Incredible photos tell story of Glasgow's Cadder scheme in new book

“Our family stayed in Vaila Street, from about 1970,” he explains. “It played a big part in shaping me.

“It was a tough scheme, just like most others, but there was also a great sense of community.”

He added: “Most families could probably be described as quite poor - I know we were - so there wasn’t much money for gadgets, not that there were too many on the market back then.

“So that’s where the surrounding environment came in to play - and boy, were we millionaires when it came to places to play.

"We had the old concrete works, with piles of abandoned slabs leftover building the Kingston Bridge; the Halloween Pend, a rite of passage for terrified youngsters, which sort of separated Cadder from Ruchill and served as a battleground for rival factions on long summer nights; numerous football pitches; the old cowp and canyon; and when the Forth and Clyde Canal froze over, there was skating and football.”

He adds: “The graveyard scared many a youngster, while the old coal bing with its bubbling slag heaps was an attraction too.”

Around Christmas 2016, explains Jeff, a few of the “old Cadder boys” started a Facebook page called Cadder Chat.

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“It started as somewhere to talk amongst ourselves about the ‘good old days’ growing up in our wee scheme in the north of Glasgow,” he grins.

“It was somewhere for us to have a laugh and reminisce without bothering or boring anyone else.

“The page has since grown arms and legs and it now has more than 1500 members. It’s primarily a place to chat and share old pictures, but also serves as an important community page. And when someone found a bunch of old photos, it inevitably led to lots of people saying…someone should write a book about Cadder….”

Jeff has already written several books, so, he laughs: “The task fell on my shoulders.”

He adds: “I put it out there on the Facebook page that I was looking for contributors to tell their story - whatever stuck out in their minds from days gone by. I got around 50 tales and I was blown away by the quality. Quite often, all some folk need is encouragement and an opportunity.

“Cadder was a magical place to grow up, but it was by no means a utopia, and life could be a struggle. But there seemed to be a plethora of stories, and I looked upon it as my job to put them all together.”

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With plenty of donated pictures, Jeff set about compiling the memories into a “compendium of stories” and the launch night, at Lambhill Stables, was a huge success.

“I thought we might sell a few copies but the response has been phenomenal – all 350 copies of the print run have sold out,” he says.

“A local singer/songwriter, Donald Nelson, helped entertain everyone at the launch night, while former Govan shipyard saviour, Jamie Webster, gave a rousing speech about what it meant to be from Cadder.

“It was a great night and I think the book is something we should all be very proud of. And best of all, the people of Cadder are lapping up the book, and that’s great, as that’s who it was for.”

Constructed in the late 1940s as a means of providing decent post-war housing for those living in slum tenement blocks in nearby places such as Maryhill, Cadder was built on the site of West Possil Loch.

The railway line split the scheme, with Langa Street and Inga Street the first to be completed in 1949. On the other side of the line, Vaila Street, Skirsa Street and Tresta Road started to shape the remainder of the scheme. The community centre quickly became the beating heart of Cadder, and the numerous classes a lifeline for many.

Jeff adds: “Places like Govan, Maryhill and Partick might have been around a lot longer, but Cadder has just as much about it as all these places. Myriad books on the big three fill a bookshelf at the Mitchell Library. The Cadder book will now sit proudly alongside them - and there will be no need to feel inferior. It has earned the right to be there.”

Cadder: Past to Present- Stories from a Glasgow housing scheme costs £9.99 – for more information email Jeff on jeff.holmes4@btinternet.com