscription to the erection of a statue to the memory of the sheriff of carlton creek and his enemy rank badgen by the way if you know the name of lobidosa's two-legged horse it will stand you in good stead with native glaswegians [Music] another of woodland road from the guards club in the 1920s shows a domestic science college to the left in the center is the side wall of woodside school since moved to anderson and the roof of the methodist church just visible above the trees on the right the tall tower of the lansdowne church and great western road can be seen this view shows the burn bank bowling club in the foreground which remains to this day the tram is about to turn from eldon street into woodland road opposite woodlands drive in the background the spire saint mary's episcopal church rises up whilst in the far distance are several factory chimneys and buildings including waddle sausage factory and northwoodside road the large water tower in the far distance belongs to the rock hill hospital we are now in south woodside area of the city and here is queen's crescent between woodland road and great western road running through from george's road to park road queen's crescent was the first to be built here in 1837 and during the next 40 years or so many streets of good quality tenements were added this view of about 1910 shows melrose street in the background to the right of great western road one of the focal points of glasgow was saint george's cross a major intersection where you could choose to carry on up to george's road to the rental and onwards to possible park or northwest to mary hill or due west to the suburbs of hill head calvin side and beyond on the left is massey store one of the new self-service types that predated the supermarkets by several years this was the view of saint george's cross in 1956 with trams still very much in evidence now this the one through road between the many motorway slip roads [Music] also on mary hill road was butler's furniture gallery at numbers 26 to 28 and this view of 1957 suggests that they had not long been open before butlers this was the electric one of glasgow's oldest cinemas and known locally by all is the lackey and one of the legendary places where jamjar payments by young fans was a reality this view shows the end of a line of tenements at windsor street now the advertisements for vc pies the pie and ears one can't leave them alone the pies had nothing to do with valor vc stood for vincent coyer of queen's crescent 91 fur hill road the lower advertisements are for we murray beer which was brewed by william murray who started brewing in kelso in 1890 although we murray came from edinburgh the company later became part of charrington's another view of seymour street this time in 1956 with the salvation army giving a recital to a small group of children standing around the fountain a policeman strides purposely across the kobolds past gloria gaye's dress shop next door is alex munro who had a chain of butcher shops across the city further along past the pet and aquarium shop is dr a stanley richards surgery opened twice a day the fountain is now just a memory there was even a cinema near seymour street called surprisingly the seymour it was originally one of ae pickards then you had a choice of five cinemas by the time you reached the rio at bear's den now there are none the seymour is showing come next springs starring anne sheridan with sabu and jaguar as the support feature it finally closed its doors in 1963 and burnt down in 1968. waddle sausage and pie van heads across from hope hill road as the policeman of point duty holds up the traffic on northwoodside road number 246 mary hill road was the old tramcar vaults the lounge and ladies room were to the right with the family department to the left the licensee was william barr and the beer was bass the volts were famous for the modal horse tram projecting from the wall on its own set of tracks when this building was demolished the tram went missing for a short time but happily it is now in the people's palace museum at trosex street where the blydswood a local cinema which provided a welcome release from the everyday grind in this crowded district the prices were reasonable too and gave many young couples some much needed privacy showing on this particular day in 1959 was lucky me starring doris day and phil silvers when you came out after the film you could cross over the road to cacosa's blighswood cafe for hot peas and vinegar or a mccallum ice myrtle street at the junction of saint george's road and northwoodside road about 1918 beers off to the left ending in a cul-de-sac to the right cedar road branches off to the right to join garscube road this view is typical of the poorer districts near the city centre which was cleared away in 1945 to make way for the high-rise flats the smoke from thousands of domestic fires railway engines and factory chimneys give an atmospheric feel although in truth the sun rarely broke through the gloom this coupled with a poor diet meant ricketts was rafe in glasgow before the second world war to the left is william malcolm family butcher with some nice cuts of beef for sale two pumps are also in evidence the saint george's bar on the right and another facing at the end of the corner of cedar street in the background just off possible road was oak bank western district hospital built in 1904 and facing onto bayern spray the horse on the left known as a trace horse waits patiently to assist in hauling the next heavy load up the hill to the canal on the right a poster advertises cruises while the sign on the hospital shows the opening hours for the parish dispensary oak bank finally closed in 1971 although its spare beds came to the rescue when in 1966 the royal hospital for sick children building was found to be unsafe and all the children had to be moved swiftly to outbank above queen's cross we see mary hill road with mackintosh's only church since cuthbert's to the right of the view facing us at the entrance to the savings bank of glasgow now lloyd's tsb which also had a branch at north park street in a building called queenscross terrace the bank has gone but the tenements remain the trolleybus turning into mary hill road is the 105 to clarkston there was a plan to run trolleybuses through to mulgai but these were dropped when british rail agreed to electrify the route this furniture shop at 650 mary hill road is in fact a junk shop in 1959 how about golf clubs from two shillings and sixpence to chemical latrines for fifty shillings studio couch is a four pound ten bum but record players are still a massive seven pound ten shillings the small bridge crosses the fourth and clay canal at fair hill basin the canal served a huge centre of industry in its heyday still present in 1955 were the premises of lauren mckinnis and the fair hill iron works plans are in hand to restore the canal so that it will be possible to travel the full length once again like fairy queen may queen or gypsy queen to craig marlock past kirk and tiller for tea at the dining bungalow here is the fairy queen 2 which sailed between 1897 and 1912 leaving far hill in 1905. by the 1930s only fairy queen 3 built in 1923 was still sailing all of this ceased in 1939 never to return although short trips have resumed on a converted ferry boat aptly named the fairy queen in cow caddens which is an ancient street where cattle used to graze was a famous landmark stowe college the building was demolished in 1935 and the free church normal school next door to the right built in 1844 was demolished in 1973 oliver cromwell entered glasgow through cow cabins rather than through the high street as he had been warned that an explosive reception had been arranged for him there stow street had a good mixture of shops and was always busy a tram passes by on this wet day in 1958 whilst a van belonging to the great western laundry waits outside crook it's the iron mongers to the left who are now to be found in west nile street ran for a street again and the queen arcade which led to stowe street towards the end of its life in 1960. there was also a wellington arcade which led to sucky hall street and when woolworths was built the right of way was protected via the back entrance the renfrew street entrance is flanked by cameron brothers and the camp bar with the unusually named taylor west end misfits between them finally we now come to the river the clyde flows south east to northwest through the city and is crossed by several bridges here the albert bridge built a cast iron in 1870 led from salt market to the gorbals and replaced an earlier bridge by robert stevenson built in 1829 the original bridge was known as hutchison's bridge as it had been sponsored by the patrons of hutcheson's hospital looking across the river towards the city glasgow green can be seen with the old leather warehouse in green dyke street beyond at the mid-18th century sent andrews by the green episcopal and saint andrews parish churches saint andrew's parish church is the second oldest in the city the cathedral being older it was modeled on saint martins in the fields in london and illustrates the grand 18th century taste in the massive stone pillars and stone ornamentation the suspension bridge built for pedestrians in 1851 led from the restored georgian carlton place to custom house key on clyde street in this view of about 1946. a small ship the praise was murdered against the keysight the bridge was used in the 1983 television film an englishman abroad when it was included as part of the moscow scene whilst the city chambers became the british embassy the serial view from the early 1930s shows the lms railway lines leading into central station flanked by the jamaica and george v bridges the original railway line seen to the right have since gone the top right is centena station here we see the clipper carrick murda victoria bridge it was built at sunderland in 1864 and originally named city of adelaide and took passengers and wool from adelaide to london and on one occasion managed the journey in a record 65 days it is seen here following damage incurred during the winter of 1977 78 when the hull was hold it was eventually raised and following two further incidents was taken to irvine where she has been undergoing restoration in the background demolition is well underway on the building on stockwell street which made way for a block of flights called carrick house now a sequence of views of glasgow jamaica bridge by telford the foundation stone was laid on the 3rd of september 1833 by the lord provost the honourable james ewing and the ceremony was attended by 50 000 people this first view dates from the 1900s and looks as busy then as it is today to the left of the bridge on the far side is the landing stage for the water bus cluthers which incidentally means clade behind that is paisley store note the various types of transports ranging from drains loaded with barrels handsome cabs and open-top trams in this view from 1937 three trams head across the bridge number 192 in front a red tram for crookston next number 393 a yellow for langside and last number 1141 for gifnick a prototype of the coronation cars built between 1937 and 1941. these trams were considered the ultimate in design and luxury and lasted through until 1962 when trams were discontinued in glasgow although four of the tape have been preserved in museums note the advertisement on the central station bridge for the scws advising shoppers to show the loyalty to the co-op by asking for scws productions at your cws store in this shop from 1963 a number 48 bus is on route to knits hill but how about the fine collection of british made cars the advertisement on the central station bridge is now for johnny walker and lee's macaroon bars this view is of the brumilo known as such since the 1400s and was the main departure point for countless voyages up to the 1950s the old renfrew ferry has been converted into a performance venue and is presently murdered by the south bank the cruise ship tuxedo princess seemed murdered in the distance has since become a nightclub the paddle steamer in this view is the ben moore built by tb's ethan company at rutherglen in 1876 and is tied up by the clyde navigation truss building at the brumilo with a hull nearly 200 foot long the ben moore nearly didn't make it as far as the broomy law having been stranded on the weir for a while in this view of about 1910 she was in use as a cargo boat eventually being scrapped in 1920 the premises of the edinburgh ropery and sailcloth company limited are behind this is a daytime photograph which is being used to create a fantasy scene it shows the eagle three leaving the brimmy law at night here we see george the fifth bridge from the embankment almost complete in 1927. it was opened by king george v on 12th of july that year the center arch is the only passage open to shipping now an elevated view of the bridge in 1929 looking south towards kingston ahead as commerce street with kingston street crossing it to the left the clade ferry generally carried vehicles and passengers free of charge the ferries were phased out as the fixed crossings took the custom this view shows the finishing ferry which went from finiston street to general terminus key but in the 1930s the slip on the north bank was moved to elliott street this was to allow for the planned building of a high level bridge which was never built there here are two views of clutter number seven the clutters gave a water bus service on the river from 1884 until 1903 when the trams took the business from them they did survive for many years both locally and on further shores during the second world war an arm of the royal navy known as the clyde river patrol had the job of looking out for mines and unexploded bombs on the section between glasgow and the tail of the bank these men belong to g-crew l-section and were based on hms spartier the centena hotel which was commandeered by the navy the crew in the photograph show off the new uniforms complete with rn patrol service cap badges issued in may 1940 bringing us more or less up to date here is the recently built kingston bridge looking up the clyde from the stone of the turnbine steamer queen mary in 1981 the steamer was built in 1933 and originally had two added to its name by request of cunard in case it got confused with another ship of the same name when the queen mary finally docked and was tied up at palm beach the two was dropped from the name soon after this picture was taken it went south to the thames looking from the bow the granaries of partik can be seen by the busy meadow side key whilst on the right are several fairfield cranes we have now completed our tour of central glasgow and hope you've enjoyed this insight into one of the most historic and interesting cities of scotland you

Channel: Alex Glass

Views: 11,960

Rating: 4.9603958 out of 5

Keywords: Central Glasgow, Glasgow, Trongate, High Street, Glasgow Cross, Tron Church, Tron Steple

Id: LyHBCD5vJaU

Length: 53min 12sec (3192 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 19 2021