FOREWORD
by DAVID MARSHALL, M.P.,
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Shettleston
This
excellent publication is a ‘‘must’’ for anyone who is in the least
interested about Shettleston, an area which we have a right to he proud of and
which has contributed much to Glasgow, Scotland and many parts of the world,
through the efforts of its people and the products of their labours.
It will bring back memories to our elder citizens and perhaps some not so elderly, as well as providing a source of information interest, and perhaps even amazement to our young folk.
Great credit must go to Sandyhills East Community Council, who commissioned the book, to Mrs Marjorie Cunningham, Secretary of the Council, and her fellow officers, and, most of all to Tom Waugh, who has carried out the time-consuming exercise of research and compilation, without whom this work would never have come about.
Tom Waugh has served on the Community Council in various offices since its inception, was born, and has lived all his life in Shettleston, and spent all of his working life in the east-end of the city, until his retiral in July 1985, being employed with Sir William Arrol & Co. Ltd., Bridgeton, for 48 years.
One cannot separate the history of an area from its economy and it is very interesting to see the old Shettleston as the hustling, bustling hive of activity that it once was as a major part of the East End, the workshop of the city. Sadly, photographs of today’s Shettleston will show no such level of activity, although there is renewed hope of better things to come.
Tremendous changes have taken place in the area over the years, some for the better, sadly, some for the worse.
At the time of writing, Shettleston is still in the throes of re-construction. Most of the slum and sub-standard housing has disappeared. Hundreds, although unfortunately not enough, of tenemental properties have been saved from the demolisher’s bulldozer, renovated, restored, and now provide very desirable homes for local people.
The environment has been tremendously improved, clean air and soft landscaping have eliminated much of the harshness, although improvements can still be made, especially on the gap sites waiting to be exploited.
The GEAR Project has helped greatly in saving the area for the future, and new features, such as the new Eastbank Academy, Shettleston Health Centre and Sandyhills Park will figure in future histories of the area, replacing some of the old features which have long since disappeared.
Many famous personalities lived in Shettleston — Tommy Docherty of football fame; Cliff Hanley, author and broadcaster; Ian Jackson, Plastic Surgeon; Eddie Miller, Director of Education for Strathclyde, and over the years no less than ten Labour M.Ps spent part of their lives in Shettleston — John Baird, Wolverhampton; Hugh Brown, Provan; Jimmy Carmichael, Bridgeton; Neil (now Lord) Carmichael, Woodside, then Kelvingrove; David Kirkwood. Clydebank; John McGovern, Shettleston; David Marshall, Shettleston; Willie Reid, Provan; John (Lord) Wheatley, Edinburgh East, and his uncle, John Wheatley, Shettleston.
This book, providing illustrative examples of our local heritage, is a very commendable effort by a local community on its own behalf, and may be of use to the present and future population of the area, as well as being the basis of any future local study by any interested body or individual.
It is also of very strong local human interest and that is the most important reason for recommending it.
