Garscube Estate was acquired by the Colquhouns of Luss in 1558.
The western part of the estate was in the county of Dunbartonshire
and the eastern part within the City of Glasgow, the boundary being the
River Kelvin.
Maryhill
Bowling Club in front of
former tram depot
Maryhill
High Church
Maryhill
Road
Maryhill
Railway Station
Trams
in Maryhill Road
Trams
in Maryhill Road
Old
Parish Church
Queen's
Cross
Maryhill
Railway Station
Roxy
Cinema
Soldiers'
Home
Tenement
buildings
United
Presbyterian Church
MARYHILL - WALK
NARRATIVE:
Maryhill,
like Venice, owes its existence to canals. It is said of Glasgow that
“the city made the Clyde and the Clyde made the city, but
in contradistinction to this, it was the Forth and Clyde Canal, and its
branch to Port Dundas, that made the burgh of Maryhill. The canal
snaked through the area from the 1790s and became the artery of
Scotland’s Industrial Revolution, carrying raw materials inwards from,
and manufactured
goods outwards to, the world.
Industry grew alongside the canal in Maryhill, benefitting from cheap
transport costs; but once more in contrast to Glasgow - Where most
industrial enterprises were on a massive scale — Maryhill’s industries
were small scale, restricted by the lack of land around the canal, and
they
were also extremely varied. Govan was ships, Springburn locomotives and
Possil iron, but Maryhill had a large variety of industries; textiles,
brewing,
glassworks, chemical works, paper mills and many more, which gave rise
to one of Glasgow’ s most glorious and little-known artworks, ( see
below ).
Maryhill grew over 150 years from scattered settlements to a population
which peaked at 40,000 after World War Two. Since then it has lost
nearly
all its industry and a good chunk of its population, which has
stabilised at about 25,000. But, despite plans over the years to infill
the waterway,
Maryhill has not lost its canal, which was restored as a Millennium
Project and is now a flourishing recreational facility. Nor has it lost
much of its
fine built environment, unsuspected by those who drive up Maryhill Road
without stopping.
To experience this, walking is best, and here follows an amble round
central Maryhill.
1. Take the train from Queen Street to Maryhill Station and walk south
down Maryhill Road till you reach the former Kelvin Dock. This
landscaped
area was formerly Swann’s boat building and repair yard where were
constructed canal barges and Clyde Putters, from the 1850s till the
early
1960s. Landing craft for the D-Day invasions of Normandy were built
here. The artist Ioan Eardley painted
camouflage on these. Cross the lock gates to gain the canal walkway,
the former towpath for the barges.
2. Make a right turn to quickly reach the Kelvin Aqueduct, a wonder of
industrial engineering and listed as an Ancient Historical Monument.
The aqueduct strides proudly across the River Kelvin which runs beneath
its four grand arches. Designed by the engineer Robert Whitworth, and
built between 1787 and 1790 it cost £8,500, almost bankrupting the
canal company, but completing the east-west waterway link.
Retrace your steps and follow the canal southwards, past some
delightful new “Amsterdam” ( well, it is a canal ) style social
housing, then cross over
and above the Maryhill Road by a smaller aqueduct.
3. We are new in the former heart of industrial Maryhill, though little
of this remains. One factory which still stands is the brick building,
renovated, on the right. This was Clarkson’s Engine Works, where small
and medium-size steam engines were made for ships and factories. Now an
events space for weddings and parties. Further on, at Stockingfield
Junction, the Forth and Clyde canal winds its way to Falkirk and
further;
the block of new white flats you see that-aways was built on the site
of the former Milanda Bakery. We continue however down the Glasgow
branch of the canal. On your right are some warehouses and the ground
of Maryhill Juniors FC. Formerly many industries were located here;
a brewery, a textile works and, most notably, the Maryhill Iron Works.
Andy Scott, the sculptor of The Kelpies, had his workplace in this area.
4. In summer this part of the canal is awash with blue and purple
orchids on the bank, yellow irises at the canal edge and white water
lilies on the
water; across the canal lies some wild land, where it is possible to
see foxes, deer, and very occasionally, a badger.
Bird life exhibits to us heron, coot, grebe, goosander and more.
Whaur’s Yer Canal du Midi, Noo? Just before Ruchill Street, and the
underpass
below it, on the left is a brick building which some might recall as
the Bryant and May match, factory, closed in the 1980s, and now offices
and
workspaces. Under and beyond the underpass lies the stunning collection
of Mondrian flats, created in the 2000s, on what was the site of largest
industrial undertaking in Maryhill, Maclellan’s Rubber Works; this
factory closed only 15 years ago.
5. Step back,100 yards or so now, for we are leaving the canal, and
heading down Ruchill Street towards Maryhill Road. On Ruchill Street is
Ruchill Parish Church, a fairly undistinguished building, but next door
is a real gem, Rennie Mackintosh’s Ruchill Church Halls,
built in 1899 in his Art Nouveau Scottish vernacular fusion, with a
turreted caretaker’s house in the courtyard. A-Listed, this is still a
functioning religious building with many associated social activities,
and is almost intact inside from its construction. Sometimes the hall
is open and visitors are welcome. On one of my visits I was
suggesting to the caretaker that, given the value of the contents,
security arrangements were -a bit The response? ‘Aye, then, son,
if anything goes missing’, We’ll know it was you.” ( www.ruchillparish.org.uk ).
5. Moving back north up Maryhill Road, opposite the Tesco superstore
stands Frampton’s Night Club, formerly the Maryhill Trades Union
Centre but originally the Soldiers’ Home, a social club for Maryhill
Barracks where those on leave could stay with their families. A charming
wee toy of a building with battlements and other military features.
Evenings here were reputed to be lively affairs before lockdown.
A little further on up the road, but across on the other ( left ) side
of the street, is the wall of the former Maryhill Barracks, closed in
the
19605 and demolished. At the entrance marked by iron stanchions
embellished with the initials VR, is located the former barracks
gatehouse.
Local legend has it that Rudolf Hess was briefly detailed here on his
ill-fated peace mission in 1941.
Behind the walls lies the Wyndford housing estate, which won a Saltire
Award when it was constructed, and was recently completely renovated.
7. Yet further north we come to Gairbraid Avenue, back along which in
days gone by lay Gairbraid House, where dwelt Mary Hill the wife of the
estate owner, who gave her name to the town. Now on the corner stands
the refurbished and reopened B-Listed Maryhill Burgh Halls by architect
Duncan MacNaughtan, in French Renaissance Style. The halls date from
1878 and served the burgh till annexation by Glasgow in 1891.
Their crowning glory are a set of 20 stained glass panels by Stephen
Adam depicting the industries of the burgh in the High Victorian period.
Restored and replaced in the halls ( in rotations of 10 ) the panels
are one of the finest works of art of the gilded age of Glasgow’ s
cultural life.
They can be viewed on the website of the halls, but for their full
impact go and see them once the halls reopen after Covid.
( www.maryhillburghhalls.org.
uk )
8. Before you pass under the short aqueduct over Maryhill Road that you
walked across awhile previously, notice on the right Maryhill Library,
one of six designed for Glasgow in 1905 by the architect R. Rhind, with
its sculpted figures of a pedagogic matriarch and attendant children high
on the frontage. The entire collection of Rhind’s libraries are
A-Listed.
Once under the aqueduct you pull up the brae to find yourself on the
east side of the canal, with the White Hoose as it is locally known,
soon appearing on your left beside a berthage for canal craft. This
building is probably the oldest in Maryhill and dates from the time of
the canal construction, and was at once a hostelry, a stables and a
hotel for passengers on the canal and for the bargemen and their
beasts. It was
open 24 hours a day, as barges, called “hoolets” ( owlets ) carried
goods and passengers on the canal at all times. Dilapidated for many
years, after
various uses, it is now a cycle repair and hire base for trips on the
towpath and beyond. The White House lies on the Maryhill locks complex
at Kelvin
Dock, where our walk began, and from it is a short tramp further up
Maryhill Road and back to Maryhill Station.
Stained glass wonders, a Mackintosh masterpiece, Ancient Historical
Monuments and a canal walk to die for, if that wasn’t your view of
Maryhill, it will be after this walk. lan R Mitchell is the author of A
Glasgow Mosaic; Cultural icons of the City ( 2072 ) which includes an
extended essay of Stephen Adam ’s Maryhill stained glass panels.
