IN beautiful countryside on the southern edge of Glasgow, the city’s last remaining village is awash with history.
Carmunnock’s residents know its streets, parks and buildings have always had many stories to tell, and now a clever new multimedia heritage trail aims to share them far and wide.
Since its launch in the spring, the guide – which invites people to scan a QR code at each stop to view videos and archive material which bring the history to life - has already had more than 500 hits, while a trailer video advertising it has had around 100,000 views.
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“We’re delighted with the response – it has been a real labour of love to bring this together,” says Anne Simpson, of Carmunnock Heritage Society, who commissioned the trail.
Putting it together, with the help of funding from Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Castlemilk and Carmunnock Community Windpark Trust, the Glasgow City Council Linn Ward Fund and Solid Media, was a huge task, she adds.
“It was a lot of work, researching, filming, editing – we even got the local drama club involved to film some ‘period’ scenes – but it has all come together really well,” she says.
The starting point for the trail was a remarkable digital archive compiled by the late Peter Christie and the late Bob Crawford, who had the foresight to preserve photos, documents and maps from Carmunnock’s rich past.
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The village is extraordinarily fortunate, agrees Anne, to have such a wealth of material at its fingertips, with thanks due to the former Carmunnock Preservation Society and villagers, past and present, who donated photos and stories. Carmunnock has more than 1300 residents, and around 120 of them are members of the heritage society.
“We are so lucky,” adds Anne. “The trail incorporates lots of historic material, and it comes right up to date with the Highland Games, for example, and the gala day – which will be tomorrow’s history, of course.”
Anne, who lives in the village with her husband Ted, son Robin, 16 and 14-year-old daughter Emily, has been a Carmunnock resident for around 20 years, but her links to the village stretch back generations.
On a stroll round the pretty village, she points out the original school building where her grandfather, Walter Duff, was a pupil, and the edge of Cathkin Braes Country Park where his father, Anne’s great-grandfather (also Walter) was parkkeeper in the 1920s.
“I love being able to walk in their footsteps,” she says. “I’m proud my family has had associations with Carmunnock for 100 years.”
Even on a quiet Tuesday afternoon, Carmunnock is busy with people walking in the sunshine, enjoying lunch at popular restaurant Laura’s or popping into newly-revamped corner-shop-turned-café-and -community hub Booth’s.
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The trail incorporates 16 stops, including Carmunnock Parish Church, or the Kirk, as it is known locally. It is the second oldest church still in use in Glasgow. (The oldest is Glasgow Cathedral).
Among the village’s oldest houses are Brae House, dating back to 1690; the old School House, from 1702; and Weaver’s Cottage, so-called not because of the village’s association with the weaving trade, says Anne, but because the name of the family who lived there was Weaver.
In the beautiful community gardens, by the Tammy Linn Burn, an old well is a reminder of the work that used to happen here on the Low Green.
“Washerwomen would walk from Glasgow, from the hotels, and lay out the linen to dry and bleach it in the sun,” explains Anne, who is a health improvement practitioner for the NHS.
“The air was cleaner up here, and the water was fresher, far away from the grime and smoke of the city.”
Carmunnock remains a sought-after place to stay, close to both Glasgow and East Kilbride, on the borders of East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire.
“This is Glasgow’s last remaining village,” says Anne. “Lots of other villages have been consumed by the city, surrounded by development, and of course there has been development here too.
“But we have greenbelt all around us, still, and that’s what makes us special.”
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