Cranhill
Encyclopedia
Cranhill is a housing estate in the east end of Glasgow
.
, Drumchapel
, Castlemilk
and Pollok
, Cranhill was relatively compact, with High Carntyne to the west (separated by Ruchazie Road), Springboig
and Carntyne
to the south (separated by the A8 Edinburgh Road), Queenslie
to the east (separated by Stepps Road) and Ruchazie
to the north (separated by the Monkland Canal
, now the M8 motorway). Most of the streets were named after Scottish lighthouses
and include Startpoint Street, Lamlash Crescent
, Toward Road, Skerryvore Road, Gantock Crescent, Strone Road
, Crowlin Crescent
, Monach Road
. Longstone Road
is an exception, Longstone being located in the Farne Islands off the coast of England. The main street, running east-west through the scheme, was Bellrock Street
.
divided into common 'closes', each with eight flats with the end close in each street called a "T" close with 4 flats. Other types included three tower block
s, locally known as 'the multis' or the 'high flats', a number of terraced
maisonettes and a variety of pseudo sandstone (concrete blocks) four-in-a-block cottage flats.
Most of the flats were typical family accommodation of the time, containing a kitchen, bathroom/toilet, two or three bedrooms and a living room. Many of them had balconies or verandas overlooking the street and all were a vast improvement on living conditions in the old Glasgow slum
tenements. For many of the families who moved in, this was their first access to green fields and nearby farms, and the playing areas were paradise compared to the rat-infested back-courts which the children had formerly suffered. Nevertheless, a favourite play area was the 'Sugarolly Mountains', substantial hills made from chemical tailings
dumped by the side of the canal on the site now occupied by the high flats (and featured in the lyrics of Jim Diamond
). No-one knew what they were made of, but the rainwater puddles were green! Even the canal itself was an attraction, given that the next-nearest 'recreational' water was either at Alexandra Park
or Hogganfield Loch
and Dennistoun
. Other basic needs were served with the establishment of three local shopping parades.
As well as the shops, local people were served by mobile street traders with vans and lorries selling foodstuffs, coal and paraffin oil, sweets and soft drinks, ice cream and even fish and chips. In the evenings one could hear the cry of Dalzeil's Bakeries van man shouting "roells!" (bread rolls). Candy apple
s and 'whelks' (actually periwinkles) could be obtained while rag-merchants would shout 'any old rags' or 'Delft (crockery) for rags' from horsedrawn or hand carts. Today, the only surviving mobile service is the 'ice cream van'.
The first primary schools to be erected were small metal constructions but, at its peak, Cranhill had four primary schools: Lamlash, St Elizabeth Seton RC (originally St Modans RC Annex), the larger brick-built Milncroft (including the Toward Rd annex) and St Modans RC. Milncroft was demolished in 2006 and St Modans RC in March 2007. All four original primary schools are now closed and demolished. The two original nursery schools, Bellrock Nursery and Lamlash Nursery, are now also closed. Two new primary schools, Cranhill Primary and St Maria Goretti's RC Primary, were built in 2005/2006, the former on the site of the demolished Milncroft. Lamlash nursery school is now located within St Maria Goretti's Primary school and Bellrock nursery school is located within Cranhill Primary School.
As the children grew older, local secondary schools were needed, the first being Lightburn Secondary across the Edinburgh Rd in Torphin Crescent, Greenfield. With the construction of Cranhill Secondary in Startpoint St, the Torphin Crescent building became St Gregory's RC Secondary to meet the needs of the Roman Catholic population. Some time later, a new St Gregory's was built on waste land at Crowlin Cres in Cranhill and the Torphin Crescent was renamed again, as St Andrews RC Secondary. At its peak, Cranhill Secondary had a roll of some 1300, but both secondaries in Cranhill were razed in the early 1990s and replaced by private housing estates.
Two churches were built: Cranhill (Church of Scotland) Parish Church and St Maria Goretti's RC Chapel. There were two Boy Scout
troops, the 68th Glasgow and the 158th Glasgow, a Boys' Brigade troop, the 150th, and a Girls' Brigade company, the 63rd. The Tenants' Association hall provided an early focus for social events and a Community Centre was opened around 1980.
Cranhill Park was built in the centre of the scheme and became the heart (and lungs) of the community. It featured an 18-hole pitch-and-putt
course (famous for the its sloping terrain), tennis courts and a bowling green. An annual carnival was held, with a visiting fairground and food outlets. A favourite amongst local children was free miniature loaves of bread distributed by a local bakery. The carnival, however, was stopped in the mid 1980s due to ignored safety regulations which led to some serious accidents, including a near fatal head injury of a 3 year old child.
The Cranhill Credit Union
was set up by John Kerr, Ellen Kerr, Helen Kane MBE and other committed members of the community in the late 1970s. This was modelled on Scotland's first credit union, the Western Credit Union (now Drumchapel Credit Union) established by Bert Mullen in 1970.
The Cranhill Arts Project, possibly better known to more non-residents than to locals, goes from strength to strength, but the most famous local work of art is the Cranhill Water Tower, at the corner of Stepps Rd and Bellrock St. One of several huge elevated storage tanks built to provide high-volume, high-pressure storage, Cranhill Water Tower is unique in having a square concrete tank, in contrast to its cylindrical neighbours in Garthamlock and elsewhere. At night, the structure was illuminated a vibrant green with white spotlights shining from the base of the tank down to the ground.
, footballers Jim and Joe Smith of Newcastle
, Aberdeen
and Scotland
, Kenny Aird
of St. Johnstone and comedy actor Gerard Kelly
. Possibly the most famous former residents are Angus Young
and brother Malcolm
who found stardom after they moved to Australia and formed AC/DC
.George Young, the older brother of Angus and Malcolm, first found fame with the 60s group, Easybeats. Pat Nevin
, soccer pundit and former Scotland
player, attended St. Gregory's Secondary School. Politician Adam Ingram
lived in Skerryvore Road at the bottom of the lane and Glasgow Boy
artist Adrian Wisnewski was also a Cranhill resident.
Junior Campbell
from the sixties band The Marmalade and who also wrote the music for Thomas the Tank Engine
lived in nearby Springboig
, but ran his schoolboy "paper round" from the Glasgow Evening Times/Citizen van drop at the infamous Cranhill Water Tower.
The 'backfields', with their helter-skelter and a hangout for kids 'dogging' lessons, is now a construction site for semi-detached homes. Unfortunately, the Park today is in a dilapidated state, highlighted by the partial collapse of the pitch-and-putt green over a decade ago.
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
.
History
Like many similar publicly-funded 'schemes', it was built in the early 1950s on the outskirts of the city to alleviate the post-war housing shortage. However, unlike the 'big four' schemes, EasterhouseEasterhouse
Easterhouse is a suburb about east of Glasgow city centre, Scotland. It was partially built on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire as part of a boundary expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. Building began in the mid-1950s by the then local authority, Glasgow Corporation...
, Drumchapel
Drumchapel
Drumchapel , known to locals and residents as 'The Drum', is part of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, having been annexed from Dunbartonshire in 1938. It borders Bearsden to the east and Clydebank to the west . The area is bordered by Knightswood and Yoker in Glasgow. The name derives from the...
, Castlemilk
Castlemilk
Castlemilk is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the south of the city adjacent to Rutherglen, Croftfoot, Simshill and the separate village of Carmunnock...
and Pollok
Pollok
Pollok is a large district on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It was built to house families from the overcrowded inner city...
, Cranhill was relatively compact, with High Carntyne to the west (separated by Ruchazie Road), Springboig
Springboig
Springboig is a district in the east end of the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde.Springboig lies to the north of Shettleston, Budhill and east of Greenfield, Carntyne and Lightburn Hospital and Greenfield Park, and is just south of Edinburgh Road and Cranhill...
and Carntyne
Carntyne
Carntyne is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde, and to the east end of the city...
to the south (separated by the A8 Edinburgh Road), Queenslie
Queenslie
Queenslie is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated just to the east of Cranhill and west of Wellhouse and Easterhouse.Modern Queenslie started as an industrial estate in the 1950's with housing added a short time later. The area was once farmland, built mainly on te Queenslie...
to the east (separated by Stepps Road) and Ruchazie
Ruchazie
Ruchazie is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated to the North-East of the city close to Easterhouse. The area has experienced considerable re-generation and improvement in recent years thanks to Tower Homes LHO and Ruchazie Housing Association...
to the north (separated by the Monkland Canal
Monkland Canal
The Monkland Canal was a 12.25-mile canal which connected the coal mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. It was opened in 1794, and included a steam-powered inclined plane at Blackhill. It was abandoned for navigation in 1942, but its culverted remains still supply water to the Forth...
, now the M8 motorway). Most of the streets were named after Scottish lighthouses
Lighthouses in Scotland
This is a list of lighthouses in Scotland. The Northern Lighthouse Board are responsible for many lighthouses in Scotland.-Argyll and Bute:*Ardencaple Castle*Cloch Point Lighthouse*Dubh Artach Lighthouse*Rinns of Islay Lighthouse, Orsay...
and include Startpoint Street, Lamlash Crescent
Lamlash
Lamlash is the largest village by population on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It lies 4 miles to the south of ferry port Brodick, in a sheltered bay on the island's east coast, facing Holy Isle. Lamlash is the seat of Arran's local government offices and police...
, Toward Road, Skerryvore Road, Gantock Crescent, Strone Road
Strone
Strone is a village on in Argyll in south-west Scotland at the point where the north shore of the Holy Loch becomes the west shore of the Firth of Clyde....
, Crowlin Crescent
Crowlin Islands
The Crowlin Islands are a group of uninhabited islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. They lie between Skye and the Applecross peninsula on the mainland.The individual islands are:*Eilean Mòr *Eilean Meadhonach...
, Monach Road
Monach Islands
Not to be confused with Heysker/Hyskeir or HaskeirThe Monach Islands, also known as Heisker , are an island group west of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland...
. Longstone Road
Farne Islands
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 and 20 or more islands depending on the state of the tide. They are scattered about 2.5–7.5 km distant from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group...
is an exception, Longstone being located in the Farne Islands off the coast of England. The main street, running east-west through the scheme, was Bellrock Street
Bell Rock Lighthouse
Bell Rock Lighthouse is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse and was built on Bell Rock in the North Sea, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, east of the Firth of Tay...
.
Housing
The housing stock consisted mostly of four-storey tenement blocksTenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
divided into common 'closes', each with eight flats with the end close in each street called a "T" close with 4 flats. Other types included three tower block
Tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
s, locally known as 'the multis' or the 'high flats', a number of terraced
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
maisonettes and a variety of pseudo sandstone (concrete blocks) four-in-a-block cottage flats.
Most of the flats were typical family accommodation of the time, containing a kitchen, bathroom/toilet, two or three bedrooms and a living room. Many of them had balconies or verandas overlooking the street and all were a vast improvement on living conditions in the old Glasgow slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
tenements. For many of the families who moved in, this was their first access to green fields and nearby farms, and the playing areas were paradise compared to the rat-infested back-courts which the children had formerly suffered. Nevertheless, a favourite play area was the 'Sugarolly Mountains', substantial hills made from chemical tailings
Tailings
Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore...
dumped by the side of the canal on the site now occupied by the high flats (and featured in the lyrics of Jim Diamond
Jim Diamond (Scottish musician)
James "Jim" Diamond is a Scottish singer-songwriter. Diamond is best known for his three Top 5 hits. The first was "I Won't Let You Down" , as the lead singer in the trio Ph.D., with Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips. His solo performance, "I Should Have Known Better", was a United Kingdom number one...
). No-one knew what they were made of, but the rainwater puddles were green! Even the canal itself was an attraction, given that the next-nearest 'recreational' water was either at Alexandra Park
Alexandra Park, Glasgow
Alexandra Park is a public park in the East End of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located in Dennistoun, three miles east of the city centre. To the north is the M8 motorway. Named after Princess Alexandra of Denmark, it opened in 1870...
or Hogganfield Loch
Hogganfield
Hogganfield is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, located to the north east of the city centre. The Hogganfield electoral region is Glasgow North. Hogganfield is surrounded by the Glasgow districts of Craigend, Ruchazie, Blackhill, Riddrie, Provanmill, Millerston, Robroyston and Stepps....
Amenities
As the scheme became established and the community grew, amenities were put in place. Bus routes were extended through the scheme to make it easier for people to travel for work or pleasure, to the City Centre or the nearby shopping areas of ShettlestonShettleston
Shettleston is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Like many of the city's districts, Shettleston was originally a small village on its outer edge. Today Shettleston lies between the neighbouring districts of Parkhead to the west, and Baillieston to the east, and is about 2 and a...
and Dennistoun
Dennistoun
Dennistoun is a district of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated north of the River Clyde in the east end of the city. It is made up of a number of smaller districts - Milnbank to the north, 'The Drives' in the centre of the area and Bellgrove below Duke Street to the south. In a 2004...
. Other basic needs were served with the establishment of three local shopping parades.
As well as the shops, local people were served by mobile street traders with vans and lorries selling foodstuffs, coal and paraffin oil, sweets and soft drinks, ice cream and even fish and chips. In the evenings one could hear the cry of Dalzeil's Bakeries van man shouting "roells!" (bread rolls). Candy apple
Candy apple
Candy apples, also known as toffee apples outside of North America, are whole apples covered in a hard sugar candy coating. While the topping varies from place to place, they are almost always served with a stick of sorts in the middle making them easier to eat...
s and 'whelks' (actually periwinkles) could be obtained while rag-merchants would shout 'any old rags' or 'Delft (crockery) for rags' from horsedrawn or hand carts. Today, the only surviving mobile service is the 'ice cream van'.
The first primary schools to be erected were small metal constructions but, at its peak, Cranhill had four primary schools: Lamlash, St Elizabeth Seton RC (originally St Modans RC Annex), the larger brick-built Milncroft (including the Toward Rd annex) and St Modans RC. Milncroft was demolished in 2006 and St Modans RC in March 2007. All four original primary schools are now closed and demolished. The two original nursery schools, Bellrock Nursery and Lamlash Nursery, are now also closed. Two new primary schools, Cranhill Primary and St Maria Goretti's RC Primary, were built in 2005/2006, the former on the site of the demolished Milncroft. Lamlash nursery school is now located within St Maria Goretti's Primary school and Bellrock nursery school is located within Cranhill Primary School.
As the children grew older, local secondary schools were needed, the first being Lightburn Secondary across the Edinburgh Rd in Torphin Crescent, Greenfield. With the construction of Cranhill Secondary in Startpoint St, the Torphin Crescent building became St Gregory's RC Secondary to meet the needs of the Roman Catholic population. Some time later, a new St Gregory's was built on waste land at Crowlin Cres in Cranhill and the Torphin Crescent was renamed again, as St Andrews RC Secondary. At its peak, Cranhill Secondary had a roll of some 1300, but both secondaries in Cranhill were razed in the early 1990s and replaced by private housing estates.
Two churches were built: Cranhill (Church of Scotland) Parish Church and St Maria Goretti's RC Chapel. There were two Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
troops, the 68th Glasgow and the 158th Glasgow, a Boys' Brigade troop, the 150th, and a Girls' Brigade company, the 63rd. The Tenants' Association hall provided an early focus for social events and a Community Centre was opened around 1980.
Cranhill Park was built in the centre of the scheme and became the heart (and lungs) of the community. It featured an 18-hole pitch-and-putt
Pitch and putt
Pitch and putt is an amateur sport, similar to golf. The maximum hole length for international competitions is with a maximum total course length of . Players may only use three clubs; one of which must be a putter...
course (famous for the its sloping terrain), tennis courts and a bowling green. An annual carnival was held, with a visiting fairground and food outlets. A favourite amongst local children was free miniature loaves of bread distributed by a local bakery. The carnival, however, was stopped in the mid 1980s due to ignored safety regulations which led to some serious accidents, including a near fatal head injury of a 3 year old child.
The Cranhill Credit Union
Credit union
A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...
was set up by John Kerr, Ellen Kerr, Helen Kane MBE and other committed members of the community in the late 1970s. This was modelled on Scotland's first credit union, the Western Credit Union (now Drumchapel Credit Union) established by Bert Mullen in 1970.
The Cranhill Arts Project, possibly better known to more non-residents than to locals, goes from strength to strength, but the most famous local work of art is the Cranhill Water Tower, at the corner of Stepps Rd and Bellrock St. One of several huge elevated storage tanks built to provide high-volume, high-pressure storage, Cranhill Water Tower is unique in having a square concrete tank, in contrast to its cylindrical neighbours in Garthamlock and elsewhere. At night, the structure was illuminated a vibrant green with white spotlights shining from the base of the tank down to the ground.
Celebrities
Cranhill has produced its share of celebrities including Kevin Ross, actor Billy Boyd of The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, footballers Jim and Joe Smith of Newcastle
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
, Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
and Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
, Kenny Aird
Kenny Aird
Kenny Aird is a Scottish former footballer, who played for Celtic, St. Mirren, St. Johnstone, Hearts, Toronto Metros and Arbroath.- External links :*...
of St. Johnstone and comedy actor Gerard Kelly
Gerard Kelly
Paul "Gerard" Kelly was a Scottish actor who appeared in many comedies, most notably in City Lights, Rab C Nesbitt, and Scotch and Wry. He had more serious roles, including PC David Gallagher in Juliet Bravo , villain Jimmy in EastEnders and the villainous Callum Finnegan on Brookside...
. Possibly the most famous former residents are Angus Young
Angus Young
Angus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician, and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the rock and roll band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003 and is known for his energetic performances,...
and brother Malcolm
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, along with the other members of AC/DC...
who found stardom after they moved to Australia and formed AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
.George Young, the older brother of Angus and Malcolm, first found fame with the 60s group, Easybeats. Pat Nevin
Pat Nevin
Patrick Kevin Francis Michael "Pat" Nevin is a retired Scottish footballer. In a 20-year career, he played for Clyde, Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere Rovers, Kilmarnock and Motherwell as a winger. Nevin was a fans' favourite at Chelsea during the 1980s...
, soccer pundit and former Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
player, attended St. Gregory's Secondary School. Politician Adam Ingram
Adam Ingram (Labour politician)
Adam Paterson Ingram is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow from 1987 to 2010.-Early life:...
lived in Skerryvore Road at the bottom of the lane and Glasgow Boy
Glasgow School
The Glasgow School was a circle of influential modern artists and designers who began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to sometime around 1910. Representative groups were: The Four , the Glasgow Girls and the Glasgow Boys...
artist Adrian Wisnewski was also a Cranhill resident.
Junior Campbell
Junior Campbell
Junior Campbell is a Scottish composer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member, lead guitarist, piano player, and singer with the Scottish band Marmalade and co-wrote and produced some of their biggest successes, including "Reflections of My Life", "I See The Rain" and "Rainbow".He...
from the sixties band The Marmalade and who also wrote the music for Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...
lived in nearby Springboig
Springboig
Springboig is a district in the east end of the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde.Springboig lies to the north of Shettleston, Budhill and east of Greenfield, Carntyne and Lightburn Hospital and Greenfield Park, and is just south of Edinburgh Road and Cranhill...
, but ran his schoolboy "paper round" from the Glasgow Evening Times/Citizen van drop at the infamous Cranhill Water Tower.
Cranhill today
Most of the original housing stock has been demolished to make way for 'back-and-front-door' houses and a private housing scheme and supermarket now occupy the site of the former Cranhill Secondary School. However, the original flats are retained in some of the streets around the Park, as are the shops at Lamlash Cres. A new school is currently under construction on the old St Gregory's RC Secondary site. The Community Centre has been replaced by a children's centre called 'The Beacon'.The 'backfields', with their helter-skelter and a hangout for kids 'dogging' lessons, is now a construction site for semi-detached homes. Unfortunately, the Park today is in a dilapidated state, highlighted by the partial collapse of the pitch-and-putt green over a decade ago.