Part Six

LIVING with the DREAM
It is interesting to look back over the years at the community you grew up in and be able to observe and compare the changes that have taken place. I have been privileged to be able to write about, and revisit, the Anderston that I knew between the 1950-80's. I well recall many of the buildings and the people who lived and worked in Anderston. During the ‘Swinging Sixties’ the community and most of the familiar landmarks I knew were about to disappear following the implementation of the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme. Whilst the proposals for redeveloping Anderston seemed drastic, it was also an opportunity to create an exciting new community.

Between Brown Street and Carrick Street on a site once occupied by Turner Refrigeration, dwellings and commercial premises, the Ministry of Defence has erected ‘Kentigern House’, a property constructed in the form of a steppedpyramid. On ground between Bishop Street and Pitt Street, two prestigious international hotels, reaching skywards were built. In Washington Street the Milton Hotel stands on the site of Harvey & McGavin’s Grain Mill, of 1815.

New housing in Grace Street, opened in 1966, and the pyramid-roofed Anderston Parish Church, opened three years later, seemed to indicate that the development plans were beginning to come together. Attempts at revitalising the community spirit were made in 1976, with local churches playing a pivotal role in reviving the ‘Anderston Fair’. At long last there was a definite glimmer of hope for the community.

By the early 1970’s a new housing development fronting St. Vincent Street was complete. The complex of maisonette flats, ranging between eight and twelve storeys in height, stretched from North Street to what was once the Gushet of Argyle and St. Vincent Street, only being interrupted by the intersection of Elderslie Street. The stark appearance of the flats, coupled with the barred widows of the drying areas, soon earned the development the nickname ‘Alcatraz’. No sooner had the new tenants taken up residence in the property than evidence of poor design, inferior materials and careless workmanship became evident. In the Shaftesbury Street development some families had to be decanted to allow essential tie-bars to be put in place. Rain permeated the concrete and, once again, tenants found themselves living in damp conditions.

Many of the redevelopment proposals promised in 1960 never materialised. A number of the pedestrian walkways above the motorway have still not been completed and, despite having ground set-aside on Cranstonhill, the Anderston Youth Club promised in 1969 has never materialised. The community is poorer due to the loss of the Public Library, Swimming Baths and cinemas. The hopes and aspirations of a vibrant new community were beginning to fade. However, it is important to maintain a balanced view. The population of the district has been considerably reduced, and given those circumstances, perhaps the previously promised facilities cannot be wholly justified.

Many of the commercial tenants including supermarkets, Radio Clyde and the Bus Station have departed the Anderston Cross Centre in favour of alternative accommodation. The once thriving Anderston Cross now only exists in fading memories and old pictures. Much of what was Anderston Cross has given way to concrete pillars and roadways. West of the Kingston Bridge, the once thriving Argyle Street conveniently lined with shops and busy with people, nowadays has all the appearance of being deserted.

Among the few remaining dwellings to the south of the Expressway is a short row of tenements sandwiched between commercial premises in Cheapside Street. One of the few long-established firms still active in the area is that of John McNicol, Electrical Engineers, who operate from 123, Elliot Street. One of the early tasks undertaken by this firm was helping convert the Glasgow Underground from rope-driven to electrical traction. When James Buchanan & Co., producers of Black & White Whisky closed their bottling plant and offices in Washington Street, the red sandstone building was converted into office accommodation that now operates under the title of the Pentagon Business Centre. On the Clydeside, both the Crown Flour Mill in Washington Street, built in 1862, and the mill of J & R Snodgrass at 10 Anderston Quay, which had been managed by five generations of the Snodgrass family since 1862, were demolished to make way for new commercial developments.

Society has changed and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the life of the local churches. Throughout history, the church has been one of the main focal points of the community. Whilst ‘St Pat’s’ appears to maintain reasonable numbers, declining membership suggests that Anderston Kelvingrove and the Salvation Army may have to consider their long-term presence in the area sooner rather than later. No matter which denomination might be affected, communities will be the poorer when a church closes its doors for the last time.

On a brighter note, the Clydeside was completely transformed during the late 1980’s when the old sheds were cleared to make way for luxury flats and prestigious hotels. The riverfront, where the Irish-boat used to berth back in the 1950’s, has been landscaped and a berth created for the world’s last sea-going paddle steamer, the ‘Waverley’.

ANDERSTON TODAY
It is approaching forty years since the demolition squads of the 1960’s left and the construction teams began their work. As the people of Anderston brace themselves yet again for another redevelopment upheaval, it is hoped that lessons can be learned from the past.

Stobcross
The magnificent middle-class Victorian property on Saint Vincent Crescent/Minerva Street, erected in the 1850’s, still exists largely intact and is highly sought after property. ‘The Crescent’ is home to no fewer than three Bowling Greens: Saint Vincent; the University of Glasgow Staff Club, and the Corunna. Nearby are modern office developments, Melvin Motors, a large motor dealership, and the Exhibition Centre Rail Station.

Occupying the site where the mansion-house of Stobcross once stood is the Scottish Conference & Exhibition Centre. Adjacent to the SECC is the Clyde Auditorium, opened 1998, which has been nicknamed ‘The Armadillo’ due to its exterior design. The Rotunda of the old Clyde Tunnel now serves as a restaurant and casino. On the riverside, standing sentinel, is the Finnieston Crane, adjacent to which, is the prestigious Moat House Hotel, with another two quality hotels nearby. Linking the north and south of the Clyde is Bell's Bridge, built for the Glasgow Garden Festival of 1988. Despite objections from local residents Glasgow City Council is intent on pressing ahead with plans to build a controversial four-lane bridge at Finnieston to service commercial developments south of the river and help alleviate traffic congestion on the troubled Kingston Bridge.

Site of Anderston Village
Most of Anderston’s housing is currently concentrated to the west of the Kingston Bridge and north of the Expressway. In an attempt to echo the past, the Philemon Housing Association have erected tenement property on Argyle Street close to the site where the original village was laid out in 1725. Featured on the façade of the housing development at 640 Argyle Street is an illustration linking the past with the present; above the doorway is a terrazzo mural depicting a weaver and a modern day figure above which, is the wording ‘Anderston Weavers’ Association 1738 and Philemon Housing Association 1970’. Further along Argyle Street the ‘Margaret Blackwood Housing Association’ has a block of flats, on the north side of the street, specially designed to provide independence within the local community for physically impaired people.

The Kingston Bridge, which has been fraught with civil engineering problems, effectively acts as a barrier separating the community that once congregated around Anderston Cross. Below the bridge is the Anderston Rail Station sandwiched between busy traffic routes. St. Patrick’s Church and School occupy most of the west side of North Street. The new Anderston Clinic in William Street, hemmed in by high flats on St. Vincent Street, was opened in 1998.

Finnieston
Stobcross Street has long disappeared under the Clydeside Expressway, part of the inner city motorway link. The Clydeside Industrial Estate, now called ‘Skypark’, stretches over Cranstonhill occupying the original Grace Street area. The massive Skypark structure which towers over the Clydeside Expressway, has recently received a most acceptable upgrade to the exterior of the property.

As in days of old, Finnieston Street is still cut in two, this time by the Expressway. On the north side of Finnieston Street, the Police Station occupies the corner at Argyle Street, adjacent to which are flats, built on the site of the now forgotten Carlaw Print Works that once occupied much of the north side of Houldsworth Street. The Skypark Industrial development takes up the remainder of this section of Finnieston Street. On the west side of the street is a computer store and a motorcar showroom. South of the Expressway on either side of the road are commercial properties

Cranstonhill
Situated on Cranstonhill stands Anderston Kelvingrove Church, the Salvation Army and blocks of flats wedged between St. Vincent Street and Houldsworth Street. On the corner of Houldsworth and Elliot Street are the vacant premises of William Cook, Saw Manufacturers adjoining which, is the long established firm of Smith & Rodger, Paint and Varnish Retailers. The Territorial Army occupy a site close to where the firm of Brown & Tawse, Tubemanufacturers were located. A Ten Pin Bowling Alley occupies the site of Finnieston School. To the east of the Bowling Alley is Anderston Primary School adjacent to which, fronting the Expressway, is Cranstonhill Nursery.

Blythswood & Broomielaw
The bridge over Bishop Street that once linked St. Vincent Street and Bothwell Street has been superseded by an offramp from the Kingston Bridge. Alongside the off-ramp, at 215 Bothwell Street, is a modern office block, opened in 1992, and incorporated into the building, behind the smoked-glass frontage, is part of the facade of the earlier Eagle Building, built in 1854. The original property once housed Pickering & Inglis, Bookshop and Bookbinders. Impinging on what used to be the northern portion of Bishop Street is another modern office block, which is currently home to a leading insurance company.

~

The Anderston Centre that promised so much thirty years ago has not as yet reached expectations, however there are plans to regenerate the development. Much of the area lying to the east of the Kingston Bridge is composed mainly of hotels and commercial property. Between Blythswood Street and West Campbell Street an enormous block of luxury flats has been erected on the north side of Argyle Street. New flats have been built in Brown Street and James Watt Street

Most of the area to the south of the Clydeside Expressway is mainly commercial property, with the exception of the riverside where, between Oswald Street and Finnieston Street, glass-fronted commercial and luxury housing developments dominate the waterfront. The purpose built Daily Record building, opened in 1971, has been demolished to make way for office and commercial development, however the ‘Record’ still maintains a major office site in the area.
 

Anderston Cross, looking east 1910
The lower picture is a view of approximately the same area in 1969.

~

ALTER ATERIUS AUXILIO VEGET- The one flourishes by the help of the other

~

.
Next
.