Kelvindale
Encyclopedia
Kelvindale is a district in the west of the city of Glasgow
, Scotland
.
rafts due to the heavy mine workings in the district from the Garscube estate. They were planned as four storey but due to Scots Law
they were reduced to three stories.
The district is dominated by the gas holders (erected in 1891 but now de-commissioned) which were reputed to be the biggest in the United Kingdom. During the Second World War the Royal Air Force
stationed a balloon unit on what is now ex-MoD
housing on Dorchester Avenue. The large fields were once used for grazing horses and cattle but are now the site of more tenement building and the Kelvindale Primary School. Gibson Hall, a former Glasgow Caledonian University
Hall of Residence which stood on Dorchester Avenue, was recently demolished to make way for new build. Flanders House, built for soldiers of the Great War, was demolished in 2006 and has been replaced by a modern construction.
Many of the street names in the area are named after places in England
. These include Beaconsfield
Road, Chelmsford
Drive, Kendal
Drive, Leicester
Avenue, Penrith
Drive, Southampton
Drive, Weymouth Drive and Winchester
Drive. A few are named after Scottish placenames, including Grandtully
Drive and Fortingall
Avenue.
In 2007 Bryant Homes
controversially removed a large number of trees from a local lane to provide better access to a new housing development. The actor Robert Carlyle
and leading local personality, Gay Waugh were among those who protested against the felling. In July 2009 a suspected arson attack caused considerable damage to the site. One partially constructed four story housing block burnt to the ground and the only occupied building on the site was evacuated, Waugh was among those arrested and subsequently released without charge in connection with the incident.
In the early 2000s it remains a desirable family area near the city's West End.
was opened on 26 September 2005. It is situated on the line from Glasgow Queen Street
(High Level) to Anniesland
, an extension of the Maryhill Line
.
Bus route 11 (operated by First Glasgow
) runs infrequently and irregularly via Dorchester Avenue and Cleveden Road to/from the city centre. Several other bus routes operate along the nearby Great Western Road.
The Kelvin Cycle Way which links into the Forth and Clyde Canal
cycle path runs through the area.
) in the neighbouring district of Hyndland
. After the second world war, and annexe of Hyndland Primary School was built in Kelvindale (within the present day grounds of Cleveden Secondary School
. The two contrete huts were thought to have catered for the first three years of primary school education. In 1963, Kelvindale Primary School was built. The original school consisted of one building with 8 classrooms, and opened its doors on 24 August 1964 with a roll of 248 pupils. Over the years, the school roll increased requiring an annexe of two classrooms to be built in 1971. Another addition came in 1977, when a building specifically to house the infants was opened. The football pitch was sold to become flats and subsequently a new astroturf pitch was built opening in late 2006.
(the local Church of Scotland
parish church), Glasgow Nuffield Hospital, Cleveden Secondary School
and Kelvindale Primary School.
In recent years, at Cleveden Secondary School and Kelvindale Primary School, the ash football pitches have been sold and replaced by new astroturf pitches.
Historic images of the Kelvindale area can be found on the Virtual Mitchell website.
Political representation
Kelvindale is part of:
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...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Construction
Construction started in the late 1920s with work being undertaken by the City Corporation. This was followed up in the early 1930s by the Glasgow-based housebuilding company Mactaggart and Mickel. The houses were intended for rent rather than for sale, they consisted of semi detached villas. A proportion of these houses were set aside for rent by Glasgow Corporation. The Corporation extended the building down Kelvindale Road towards Collins Paper Mill. Subsequently in the 1930s the Western Heritable Investment Company extended the district considerably by building the last range of pre war tenements at Dorchester Avenue, Ripon Drive, etc between 1934 and 1938. These tenements are unique since they are built on concreteConcrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
rafts due to the heavy mine workings in the district from the Garscube estate. They were planned as four storey but due to Scots Law
Scots law
Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is considered a hybrid or mixed legal system as it traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. With English law and Northern Irish law it forms the legal system of the United Kingdom; it shares with the two other systems some...
they were reduced to three stories.
The district is dominated by the gas holders (erected in 1891 but now de-commissioned) which were reputed to be the biggest in the United Kingdom. During the Second World War the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
stationed a balloon unit on what is now ex-MoD
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
housing on Dorchester Avenue. The large fields were once used for grazing horses and cattle but are now the site of more tenement building and the Kelvindale Primary School. Gibson Hall, a former Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow Caledonian University is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland.The university was constituted by an Act of Parliament on 1 April 1993 as a result of a merger between Glasgow Polytechnic and The Queen's College, Glasgow....
Hall of Residence which stood on Dorchester Avenue, was recently demolished to make way for new build. Flanders House, built for soldiers of the Great War, was demolished in 2006 and has been replaced by a modern construction.
Many of the street names in the area are named after places in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. These include Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and south-east of the county town of Aylesbury...
Road, Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
Drive, Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
Drive, Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
Avenue, Penrith
Penrith, Cumbria
Penrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....
Drive, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
Drive, Weymouth Drive and Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
Drive. A few are named after Scottish placenames, including Grandtully
Grandtully
Grandtully is a small village in Perthshire, Scotland.It is situated close to the River Tay, about 3 miles from Pitlochry...
Drive and Fortingall
Fortingall
Fortingall is a small village in highland Perthshire, Scotland, in the glen of the River Lyon. Place-name Gaelic Fartairchill, 'church at the foot' . Its nearest sizable neighbours are Aberfeldy and Kenmore.According to legend it was the birthplace of Pontius Pilate...
Avenue.
In 2007 Bryant Homes
Bryant Homes
Bryant Homes was one of the larger UK housebuilders when it was acquired by Taylor Woodrow in 2001; Bryant then became the principal housebuilding operation of the enlarged group. Taylor Woodrow merged with Wimpey in 2007 and during 2010 the Bryant brand was phased out...
controversially removed a large number of trees from a local lane to provide better access to a new housing development. The actor Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
and leading local personality, Gay Waugh were among those who protested against the felling. In July 2009 a suspected arson attack caused considerable damage to the site. One partially constructed four story housing block burnt to the ground and the only occupied building on the site was evacuated, Waugh was among those arrested and subsequently released without charge in connection with the incident.
In the early 2000s it remains a desirable family area near the city's West End.
Transport
Kelvindale railway stationKelvindale railway station
Kelvindale railway station is a railway station that serves the Kelvindale suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It opened on 26 September 2005. The station is 9 km north of Glasgow Queen Street on the Maryhill Line....
was opened on 26 September 2005. It is situated on the line from Glasgow Queen Street
Glasgow Queen Street railway station
Glasgow Queen Street is a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland, the smaller of the city's two main line railway termini and the third-busiest station in Scotland. It is between George Street to the south and Cathedral Street Bridge to the north, at the northern end of Queen Street adjacent to...
(High Level) to Anniesland
Anniesland
Anniesland is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde, and centres around the junction of the Great Western Road and Crow Road; also known as Anniesland Cross....
, an extension of the Maryhill Line
Maryhill Line
The Maryhill Line is a suburban railway line linking Glasgow and Anniesland via Maryhill in Scotland. It is part of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport network. The line between Glasgow and Maryhill forms a part of the West Highland Line and was re-opened to stopping passenger services in 1993...
.
Bus route 11 (operated by First Glasgow
First Glasgow
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in, Scotland. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
) runs infrequently and irregularly via Dorchester Avenue and Cleveden Road to/from the city centre. Several other bus routes operate along the nearby Great Western Road.
The Kelvin Cycle Way which links into the Forth and Clyde Canal
Forth and Clyde Canal
The Forth and Clyde Canal crosses Scotland, providing a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River...
cycle path runs through the area.
Education
Kelvindale Primary is a non-denominational state primary school located in Kelvindale. The increasing number of residents in the 1920s lead to the desire for a local primary school, as children had to travel to Hyndland Primary School (located on the present day site of Hyndland Secondary SchoolHyndland Secondary School
Hyndland Secondary School is a non-denominational state comprehensive school in the Hyndland area of Glasgow, Scotland.The school provides secondary education for children from the local area, although there are many children from other areas of the city...
) in the neighbouring district of Hyndland
Hyndland
Hyndland is a residential area in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland.Bordering the Broomhill, Maryhill, Dowanhill, Kelvinside and Partickhill areas, it is a middle-class area populated mainly by professionals and young bourgeois bohemians including a number of noted authors, poets,...
. After the second world war, and annexe of Hyndland Primary School was built in Kelvindale (within the present day grounds of Cleveden Secondary School
Cleveden Secondary School
Cleveden Secondary School is a non-denominational state school in the Kelvindale area of Glasgow, Scotland.-The school:In 1972, the Glasgow High School for Girls, situated on Cleveden Road opposite the School's current site, began accepting both male and female pupils, and in 1975 was officially...
. The two contrete huts were thought to have catered for the first three years of primary school education. In 1963, Kelvindale Primary School was built. The original school consisted of one building with 8 classrooms, and opened its doors on 24 August 1964 with a roll of 248 pupils. Over the years, the school roll increased requiring an annexe of two classrooms to be built in 1971. Another addition came in 1977, when a building specifically to house the infants was opened. The football pitch was sold to become flats and subsequently a new astroturf pitch was built opening in late 2006.
Notable buildings
Kelvindale contains St. John's Renfield ChurchSt. John's Renfield Church, Glasgow
St. John's Renfield Church is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, serving Kelvindale in the west end of Glasgow, Scotland. It is within the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow.-Location:...
(the local Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
parish church), Glasgow Nuffield Hospital, Cleveden Secondary School
Cleveden Secondary School
Cleveden Secondary School is a non-denominational state school in the Kelvindale area of Glasgow, Scotland.-The school:In 1972, the Glasgow High School for Girls, situated on Cleveden Road opposite the School's current site, began accepting both male and female pupils, and in 1975 was officially...
and Kelvindale Primary School.
In recent years, at Cleveden Secondary School and Kelvindale Primary School, the ash football pitches have been sold and replaced by new astroturf pitches.
Historic images of the Kelvindale area can be found on the Virtual Mitchell website.
Political representation
Kelvindale is part of:
- Glasgow Anniesland (Scottish Parliament constituency)Glasgow Anniesland (Scottish Parliament constituency)Glasgow Anniesland is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
- Glasgow North (UK Parliament constituency)Glasgow North (UK Parliament constituency)Glasgow North is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
- The Maryhill/Kelvin ward of Glasgow City Council