THERE was a decidedly pessimistic note scribbled on the back of this 1968 photograph of Gorbals children.
"Even when this particular spot is flattened," an anonymous hand wrote, "other parts of Glasgow will stand for generations to come ..no better than this, perhaps even worse."
Given the run-down state of the buildings, the unkempt air, the puddles, the author probably had a point. The kids look content enough, though.
There are many such photographs of the Gorbals and other such areas from around this time in the Herald and Evening Times's photographic archive. Not just ours, either: the great Harry Benson's 2007 book, Harry Benson's Glasgow, includes several photographs taken on the Southside in November 1971, with one shot depicting kids playing in rubble "as there was no park nearby and they had nowhere else to play." Another photograph showed a couple of young girls in front of graffiti reading, 'Let Glasgow flourish in filth and slums' - a play on the words in the city's coat-of-arms.
The sixties had however seen a wide-ranging housing redevelopment programme in the Gorbals, including high-rise flats designed by Sir Basil Spence. These, however, had their own problems, and had to be demolished in 1993.
It would be interesting to know what the anonymous author of those words on the back of that 1968 photograph would make of today's modern Glasgow.
FEBRUARY 1975, and the Scottish Arts Council is forging ahead with plans to brighten up "grimy old Glasgow," to quote from a contemporary news report. The aim was to paint giant murals on tenement gable-ends.
One design was unveiled: a huge Celtic knot on one end of a tenement at 30 South Annandale Street, Govanhill. The one in the photograph was a 30-ft high mural in Patrick's Crawford Street - "a rose-cheeked boy sitting on a squashed sort of spotted dog and clutching a dove in is hand," according to that same report.
The Celtic knot had escaped the attention of graffiti artists, unlike the Patrick one, which was swiftly tagged with the following: "The artist's work is all in vain. Tiny Patrick strikes again."
ANTI-apartheid demonstrators gather outside St George's Tron Church in Glasgow in June, 1986, as St George's Place is re-named Nelson Mandela Place.
The small street, which housed the South African consulate, was named after Mandela by Glasgow District Council. The ceremony was carried out by Mr Essop Pahad, a London-based member of the African National Congress, who said the Mandela family would be delighted by the gesture.
More than 200 people attended the ceremony, though the Herald reported that the re-naming had not met with approval from all of the street's business community.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here