To the Dead and Back blog (complete)

To look again:  http://www.gerryblaikie.com 

(some excellent local guides)

As you leave Queens Park:

The church in this photo is the Camphill Queens Park Baptist Church, built in 1876. Designed by William Leiper, it has an octagonal spire. Amongst Leiper's other buildings is Templeton Carpet Factory  (see below).

You then pass Glasgow's only Statue of Liberty, which predates the more famous statue in New York:

Going up Langside Road you pass the site of a "Greek" Thomson church. This was built in 1869 but destroyed by a German bomb in 1943:

and then the Carnegie - funded Govanhill Library (one of 12 funded by him across the city), which opened in 1906:

About 200m to the west, along Calder Street, are the Govanhill Baths - opened in 1917 (Cat B listed) and saved from closure in 2001 by a community campaign:

After you turn onto Cathcart Road and go over the railway on your right is the site of Dixon's Ironworks (commonly known as Dixon's Blazes for the fires which lit up the area!). It's now a retail park.

As you come up Cathcart Road ahead of you is the Caledonia Road church, now derelict (designed by Alexander Greek Thomson and built in 1857). Heres a photo with the Area E housing behind (see below):

As you bear right onto Caledonia Road, you are about to enter the Gorbals. New flats are ahead of you. These replace:

Area E – an estate of five-storey deck-access blocks and two 24-storey towers at Sandiefield Road, constructed in 1968. Within a few years the low-rise buildings became badly affected by dampness and condensation (and were nicknamed "The Dampies") and were declared unfit for habitation; and finally demolished in 1987. The two towers were demolished in 2013.

The Dampies

Sandiefield towers

You'll probably cross Cumberland St, and see to your right the former St Francis Church and Friary. Built in 1880, this was converted into a Community Centre in 1996 with the Friary becoming flats.

The CHECKPOINT is in the Gorbals Orchard - the only public orchard in Scotland. This is the site of the former Gorbals burial ground, and whilst the graves have all been removed, there are still some gravestones against the walls. The checkpoint itself is a memorial to James Stokes VC, who was born nearby:

On exiting the orchard the Twomax building is opposite.  This was built as a cotton spinning mill in 1817 and is the oldest surviving iron-framed mill building in Glasgow. From 1920 to 1984 it was the "Twomax" clothing factory, so called because its owners were McClure and McIntosh ie the 2 Macs! It was converted into offices in 1998 and is now (2025) being converted into flats. The "smokestack" on its roof is actually a sculpture which rotates and acts like a weathervane. 2nd photo was taken in 1956.

On Old Rutherglen Rd just to the east of the orchard were tower blocks designed by Basil Spence. These became the most notorious of the five schemes built in the Gorbals.  The Queen Elizabeth Square blocks, completed in 1965, began to encounter structural problems around 10 years later, much magnified by poor maintenance, and the blocks were demolished in 1993.

QES

Here's a photo which shows the orchard, with QES to its right and the 4 Riverside blocks beyond, and the Nelson's monument checkpoint across the river.  Also shows St Francis Church in the bottom right.

Here's a similar photo, showing the contrast with Hutchie A (see below):

The photo below shows QES (middle right) and the Dampies/Sandiefield (middle left, beyond the 4 Caledonia Road blocks, which will also all be gone in 2025):

After demolition, new housing was built on the site with the Queen Elizabeth Gardens block echoing the high flats:

Another photo of these new blocks, plus St Francis Church:

Then (depending on route choice!)  you may go past the: 

Hutchie A low rise blocks to the right of Commercial Road. These were the earliest post war housing in the Gorbals, built in 1958 and still there:

Across Ballater Street is Hutchie B. Now known as the Riverside estate, these four 18-storey blocks– built in 1964 to the distinctive "scissor section" configuration – between Ballater St and the Clyde - still stand, and are widely regarded as the most successful of the Gorbals high-rises.  This 1960s photo looking East shows the blocks being built:

Also on Ballater St is the Church of John Duns Scotus, built in 1975. Inside is a casket containing the bones of St Valentine.  It is the only remaining Catholic church in the Gorbals, the 3 others have gone.

Then you may cross the St Andrews footbridge (built in 1885). On the south bank of the river once stood the rather splendid United Co-op Bakery (built in 1887 and demolished in 1973).

Here's a 1960s photo looking N past the Bakery to Glasgow Green:

On the north bank of the river, just up from the bridge is the Humane Society House  (well known as the meeting point for Glasgow Green reps!).

Or you may go left and cross the Albert Bridge and go past the Mclennan Arch. (also known as Glasgow's Arc de Triomphe !)  The McLennan Arch was originally part of the Assembly Rooms, built in Ingram Street in the 1792.When the building was demolished in 1892 to make way for the new General Post Office, the central arch was preserved. It was moved first to Greendyke Street (as in the postcard below) and then to Glasgow Green in 1922 as a freestanding arch. Then when it began to tilt over, it was dismantled and re-erected in its current position in 1992:

Whichever route you take to cross the Clyde you enter Glasgow Green which dates back to 1450 when the land was gifted to the city by King James II. You then arrive at the CHECKPOINT, Nelson Monument. This was erected in 1807  and so predates the more famous Nelson's Column in London.  The monument honours three of the battles he fought, Aboukir, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. 

Then you will pass close to  David Dale's home was this villa on Charlotte Street, designed by Robert Adam in 1783:

One similar villa survives further up at 52 Charlotte Street:

At the bottom of Charlotte Street is the former Our Lady and St Francis Catholic Girls school, a modernist building designed by Jack Coia and opened in 1964, A-listed:

St Andrews by the Green is Glasgow's oldest parish church, built in 1751-2. On Turnbull St, it is now the hq of GAMH.  A listed.

St Andrews in the Square (CHECKPOINT) was built in 1739-56.  Arguably one of the finest neoclassical churches in Britain, Bonnie Prince Charlie's army camped inside the church in 1745, though he wasnt welcomed by the Royalist sympathisers who were in the majority in the city. 

Glasgow Cross was at the heart of medieval Glasgow. The Tolbooth Steeple - on the Cross -was built in 1626. It formed part of a building which served as the Town Clerk's office and city prison. Public executions took place outside the Steeple.  The adjoining buildings were demolished in 1921, leaving the Steeple standing alone. 

Trongate is one of the oldest  streets in Glasgow. It  goes west from Glasgow Cross, changing its name to Argyle St at Glassford St. 

The Tron Kirk Steeple was built as part of a church in 1529, but members of Glasgow's Hell Fire Club burnt the church down in 1793. The steeple was then incorporated into a new church, designed by James Adam. The building has been a theatre since the 1970s:

The Edwardian Renaissance style warehouse on the corner of Bell Street and Albion St, Designed by A.B. McDonald, built in 1902:

The City Halls and Old Fruitmarket are nearby, on Candleriggs.

The Ramshorn Kirk (CHECKPOINT) dates from 1824 (Cat A listed). David Dale is buried in the adjacent graveyard.

Nearby, on Montrose St, is the Garment Factory. Built in 1899 and B-listed, it was refurbished as office space in 2017.

400m off the route is The Trades Hall of Glasgow on Glassford Street, which was designed by Robert Adam and built 1791-4, and still used for its original purpose.

200m off the route is Hutchesons' Hall on Ingram Street. This was built 1802-5 in a similar style to St Andrews in the Square. 

You will probably then pass Strathclyde University's Technology and Innovation Centre, built in 2015:

As you go along George st just before High St you pass a mural by the artist Smug. Its a contemporary take on the Glasgow story, showing St Thenue/Enoch cradling her infant son St Mungo/Kentigern (see below). 

On your right stood The Old College Bar: thought to be Glasgow's oldest pub, with parts of the building dating back to 1515.  It was demolished in 2021 after a fire.

Next to it and still standing (though a Building at Risk) is the former British Linen Bank, built in 1895.

As you go up High Street, you pass a Mural of St Mungo also by the artist Smug, he's depicted as a homeless man, cradling a Robin - a reference to the story that St Mungo rescued an injured Robin when he was a young man:

You then pass a boundary wall which is all that remains of the Duke Street Prison which stood on this site. Opened in 1798, it later became a women-only prison, holding some of the Suffragettes amongst others. 12 executions by hanging took place between 1902-28, including the last woman to be executed in Scotland. She was Susan Nevell, hanged for strangling a paper boy. It was closed and demolished in 1958.  

On the direct line to the Necropolis you will pass a statue of William III on his horse. The statue was defaced in 2020 during the George Floyd protests, William having been connected to Edward Colston and the Royal African Company. Its tail was broken off in 2021 in what may have been a sectarian attack.

To your right is an 1890s building on John Knox Street, designed by Campbell Douglas to look like a 16th Century Scottish Tower House. It was originally built as a hostel for the Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society.

To get into the Necropolis you will (probably!) go over the bridge. The main entrance is approached via  a bridge over what was then the Molendinar Burn. The bridge, which was designed by David Hamilton was completed in 1836. It became known as the "Bridge of Sighs" because it was part of the route of funeral processions (the name is an allusion to the Bridge of Sighs in Venice).  At the end of the bridge is the ornate entrance, originally designed to give access to a tunnel into the cemetery but this was never built. 

The Glasgow Necropolis  opened in 1833, taking its inspiration from the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.   Glasgow native Billy Connolly has said: "Glasgow's a bit like Nashville, Tennessee: it doesn't care much for the living, but it really looks after the dead."    

Amongst those buried here are Charles Tennant (of chemical works fame, see EAST blog). He appears slumped !

There's also a celtic cross designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh at the grave of Andrew McCall.  There's a memorial to William Wallace, and near it a small Jewish Cemetery with its Absalom's Pillar, modelled on the one in Jerusalem. 

The actual CHECKPOINT is at the John Knox Statue which predates the cemetery, having been built in 1825. It stands on a 58ft sandstone Doric column. John Knox was a leading figure in Scotland's reformation and founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

The next CHECKPOINT is at the Lady Well. This is an artesian spring and predates the founding of Glasgow. Roman soldiers could well have drunk from it! When most of the city's public wells closed once freshwater was piped from Loch Katrine in the 1860s, the Lady Well remained open for some time longer but then closed.  It was refurbished in 1963.

Going down John Knox St on your left is the Wellpark Brewery founded in 1740 by Hugh and Robert Tennant. Tennent's Lager is Scotland's best-selling pale lager. In 2014 a craft brewery joint venture opened on the site, called Drygate Brewing.  There's a nice series of murals outside the main entrance on Duke St. 

Duke Street is a major road connecting the city centre to the east end. At 2miles it is the longest street in Glasgow, but not quite the longest in Scotland - that's King St in Aberdeen, 0.2miles longer.

At the bottom of John Knox St and ahead of you is a rectangular-plan six-storeyed cotton-spinning mill built in 1848 by Charles Wilson. Converted and re-opened as a hotel for working men in 1908, the conversion involved the removal of all textile machinery. In subsequent decades, the hotel evolved into a hostel for homeless people, and was finally closed  in 2001. It is now flats:

The CHECKPOINT, ahead of you on Hunter Street is the "Tree that never Grew" sculpture. This is a 2010 work by Jennifer Grant that contains the text of a poem by Ingrid Lees which tells the story of Glasgow, and references the story of Glasgow's coat of arms:

The symbols appearing on the coat of arms represents the life and legends of Saint Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow, and are often remembered by the following poem:

Here is the tree that never grew
Here is the bird that never flew
Here is the fish that never swam
Here is the bell that never rang

The tree referred to in this poem is depicted as an Oak tree in the coat of arms, but popular versions of the story refer to a holly branch. The story goes that he was once left in charge of watching a holy fire by Saint Serf, but the fire was put out by some other boys jealous of St. Mungo after he fell asleep. Upon awakening, St. Mungo was able to miraculously light a new fire from the tree branch.

The bird referred to in the poem is a robin which was tamed by St. Mungo's teacher, St.Serf which was revived by St. Mungo after it was killed by some of his classmates.

Three fish are depicted in the coat of arms, each with a ring in its mouth. This references the story of St. Mungo being able to retrieve a lost golden ring belonging to Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde from the mouth of a fish fished from the River Clyde.

The bell is an item which may have been given to St. Mungo by the Pope, but in any case it no longer exists.

The Heilen Jessie (374 Gallowgate) is one of Glasgow's oldest pubs. It sits in a block built in 1771.

The name Hielan Jessie was inspired by a heroic woman, Jessie Brown. Her husband, Sergeant Brown, was in the 17th Highland Regiment. While fighting in India during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the regiment became trapped in their fort and Sergeant Brown was killed.

But then Jessie heard the sound of bagpipes, a signal that another Scottish regiment was close. She urged her husband’s men to carry on, and they were saved by the other regiment. Her bravery was toasted by the soldiers, and her name was immortalised in the pub. 

The Barrowland Ballroom is 400m off to the right along Gallowgate. 

The Pipe Factory is also nearby. It was built between 1876-79, and designed by architect Matthew Forsyth. The Italian Renaissance-inspired design details are some of the most intricate and ornate use of brick to be found within the city. Originally a factory making clay smoking pipes, it has been used since 2015 as artists studios and exhibition space.

The factory is at the entrance to the Barras, a major street and indoor weekend market, developed in the 1920s.

St Lukes  (100m off route):  The “B” Listed St. Luke’s and St Andrews Church is located in the Calton’s Bain Square. It was designed by Glasgow’s James Wylson and erected in 1836. In 2012 it was converted into a music and arts venue and renamed St Luke's and the Winged Ox.

Just before you cross London Road you pass the "Cut from the Factory Floor" sculpture, referencing the carpet factory (see below)

Nearby, on Tobago St, is a memorial to those killed when a wall at the Templeton Carpet Factory collapsed:

On the edge of Glasgow Green stands the Templeton Carpet Factory.  This was designed by William Leiper and modelled on the Doge's Palace in Venice. It opened in 1892 (but only after the tragic accident described above) and closed in 1983. It is now the Templeton on the Green centre, with 145 apartments, office space and the WEST brewery and bar:

The CHECKPOINT: is at the Doulton Fountain   

This terracotta fountain was built in 1887 and was displayed at the 1888 International Exhibition in Kelvingrove Park. It was later moved to Glasgow Green and then again to its present location in front of the Peoples Palace . This museum and adjacent Winter Gardens was opened in 1898. Both of these closed in 2024 for major restoration work, and are scheduled to reopen in 2027.

You then cross Glasgow Green and go over the Polmadie footbridge and on to the next CHECKPOINT at this sculpture:

As you turn into Jessie Street to go down to Malls Mire you pass the 1904 Sentinel Engineering Works building (a Building at Risk, derelict since the 1960s), The oldest reinforced concrete building in Glasgow, built on the Hennebique system:

Malls Mire is an area of mixed woodland and wetland habitat situated between Toryglen and Rutherglen. It is based on formerly derelict land close to the iron works, the Govan Colliery and the Shawfield Chemical Works. As part of J & J White’s Chemical Works these works were in existence from 1820 to 1967 and produced more than 70% of the UK’s Chromate products, used in chromium plating and as a pigment. They were infamous for poor working conditions. Much of the immediate area, including the Polmadie Burn which passes through Richmond Park, is still contaminated with chromium and a cleanup is still underway.

Here's a 1936 OS Map:

A multi-million-pound regeneration of Malls Mire, known as the Malls Mire Woodland Regeneration Project, began in 2020 and was opened in 2022. Urban Roots – a community led environmental charity working across the southside of Glasgow – have been involved with Malls Mire since 2007 and the CHECKPOINT is in its community garden.  

The adjacent North Toryglen estate was built in the 1950s and 60s. The estate has since been extensively redeveloped with most of the original tower blocks now demolished.

The next CHECKPOINT is within the old Third Lanark football ground - Cathkin Park -  The club went bankrupt in 1967. The Photo below looks north with Hampden in the foreground and Cathkin Park at the top:

And this one of the ground looks north:

The actual checkpoint is at a stone with a quote from Hippocrates:

On the way to the finish back at Queens Park flagpole you may pass the site of the original Scotland football ground.