'Ramblin Toes' walk through SunnyGovan!

NOVEMBER 2001
Bill Gillespie.

It was 09.30, on Tuesday, 13th November 2001, cold and looked like it was going to rain as I stepped out of the taxi at Ibrox underground, that`s a change right there as in my days it was Copland Road subway.
Anyway I walked back up toward Paisley Road West until I came to the back entrance of Ibrox Park. I had a wee look and then moved on down Copland Road towards Govan Road end.
The bakery is gone, the one that was across the road from the chemist`s, which is still there as well as the post box that I have put many a letter into, I was back at the subway again in a matter of minutes.
I walked on down Copland Road passed the terraced houses and noticed that #120 is boarded up and nobody lives there. This on the corner just across from the subway, which incidently has had a lot of revamping done on it.
When I reached Copland Quadrant I noticed trees that were not there in 1960, looked nice. Not much change except for the security doors on all the closes as well as on Copland Road.
When I got to #77 Copland Road I just had to take pictures of it as Jean used to live there one up and on the left facing the building.
So passing on down to Summerton Road, a quick glance right told me that Govan Town Hall was still there.
However, this is where the first major change, since I lived there, was obvious.
Copland Road ends here, it does not go to Govan Road anymore. Where it was is now occupied by newer houses (Merryland Place) and walkways to what is left of Merryland Street.
I walked along the walkway and ended up at St Saviour`s Church.
Mass was just finishing but I stayed a moment to pray, you see Jean and I were Married here in 1957.
The old St Saviour`s primary school is gone but a new one is on Summerton road across from where the steamy and baths used to be. At least the edge of it is.
There are new houses on Summertown Road where the baths/steamy used to be.
At this point I am starting to get dazed. I knew changes were made, nothing stays the same for ever.!
All the old tenements are gone, old schools gone, roads gone.
A quick, I lie, a long sorrowful look at what was the pride and joy of those of us who went there.....CLOSED AND DESERTED.....St. GERARD`S.
The wreckers did not stop there, Kintra Street....All gone .....Neptune Street all torn down...where I got my ice cream and fish and chips and sweeties with my coupons, an E for a 1/4 lb of sweeties. A D got you a bar of McCowan`s toffee....my comics, my dad`s fag`s , ALL GONE.
By this time I am in a semi-shocked state, but I continue, the worst is still to come.
Passing Clynder Street, new houses are to be seen but so are the old grey sandstone houses. Briton Street is still there.
By now I am at Broomloan Road School where Jean used to go to, boarded up and deserted. Some wag had painted in gray paint over one of the doors..."GRAVE". is that a fact Jimmy ?
Since my prime objective was to see the wine alley, after I saw that the Post Office sorting depot building was still there but not for G.P.O, at least I don`t think so.
I turned south on Broomloan Road for a few yards, past what was the Gypsies and along to where Dava Street was and turned into it.
I walked along the tarmacadam which is still there but with lots of grass, but it is still easy to see.
At the end of Dava Street I turned into Kellas Street where I spent my spotty youth from 1935 to 1948.
I walked, or I think I did because soon I was standing where #28 Kellas Street used to stand.
Ma Da would lean out o the window and chat to everyone that passed. We were on the bottom right of the close.
Here is where we played kick the can, aleevo, fitba, cricket, cowboys and indians, the girls also played peever.
As I stood there I was unaware of anything but could hear voices in the past...'haw wullie hiv you seen Charlie?...naw Mrs. McSherry I think he is wey Tommy Lynch....the hum of the didgy motor and the clang of bins being emptied....the sound of Rolls Royce Merlins on the test beds at Hillington Industrial Estate.
I came out of my dream to find my face wet and it was not raining ...yet?
What have they done to my home ma?
What have the done to my home,
for they tore it down and planted grass,
they didn`t leave a stone ma,
what have they done to my home?
Sadly my ma does not know nor is she ever likely to.
It was her home too. Not one single stone or brick remains... Desolate.
I of course took pictures and carried on up Kellas Street, taking pictures toward Rafford Street , Broomloan Road and Bella`s, alas no longer there either.
I reached what is /was the other end (south) of Kellas Street.
In what used to be houses and the swings area is now a fenced off pipeworks factory.
The old grey stone wall that used to separate the wine alley from the railway yard at the back othe houses in Kellas street is gone and a wooden fence put up. Where the railway was houses now are built. No more dreeping down that wall.
I headed back out on what I think was Orton Street, where the factors office was, towards Broomloan Road again.
Back out on Broomy I did not go towards Ibrox, but as I stood there looking at the new Broomy I saw a sight that staggered me.
During all those years in the winey, to go on a bus you had to go to Govan Road or Paisley Road West, thousands of people in an area now empty, well almost, but here is a bus, a ruddy bus #89 ..ON BROOMY.
If I had been a piper I would have been playing "Flowers of the Forest' ALL DAY.
The wine alley is desolate and has more grass on it than at any time I can remember as a kid.
Oh! by the way, it is now Called "The Moorpark Industrial Area", I was on the verge of yelling out 'NAW NAW JIMMY THIS IS THE WINE ALLEY - I was brought up here , winched here, played games here, this is no an industrial area.
But the place was quieter than I ever heard or did not hear it back then. Nobody would hear it or what is worse "They would not Care".
At the top end of Neptune Street or what was Neppy all the old buildings are gone including the Schweppes bottling plant that was there.
No more Bella`s, no more Kerrigans newsagents or no chemist`s in between them where we used to get prescriptions filled for our family.
Ah ! but these were in Brighton Street, I digress.
Back out on Broomloan Road I headed down towards Govan Road.
So far I did not have any trouble figuring out where I was.
When I got to where Dunsmuir Street was or used to be, I headed into the new Neptune Street, or at least half of what used to be Neppy.
New house are built and fencing accross the street in several places to stop cars, trucks and any motorized traffic.
It would seem that in the new Govan there will be no cars.
But you can only go so far and Govan Road does not seem accessable from Neptune Street.
The corner where I used to stand and wait to see a 15 year old redhead is all gone. Harlands of course is gone and housing is where it used to be. Gone also is the place where I served my time as an apprentice joiner....GONE.
I hated the darn place so NO PROBLEM and look at they nice houses.
I had to jog to the right to where the old GOVAN FIRE BRIGADE used to be.
They re-built it with red sandstone and the resultant flats look like the have been there for ever.
No more Govan Police just round the corner...GONE!
From the old post office building to Govan Road the old railway tie wall is gone and in most of the space is a red brick wall.
After admiring the red sand stone work on what used to be the Fire Brigade H.Q for Govan, I walked along Orkney Place to Broomloan Road again.
Apart for Fire Dept. all the red sandstone buildings are still there in darn good shape.
I continued towards Govan Road, the Bakery...GONE, ...every thing on this part of Broomy gone EXCEPT what is that I see?
It is The Potted Heid Bank, still there with all those animals on the Coat Of Arms that belong to that wee lassie who lived up the close across the Govan Road.
It is now LLOYDS TSB plc. But it stood out into the sky as a beacon for me, for unknownst to me I was about to get lost in Govan!

View from The Plaza towards the drydock.(late 50's)

Before I walked along Govan Road I had a look at the new Fire Brigade Hall just round the corner ,in Govan Road, from the old Police Station in what was Orkney Street. Looking along Govan Road you could see where all the old tenements had been cleared away,and lower density houses built. I could see the Finneston Crane in the distance as well as the closer Science Centre. I could also see the old red sandstone building across the road from where Galbraith`s was. That was where our 18th Glasgow Boy Scout Troop used to meet.
The scoutmaster was J.J.Eager, a probation officer, nuff said!
I must admit that seeing shrubs and trees on Broomy, south of the potted heid bank,surprised me.
Govan Road started to look unfamiliar at this point as I had passed where the newspaper shop, R.S. McColls, Glazier`s, Irwin`s and the Plaza were... ALL GONE.
No more Railway, that used to go into Harland and Wolffe.
No more Sinclair`s bicycle shop.

The Plaza in its heyday!

At this point I get totally disoriented.
I know I am at the Govan Cross, but most of the land marks I knew are gone, including Helen Street.
Across the street I could see a familiar sight. the public toilets, no longer in use, and THE PIERCE INSTITUTE.
I headed across the Govan Road and stood with my back to the Clyde.
Now I could see what my brother-in-law Ernie meant, when he warned me I would get lost at the CROSS.
Helen Street and where the buses used to line up ....all gone.
A new complex has been built which ties in buses and subway as well as an indoor market.
It was now 2 p.m. and I had not even had breakfast before I had got into the taxi in East Kilbride.
So it was a full Scottish breakfast for brunch at The Aldwych Fish Bar, at THE CROSS.
Brunch over, I saw another familiar landmark...The Black Man.. he died quite young too.
So here I was in Burleigh Street or what is left of it.
The Cat and the Rat are still on the wall , above Brechins, behind the Black Man. More later about the Cat.
The post office is gone, replaced by a smaller one in Pierce Street.
Water Row is still there in part, including the dentist`sbut on the other side of the street.
But of course no Govan ferries.
I had a wee walk through the Govan Centre (inside market). While I was there I almost bought a pair of shoes but the thought of carrying them put me off.
I had taken my prescribed(doctor) Tylenol 3 before I had started my journey, so that I stood a chance of actually doing the walk around.
So far, so good, onwards along Burleigh Street. Shops there but none I know.
Doubled back to Black Man and carried along Govan Road to St.Anthony`s Church, which is one of my stops.
I arrived just in time for mass, so I stayed.
The font that I was baptised at is still there, not a new one.
This cheered me up a bit after my semi daze in the Wine alley.
Continued along Govan Road, shops there but none that I can recall.
An attempt is being made to keep the Pierce Institute open, as the authorities are trying to shut it down.
Have they not done enough mindless damage in some area`s?
The old Lyceum of course is no longer a picture house being more of a bingo hall.
The Elder and the street it was on...all gone.
The Govan Billiard Hall is now a thrift shop for a charity, I forgot to write down the name and I cannot remember it.
All of a sudden I was at what was Fairfield`s, but it is now BAE shipyard.
Elder park is still there but they took, illegally, a chunk of it for the Govan Tunnel road.
No more Govan Ferry, passenger or vehicular.
I turned into Golspie Street, on past the Sally Anne to Gamill Street - I don`t know it.
Onward to Langlands Road, but turned back and went along a windig way to Fairfield Street, it too has changed like Golspie Street.
I find myself on Elderpark Street and decide I would walk the full length, just for Jimmy and anybody that lived there especially #28.
The library is still there but I did not go in, during my formative youth I spent a lot of time in that library.
In fact, I read all of the books by James Barke about Robert Burns, such as 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley.
But it is I that is being shaken.
I am back at Langlands Road again, what! No 4A buses ?
In fact no buses at all run up Langlands to Elderpark Street.
In Elderpark Street changes were obvious. All the old houses that were on the east side of the street have been replaced with newer homes - Det, Semi-Det, Townhouses. In fact an improvement.
On the opposite side of the street the red sandstone and grey sandstone houses have been kept, but I detected a lot of new metal flues on the roofs, probably new heating systems.
It was obvious that security also was installed as every close entry door had a security lock.
The following closes had houses boarded up, 14, 16, 20, 24, 34 & 36.
Then it was on to Crossloan Road and across, passing the William Hill`s as I went.
This side is like the other side but the houses on the west side are grey sandstone.
Walking back to Langlands Road I then turned on to it and walked towards the Cross again.
Old Hils Trust School, which is now a community centre, onto Shaw Street.
D.Jolly`s...Gone. I got my first job there when I came out of the RAF in 1958.
On to Roseneath Street. The shops are naturally all changed.
I at this point was back at Govan Cross, at the Govan Centre (indoor market), round into Harmony Row or what is left of it, and on into Burleigh Street again.
At this point my journey had come to an end, in Govan at least.
There was only one more thing to do...onto the subway, not for a circle as time was pressing, but to St. Enoch`s Square.
The subway is much improved, in fact it was strange seeing the new cars as opposed to the old red one`s.
I arrived in St. Enoch`s and had supper/dinner/tea...whatever in Auld`s....yummy.
That was it, after all the planning, will I or won`t I, it was finally done and no pain in my hips either.
Would I do it again? I don`t know, probably not.
It was more of an emotional drain than I thought it would.
BUT! We will see. God willing!
One thing I did notice, the much older sandstone houses grey and red survived the changes.
There is a lesson there.

Bill fae the wine alley.
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TAKE ME ON THE NEXT WALK PLEASE.
TAKE ME BACK TO THE LAST WALK PLEASE.
Take me back