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streapadair

The Old Gorbals material I've posted so far are scans of 10x8 prints I made at the time. Going back to the original negatives, fortunately quite neatly packed away and mostly annotated, reminded me of why I started to go around street-snapping. Around 1968 there was published the Greater Glasgow Transportation Plan (something like that) which proposed a complete motorway-standard inner ring road. The east flank of this was to consist of an elevated section of up to 6 lanes, striding at roof-level through the ancient heart of the city, from the Low Green to Townhead, and the north and west flanks were built with this in mind. In 1973, despite the chorus of protest which eventually prevailed, there was still a real prospect of this outrageous nightmare vision being realised.

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The foot of the Saltmarket would have been very different. April 1973

Greendyke St at the Saltmarket. March 1973

St Andrews-by-the-Green, built in 1750 and about to be closed, looked doomed. March 1973

Saltmarket and Greendyke St, northeast corner. March 1973

Saltmarket and Briggate from Steel St. April 1973

Saltmarket and Steel St from the Briggate. March 1973

Saltmarket above Steel St. March 1973

Saltmarket, east side. March 1973

Saltmarket, west side. September 1973

The motorway may have missed the Tolbooth Steeple by a few yards, or maybe not. July 1973

High St at Bell St. July 1973

. . . oh, and the High St south of Ingram St. April 1973

High St at College St. April 1973

College St, north side, from Shuttle St. March 1973

College St, south side, from Shuttle St. The nearest building was still a GPO telephone exchange then, and being B-listed it has survived to be converted into expensive flats.

Shuttle St, east side at College St. Sadly dilapidated, this building had architectural features which hinted at some former importance. As far as I can find out, it was once a church school (St Paul's), and later served as the Lodging House Mission, the predecessor of the one in East Campbell St. July 1973

These fine Adam buildings flanking the entrance to College St were erected in 1793 as lodgings for the professors at the College, which was directly across the High St. Shamefully neglected, they were demolished in 1974. July 1973

High St, N of College St. A quick calculation suggests that I cycled this way myself about 4,300 times between 1993 and 2007. March 1973

High St, west side, south of George St. September 1973

High St at Nicholas St. April 1973

Nicholas St. September 1973

Corner of High St and George St. March 1973

The main interest of this shot, looking across the eastern end of George St, is that it shows the High Street Goods Station. April 1973

High St, west side above George St. April 1973

High St, south of Burrell's Lane. July 1973

Skipping girl, in the area formed by the tenements at the corner of High St and Duke St. March 1973

High St at Rottenrow. This imposing baronial structure was a hydraulic pumping station for the Glasgow Waterworks. It operated from 1895 to 1964, and was demolished few months after I took this in April 1973

The Townhead area bounded on the south by the Rottenrow and on the east by Castle St, densely populated up the the mid 1960s, was almost totally cleared, some of it for the M8 and the Townhead interchange, some for the expansion of the university, and the rest because . . . well, just because. Only a handful of buildings survive – the Barony Church, Provand's Lordship, St Mungo's Church and retreat, and the Martyrs' School (saved, only just, by the Mackintosh connection) are all I can think of. In 1973 the devastation though widespread was not quite complete, and I set out to record such fragments as were left.

Rottenrow, north side, east of Collins St. The Townhead School survived until comparatively recent times, but is now a car park for Strathclyde Uni, who own the Barony Church and hold graduation ceremonies in it. March 1973

McLeod St. The buildings at the far end, in Collins St, were the Collins Institute and the Townhead Baths and steamie, to which the chimney belonged. April 1973

Corner of McLeod St and Castle St, when Provand's Lordship still had its flanking tenements. July 1973

Cathedral Square. April 1973

Castle St, west side, south of Cathedral St. April 1973

Corner of Castle St and St James Rd. October 1973

Castle St, west side, south of Stirling Rd. March 1973

The fork of Glebe St and Castle St. March 1973

Castle St, east side, north of Cathedral St. This baronial fantasy was built as the Royal Blind Asylum in 1881. The Royal Infirmary later took it over and built the plain northern extension, which has now been replaced by a multi-storey car park, though the original building is still there. July 1973

Castle St, west side, north of Parson St. The Casino was not a casino but a cinema, apparently disused (unless they were showing a film called Vote Hollywood Labour). March 1973

Castle St, west side, south of Monkland St. Castle St at this time ran seamlessly into Springburn Rd. April 1973

The fork of Parliamentary Rd and Monkland St. April 1973

Monkland St, south side from across Parl'y Rd. Anyone have a name for this church? March 1973

Martyr St at the far end of McAslin St, from Glebe St. April 1973

St Mungo's Church, Parson St. April 1973

St Mungo's Church and retreat, and beyond it the building which formed the core of St Mungo's Academy from 1883 to 1973, though it expanded into several other buildings, including the Martyrs' School across the road. March 1973

Parson St, looking east, with Barony St on the right and Martyr St on the left. March 1973

Martyr St, east side, from Parson St. April 1973

Martyrs' School, and some tenements in Barony St. March 1973

Barony St, east side, leading down to Castle St. April 1973

Foot of Glebe St, at Stirling Rd. March 1973

Glebe St, east side, from Castle St. April 1973

Stirling Rd, looking east from Glebe St. March 1973

Taylor St, east side, from Parson St down to St James Rd. April 1973

Stirling Rd coming down from the left, St James Rd going across, Weaver St leading down to the Rottenrow. April 1973

Glebe St leading down to Castle St, with Stirling Rd going across. April 1973

Stirling Rd, from St James Rd to Castle St. April 1973

St James Rd, looking east from Taylor St. Did the 'bridge' link two parts of the Collins works? April 1973

St James Rd, north side, between Stirling Rd and Castle St. March 1973

St James Rd, south side, between Stirling Rd and Castle St. July 1973

Collins St and Cathedral St, southwest corner. March 1973

Stirling Rd from Castle St. April 1973

Cathedral St, looking east from Weaver St. July 1973

Weaver St, looking north from the Rottenrow. April 1973

Rottenrow, south side, east from the bit swallowed up by the university campus. Not sure what the buildings were. The old street plan marks one of them as the Lock Hospital, and, no, that wasn't where sick Yales and Chubbs went to be mended. April 1973

Rottenrow, north side, east of Weaver St. March 1973

Collins St, looking north from Rottenrow, March 1973

McLeod St, looking east to Castle St.