KEIRA McLean is the first to admit she had an unusual childhood.

“One of my earliest memories is my parents getting me out of bed early to go and lay slabs to stop lorries carrying South African produce getting through,” she says, cheerfully.

“It was the 80s, we lived in East Kilbride at the time and it was during the anti-apartheid protests. My parents were Communists.”

She laughs. “My childhood was unique," she adds.

Keira McLeanKeira McLean (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

Her "strong, traditional working-class" background inspired a socialist spirit in her, she says, and a love of Glasgow’s ground-breaking political theatre groups like 7:84 and Wildcat.

“Those were the voices I wanted to hear in the theatre, and they don’t exist any longer,” explains Keira. “I think there is a real appetite for that to come back.”

Keira, who is a stained glass artist, has written her first play, The Fire That Never Went Out.

It is the story of a legendary campfire which burned in the hills north of Glasgow for decades, becoming a beacon of companionship and solidarity for Glaswegians escaping the grime and poverty of the city.

The opening scenes of the play will be given their first public airing by The Red Flag Players at Castlemilk’s Love and Solidarity Festival on Saturday, August 10 in the Birgidale Complex.

The production team includes Keira’s daughter Caireen, an archive film-maker; artist and writer Joey Simmons; artist Stuart Murphy; and songwriter Lorna McBain.

Keira and her daughter CaireenKeira and her daughter Caireen (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

“We’re passionate about the play, and we’ve made our own props and set - we want to make it a really visual thing,” says Keira, who works with her partner Richard Welsh, owner of RDW Glass in Dennistoun.

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“I fell in love with stained glass at a college open day. I was a young mum, had my daughter at 17, and did a string of rubbish jobs until I thought – I need to do something.

“I went to the open day, did the stained glass taster and that was it. I went on to do an HND and then joined the studio."

It was during a stained glass commission that Keira first learned about the Craigallian fire.

“I was working at Craigallian House, near Milngavie, and heard this fascinating story,” she says.

“I delved into it and discovered more about these firesitters who kept the fire burning, who brought together radicals, men who went off to fight Franco and fascism, land reformers, academics, activists and storytellers.”

The fire was kept alight between around 1920 and the start of World War Two, near Craigallian Loch on the edge of Milngavie.

“The fire was put out because of the blackouts in the war, but there was a reunion later and that’s when the landlords extinguished it, and some of the firesitters were arrested,” says Keira.

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“But in the 20s and 30s, during the Depression, it was a place for the young and unemployed people of Glasgow to escape to.

“It opened up the hills and the countryside, as a place for walking and nature, which was previously maybe seen as something only the upper classes did.”

The Fire That Never Went Out tells the stories of a group of firesitters including Scrubbernut, Starry, Peehied, Bones and wee Frankie.

“The names are real, but I have invented the characters – Starry is a poet, for example; Bones is a midwife and healer – I wanted a strong female character and there are stories of radical midwives meeting at the fire,” says Keira, who lives in Carnwadric.

“It’s about the relationship we have in the Central Belt with the land, how the whole culture of landlordism is ramping up. That’s a theme that people can relate to – the price of renting is now so high."

She adds: “I’m really excited to perform the opening scenes and hopefully we’ll be able to take it to other venues in the future.”

The Love and Solidarity Festival, organised by community activists the Food Souperheroes Bridget Crossan and Cath and Natali Milligan, takes place on Saturday, August 10 at venues around Castlemilk including Castlemilk Youth Complex and Birgidale.

A packed programme includes live music, karaoke, bingo, arts and crafts and free play at the Barlia pitches and Jeely Piece Club during the day; and performance, poetry and song plus a buffet at the over-18s event in the Birgidale Complex from 7pm.