Part Three

Non-denominational Schools
Other schools operating in the area not already mentioned were:
Washington Street School built in 1890, which is still standing, although of course, it ceased to be used as a school during the late 1960's. Following closure, the now derelict building was re-opened as an Arts Centre.

Finnieston School, opened in 1897, was situated between Elliot Street, Port Street and Stobcross Street. The school, which closed in 1970, had accommodation for both primary and secondary pupils. When Cranstonhill Police Station, in Lancefield Street closed, the former school served as a temporary Police Office until the new Police Station on Argyle Street, at Finnieston, was opened in 1974.

St. Martin’s Special School for children with learning difficulties was located at 24 Hydepark Street, near Catherine Street. In common with much of the area the building was removed during the late 1960’s.

Current Schools
Following closure of the non-denominational schools a new Anderston Primary was opened in 1972. The school, erected between what used to be Port Street and Lancefield Street, stands near the spot occupied by the mansion house of Cranstonhill over a century earlier. The only non-denominational secondary school serving the area, which is currently threatened with closure, is Woodside, built on the site of the former Kent Road School. Most Catholic children are expected to commute to St. Thomas Aquinas R.C. School, in Whiteinch, for secondary education.
 

William Street Clinic,1968. Originally opened as St Matthew’s School in 1844
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BURIAL GROUNDS
There were three burial grounds in Anderston; the burial yard on North Street, adjacent to which, was the church burying-ground of Anderston Old (Heddle Place), and finally there was the burial yard attached to St. Mark’s in Cheapside Street.

The old burying-ground in North Street was known as North and South Woodside Burial Ground. One notable interred therein was Alexander Findlater, Supervisor of Excise in Dumfries and a friend of Robert Burns. The poet based the character of the Exciseman with whom the 'De'il danced awa' on Findlater. Recognising the association with Burns, the Sandyford Burns Club, in 1923, erected a memorial stone over Findlater's resting place.

John Stobo, a draper, who erected the first house in Anderston, was the first person to be interred in the burial yard of Anderston Relief Church. Among other notables buried here were the Rev. James Stuart, James Monteith a weaver, and William Gillespie a linen-printer. Also buried here was ‘Old James Fleming’ an elder of Anderston U.P. (Heddle Place) and a prime suspect of the Sandyford Place murder.

Interred in the burial ground adjacent to St. Mark’s in Cheapside Street, were; Rev. Dr. John Love, minister of the church that originally stood on the site, and of whom Lovedale, South Africa was named; Daniel McPhail, commander of the first steamship, the Comet; Dr. Jamieson, originator of the Dictionary of the Scottish Language, and James Macfarlan, poet.

In 1966 the mortal remains of the early Anderstonians were removed from their resting places in the burial-grounds at Heddle Place, North Street and old St. Mark’s and re-interred in Sections 22 and 26 at Linn Park Cemetery. This gruesome task gave rise to many stories. There was supposedly someone who believed that they would be reincarnated as a horse, so he asked to be buried in an upright position thus enabling him to gallop away! There were also stories of jewellery and other valuable items buried with the dead. Whatever the truth might be, everything was removed to Linn Park. Ornately inscribed headstones that remained unclaimed were smashed to pieces and used for building rubble. Only two memorial stones were claimed, and of course, they can be seen at Linn Park Cemetery. One of the memorials saved was that of Alexander Findlater, the Exciseman, who was immortalised by Robert Burns.

CRANSTONHILL PUBLIC BATHS
Situated at the western extremity of Cranston Street where it butted Elliot Street, Cranstonhill Public Baths were opened in 1883, at a cost of £17,415. The building accommodated a men’s swimming pool of 78 feet in length, by 42 feet in width, with a ladies pool 52 feet long, by 28 feet wide. Included within the facility, on the balcony above the respective pools, were 37 male and 6 female private baths. Contained within the facility was a Wash House, or ‘Steamie’, comprising of 73 stalls.

When cracks caused by subsidence began appearing in the floor of the main pool, in 1965, the Corporation closed the swimming pools, as repair was considered to be too expensive. The private baths and ‘Steamie’ continued to operate until the early 1970’s when the entire property was demolished to make way for the development of the Clydeside Industrial Estate, now known as Skypark.

A wash-house with accommodation for 56 stalls was erected on Stobcross Street in 1889, at a cost of £6,470. This building was swept away when work began on the Clydeside Expressway. The ‘Steamie’ was a popular venue for women to catch up on gossip, any hint of scandal, soon became the ‘Talk of the Steamie’ I suspect there is little coincidence in the fact that Tony Roper, the author of the award winning play ‘The Steamie’ was born and raised in Anderston, and no doubt he was familiar with the ‘Cranstonhill Steamie’ and its many interesting characters.
 

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