130 years of Glasgow's Bridgeton history in 16 fantastic photos

The East End community has been captured many times over the decades by our fantastic staff photographers - here are some of the best pictures in our archive which tell the story of an ever-changing area.

Send us your memories and pictures of Bridgeton - email ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.

Our main image is an atmospheric picture of Bridgeton Cross, featuring the beautiful Jenny Hall, in 1967.

This evocative shot had been in our archives for many years, and when we used it to launch our new Thanks for the Memories series, it uncovered a touching love story.

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Jenny’s husband Billy told us the picture had been taken as his wife waited for him to get off the tram on his way home from work (he delivered beer for Tennent’s). Every day, they would meet at the Cross, then go to the pub or the pictures.

Sadly, he told us, Jenny had died several years previously, but he was delighted to see the picture resurface.

Residents of Boden Street in Bridgeton are in high spirits in this picture from 1946.

They have just returned from a bus run to Saltcoats, to celebrate the end of World War Two. Alex Baillie, second from the left in the back row, had recently been demobbed from the army. (Picture courtesy of Alex Baillie).

Bridgeton's Frankie Miller - once described by Rod Stewart as "the best white soul singer in the world” - enjoyed major hits with Darlin' and Caledonia and has penned songs for Cher and Ray Charles.

Charismatic socialist firebrand James Maxton (1885 - 1946), education crusader and one of Glasgow’s famous Red Clydesiders, was the Independent Labour MP for Bridgeton, and a prominent figure in the ILP split from the Labour Party in 1932.

He was imprisoned for his outspoken opposition to the First World War.

Bridgeton Girl Guides in 1949, giving a demonstration of physical activities to encourage others to join. The session was organised by the Rockcliffe Church of Scotland halls on Colvend Street.

An unusual view of Bridgeton Cross in 1962, taken from inside one of the many trams which travelled to and from the area.

Charles “Sonny” Liston, the world heavyweight boxing champion came to Glasgow in September 1963, ahead of an exhibition bout at Paisley Ice Rink.

He loved his time in the city, visiting bars and a distillery, chatting to locals (like this bewildered toddler in Bridgeton) and strutting around in a kilt.

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The exhibition bout saw Liston beat his sparring partner Foneda Cox, but the evening’s real business was the Empire flyweight clash between champion Walter McGowan and Jamaican Kid Solomon, which McGowan won.

TV star and comedian Ken Dodd visited Bridgeton Child Welfare Clinic and Day Nursery in April 1969, to hand out vaccine sugar lumps to local children.

It was part of a drive by Glasgow Corporation's anti-polio campaign and Ken was taking time out from his part in that week's Startime show at the Alhambra Theatre to help raise awareness of the importance of immunisation against the disease.

Skiffle king Lonnie Donegan was from Bridgeton. Between 1956 and 1962 he had recorded an incredible 26 hits, including his debut Rock Island Line, and other classics like Cumberland Gap and My Old Man’s a Dustman.

In 1959, his song Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On The Bedpost Overnight reached number three in the British charts, and number five in the United States and it sold a million copies.

It was quite a moment, back in the early 2000s, when the five-tonne dome atop Bridgeton’s Olympia building was gently lowered back in place.

The B-listed building opened as the Olympia Theatre of Varieties in 1911, and as a much-loved theatre and cinema it served the East End community for around 70 years.

It closed in the 90s, but following an £8 million investment by Clyde Gateway, the original façade was restored and the space re-opened as a business and leisure centre.

In 1933, crowds cheered the then Prince of Wales – later Edward VIII and after his abdication due to his love of Wallis Simpson, the Duke of Windsor – when he arrived in Bridgeton.

One of Bridgeton’s most famous landmarks is the former Templeton’s Carpet Factory, now a business centre, flats and a pub.

Modelled on Venice’s famous Doge’s Palace (apparently because nearby residents on the wealthy streets of the east end did not want just any common or garden factory on their doorsteps) its beautiful façade matched the elegance and grandeur of the upmarket carpets it produced.

The company was started by James Templeton, who started life as a draper before perfecting his craft for carpets.

Collaborating with an Irish weaver named William Quiglay, Templeton adapted chenille (a material more commonly used for shawls and curtains) into a base for soft yet strong carpets.

It was famous all over the world – even Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of US president Abraham, was said to have a Templeton carpet in her home.

And talking of Bridgeton landmarks, the former Bridgeton Bus Garage on Fordneuk Street is now home to the Glasgow Vintage Vehicles Trust.

The 1965 building is a famous heritage centre for buses and commercial vehicles, with around 150 in the collection, and its open days are some of the most popular events on the city's cultural calendar.