The SS Daphne Memorial in Elder Park in the Govan area of Glasgow. Erected in memory of the 124 people, many of whom were little more than boys, who died when the SS Daphne capsized during its launch on the 3rd of July 1883. Created by John McArthur, this is one of a pair of identical memorials. The other is in Victoria Park on the north side of the Clyde.
As we approach the 80th anniversary of D-Day, I thought I'd repost this picture of Kelvin Dock beside the Forth and Clyde Canal in the Maryhill area of Glasgow. It might not seem like much now, but this was where some of the landing craft which were used to get troops onto the beaches of Normandy on the 6th of June 1944 were made.
Lambhill Stables on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Glasgow. This was one of four stables built to the same classical design (similar to that used for Canal House at Speirs Wharf) along the canal in the early 1800s. These provided fresh horses at regular intervals for Swifts (fast passenger boats travellig the length of the canal). The other similar stables were at Shirva, Crainmarloch and Easter Cadder near Kirkintilloch.
Traditionally, major road junctions in Glasgow are marked by the presence of one or more of the following: An ornate bank building, an imposing church or a pub. Shawlands Cross on the Southside has the full set!
I love this building on the corner of Albert Drive and Darnley Street in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, not just for its design, which is great, but because it was built in 1895 for the wonderfully-named Glasgow Laundry and Carpet Beating Works.
Glasgow has a surprising number of quirky little reminders of the past which are all to easily overlooked, like this early 19th Century toll gate post at the junction between Paisely Road and Govan Road.
As Scotland became more industrialised in the 18th Century, both people and goods became increasingly mobile, and with that came the need for a better road network. This came in the form of Turnpikes, new roads which charged tolls for their use.
There are still many reminders of what is known as the turnpike era across Glasgow, mostly in the names of major road junctions, such as Eglington Toll, Paisley Road Toll, but also in terms of old toll buildings and other related structures.
This particular post was part of an old toll gatehouse known Parkhouse Toll which operated turnpike roads between the 1780s and 1888 from Glasgow to Greenock via Govan and to Paisley.
A Moses McCulloch and Company access cover on Albert Drive in Glasgow. Founded around 1810, McCulloch and Company started life at the Cumberland Ironworks on Stockwell Street, and until they ceased trading in 1962 they were one of the oldest such businesses in Scotland. Walter McFarlane spend 10 years working at this foundry before setting up his own foundry at Saracen Lane in 1850.
An old tram track embedded in a cobbled lane behind the former Coplawhill Tram Shed in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow. Built in 1893, this depot closed in the 1960s, and now houses The Tramway, an internationaly renowned arts venue.
The remnants of the Gorbals Burial Ground on Old Rutherglen Road in Glasgow. Established in 1715, and still containing some gravestones dating back to the 1720s, it's now known as the Gorbals Rose Garden. It's one of the few parts of the old Gorbals not swept away by a series of redevelopments since the 1960s.
Commemorative stone on Mavisbank Gardens in Glasgow marking the commissioning and construction of the Cessnock Dock, later renamed the Prince's Dock, on the south bank of the Clyde. With 35 acres of water, it was the largest dock on the upper Clyde and it cost almost £1,000,000 build and equip. It closed in the 1970s and in the 1980s, it was filled in. In 1988, it formed the site for the Glasgow Garden Festival.
Yet another old Glasgow building which looks like it could soon be lost. On the corner of Wallace Street and Centre Street in Tradeston, it was damaged by fire earlier today. This isn't a listed building, and it's not of historic importance, but none-the-less it's part of the city's heritage and it was one I always admired whenever I passed it.
An old Fire Point (FP) style fire hydrant cover on Old Rutherglen Road in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. It seems that this cover has somehow survived the wholesale destruction of the Gorbals in the 1960s, and the more recent round of redevelopments from the 1990s onwards.
Once a common sight on British streets, in some places such FP covers were used as the basis for a kid's game where if you noticed someone was standing on one, you got to give them a Free Punch (FP). When these covers were replaced with modern ones embossed with FH, for Fire Hydrant, the game was quickly changed to Free Hit! I've no idea if this game was ever played in Glasgow.
Kilmardinny House in Bearsden on the outskirts of Glasgow. Dating from the late 1700s, this Georgian mansion has been owned by a variety of Glasgow merchants, including William Brown of Kilmardinny, the Dean of Guild for the city. Brown purchased the house in the 1830s using compensation he received as a slave-owner following the abolition of slavery in the British colonies in 1838.
Browm sold in Kilmardinny in 1844, and shortly after lost much of his wealth when the railway bubble of the 1840s, in which he'd heavily invested, finally burst in the 1850s.
Jordanvale House on Dumbarton Road in the Whiteinch area of Glasgow. One of the oldest buildings in the local area, it dates back to at least the 1830s. It's now used as the presbytery of the neighbouring Saint Paul's Church. The only other surviving building of a similar age in Whiteinch is the nearby Inchbank House.