Thanks for the Memories 2018: Readers' memories of growing up in Glasgow

Ewen Bickerton emailed us from his home in Azerbaijan after reading our article on Scotland Street School.

“I attended Scotland Street between 1966 and 1970 – it was a terrific school and I have great memories,” he says.

“The heidy at the time was a Mr Goodall, famed for his weekly Friday classroom inspections, where the boys would line up at the front of class with their hands out.

“No dirt, a clean hanky had to be produced, shoes polished,” he smiles. “If you were too poor for shoes and only had wellies, they still had to be shiny.

“Mr Goodall’s brother was of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Goodall, famous Glasgow polis and gang-buster….”

Ewen recalls other teachers – “Mr Taylor, with his brogue, three-piece tweed suit and half-moon specs; Mrs Mercer in her twin set, pearls and Tweed perfume by the gallon” - and former pupils Gordon Rutherford and Lena Mercer who stayed in the Centre Street fire station.”

John Davidson emailed us from Toronto in Canada.

“Your article brought back a lot of fond memories growing up in Govanhill,” he says.

“In the 50s, as youngsters, we would spend a lot of time walking to Dixon’s Blazes to watch them dump the hot slag from the railway trams, or to play in the open fields or on the stack of tyres at Aikenhead bus garage.

“We played a lot of kick the can in the back of the tenements and I also remember walking along Cathcart Road to get ‘chipped’ fruit.”

John, his brother and four sisters, and mum and dad Catherine and Jack, lived on the top floor of 136 Govanhill Street. John went to Victoria Street Public School.

“My dad left for Canada first, in April 1959, to join his brothers and mother,” says John.

“He was a baker for Bilsland Bakery and felt that Canada had more to offer him and his family.

“Six months later, when I was 11, my mum took the six of us to Greenock and we sailed to Quebnec on the Corinthian.

“It was a very emotional event, because there was a piper playing as we sailed away.”

John admits it was difficult to adjust to life in in Canda at first, but soon, the family had settled (and grown to seven children!)

“My parents, who have since passed away, did an amazing job raising us and we were always aware of and proud of where we came from,” he says.

“Growing up in Govanhill left us with characteristics that we are all proud of having. Our tenement is no longer there but I have been back to the area numerous times over the years and each time it brings back fond memories.”

Catherine Bellshaw also loved our feature on Govanhill.

“The article stirred up so many memories,” she told us. “In 1933 my parents moved from Oatlands to Govanhill, when I was six months old.

“My earliest memories are of the Corporation houses being built in Hickman Street and Hollybrook Street, and walking past the sites as on our way to my grandfather’s house in Dixon Road.”

Catherine attended Victoria Primary School, from 1937 till 1945.

“I remember the war years - the air raid shelters in the street, baffle walls at closes, which were strengthened by wooden props, and baffle blinds which were let down during a raid…” she recalls.

“But for children, life went on. Street games of all sorts were played, we went to picnics in the local parks, built huts and climbed dykes, went to the cinema and youth organisations.”

Catherine adds: “The war ended and I left school and started work in a lawyer’s office.

“Sundays were when we walked up and down ‘Vicky’ road, little groups of boys and girls, joining up for an iced drink in a café. Victoria Road was for Saturday and Sunday walks, Cathcart Road was full of shops.My dad and brothers had suits made in Hurry’s on Dixon Road.

“In 1949, by which time I had three brothers and a sister, my parents moved to a larger new house, where I grew into adulthood and married.

“Govanhill will always be in my memories of my childhood.”

Margaret Porteous got in touch to tell us her dad, John Gavigan, had very special memories of the old toll house in Pollokshaws.

“He called it the ‘wee roon house’, and he lived there in the early 1950s, with his mum Annie, dad Frank and brother Joe,” says Margaret. “His four sisters, Nan, Frances, Jenny and Margaret, were all married and living in the Gorbals by then.

“He is 83 now, and has lots of stories about the house – like the time a lorry came careering down Kennishead Road and crashed into it!”

She laughs: “The walls were so thick, it never even made a dent. There was a photograph in the Evening Times at the time, with my grandmother standing pointing at the wall where the lorry struck.”

Margaret recalls another occasion, when her grandfather was woken up by something hitting the window.

“It was a cow which had wandered down from the local farm - it’s hard to imagine that now.”

Margaret’s parents, who got married in 1958, had their wedding breakfast in the ‘wee roon house’ and Margaret’s christening was held there too.

“It’s hard to imagine, when driving around the roundabout, that it was once his home full of happy memories,” she smiles.

Thanks for the Memories aims to collect the stories of Glasgow’s rich past, told by the people who lived and worked in the city over the decades. As well as our weekly features, we run a series of free drop-in events at libraries and other locations around Glasgow.

If you have stories and photographs to share of old Glasgow, we would love to hear from you. Email ann.fotheringham@heraldandtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Evening Times, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB.