Dramatic pictures look back at history of Glasgow's Drumchapel

Drumchapel, known as the Drum, was built to house the city’s growing overspill population.

Pristine houses, roads and shopping centres were created in the 1950s.

Arndale Shopping Centre, 1963 (Image: Newsquest Media Group)

Over the years, our photographers have captured some of Drumchapel's most memorable moments and landmarks, in good times and bad.

In a special picture celebration, Times Past rounds up some of the best to mark the neighbourhood’s milestone anniversary – and we reveal some fascinating facts you might not have known about the area.

Drumchapel, 1955 (Image: Newsquest)

What are your memories of growing up or living and working in Drumchapel? Send us your stories and photos – email ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.

In 2002, Drumchapel people were in shock when Summerhill Primary burned to the ground and had to be demolished. Around 70 firefighters fought the blaze at 5am in the morning, but the two-storey building was destroyed. Residents were told to close their windows and remain indoors as clouds of smoke and debris spread across the area.

Ewan Black and David Hayman (Image: Newsquest)

Back in 2006, Drumchapel became a movie set when low-budget western A Shot in the West was filmed in and around the Bluebell Woods. Written and directed by three friends - Justin Burns, Bob Kelly and John Maguire - it starred David Hayman and had a soundtrack by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and local composer Stephen Maguire.

Ewan Black and David Hayman (Image: Newsquest)

A local pub, bakery and community group all helped out. The story followed desperado Gold Bullet who arrives in town to collect a debt from a former employer, and it also starred Alexander Watson and Ewan Black.

Harry Vardon on Drumchapel Golf Course, 1909. Picture courtesy of Eric Flack and Drumchapel Tennis Club (Image: Eric Flack)

The Tiger Woods of his day, golf’s first superstar Harry Vardon came to Glasgow in 1909 to play an exhibition 36-hole match against JH Taylor at the celebrated Drumchapel Golf Course. The short-lived course opened in 1905 and was dug up in March 1917 to provide land for food production. The club house was converted into two private homes on Garscadden Road. A picture of Harry’s famous appearance hangs inside Drumchapel Tennis Club.

Girnin' Gates, 1949 (Image: Newsquest)

Drumchapel is home to the Girnin’ Gates, captured here on Easter Sunday in 1949. The image shows horseriders and walkers ambling past Garscadden House, which was built in 1789 for James Colquhoun, who was the laird of Garscadden. The Girnin’ Gates were so called, apparently, because of the little gargoyle heads on them which, when it rained, had water running from their eyes.

The famous Ten O’Clock Shop has been a Drumchapel landmark since the Victorian era. According to Drumchapel Heritage Group’s website, the first Drumchapel Post Office and General Store opened in 1902. It was later run by the Goldie family - Mrs Goldie was later given the honour, as the oldest inhabitant of the village, of naming Golf Drive adjacent to Garscadden Road. The shop is pictured here in the mid-noughties.

Drumchapel Water Tower, 2003 (Image: Newsquest)

Looking a little like a concrete alien spaceship, Drumchapel Water Tower was built in 1954 to help feed the newly built scheme with water. Pictured here in 2003, as part of Glasgow’s City of Light celebrations, it remains a very visible part of the area’s history and a popular landmark.

Pegasus, by acclaimed sculptor Andy Scott, is lowered into place in 2009 (Image: Newsquest)

The thrilling sight of a magnificent winged horse being lowered into place on a Drumchapel housing estate drew crowds back in 2009. This was Andy Scott's Pegasus, commissioned by local residents and based on the Gaelic meaning of Drumchapel (Druim a' Chapaill), or "the ridge of the horse." Andy is famous for his sculptures across Scotland, such as Falkirk's The Kelpies.