SECTION VII: RECREATIONS

120) The Shettleston Brass Band was founded about 1890 and remained in existence until 1914. Prominent members of the band included Hugh “King” Lawson, a well-known Shettleston worthy of the period. Three of his brothers also played in the band and in this photograph taken about 1910 “King” Lawson is second from the right in the middle row.

SHETTLESTON BRASS BAND

In February 1893 a local paper reported on a New Year’s Day parade of the band:

“Members of the band made up their minds that instead of spending New Year’s Day in the usual convivial style, they would bring in that day with a musical entertainment.

The band turned out in full strength, assembled at Carntyne Public School and started out on an exhaustive tour. The first halt was made at the home of the band Vice-President, Mr Hamilton, where the band played “A Guid New Year”. Halts were then made at Wellshot Road, Ostend Place, Eastbank School, Earlybraes, proceeding then to the house of Dr Hill at Barlanark. He and his friends were engaged in curling and having invited the band into his grounds, all appeared to enjoy the band’s performance.

After refreshments given by Dr Hill, (which were much appreciated as it was bitterly cold throughout the whole day), the band proceeded to Tollcross and then to Parkhead. The tour ended at “Hillview”, the home of the band Secretary. The band members then proceeded to Mr Connor’s Hall, where a sub­stantial dinner with liquids to match was much enjoyed.”

THE BOYS’ BRIGADE.
94th GLASGOW
(1st SHETTLESTON)
COMPANY

The 1st Shettleston Company, The Boys’ Brigade, was founded in 1894 in connection with Shettleston Parish Church and met initially in Hill Street Hall.

When Shettleston was ab­sorbed into the City of Glasgow in 1912, the designation of the company was changed to 94th Glasgow (1st Shettleston).

In 1986 it is still an active company.

121) 1st Shettleston Company, Session 1911-1912.

122) Colour Party at Parade for Dedication of Colours, Sunday 10th May 1931.  Lady on left with bouquet, Mrs D. C. Bums, Donor of the Colours.  Officer I/C Colour Party: Lt. f.M. Hunter.  Colour Party Front Escort: Sgt. R. Tait — Sgt. T. Bell.  King’s Colour: Lt. W. Shankland.  Colour Sgt.: C/Sgt. A. McNiven.  Company Colour: Lt. W. McNeil.  Colour Party Rear Escort: Sgt. S. Fraser — Sgt. R. Clelland.  Officer I/C Parade:  Capt. T. Waugh.

123) Session 1938-1939

SPORTING ACTIVITIES

Local papers of the period record a great interest in sporting activities by the inhabitants of Shettleston in the period from about 1890 until the outbreak of the Great War in 1914.

Several harrier clubs, mostly attached to factories in the area, were in existence prior to the formation of Shettleston Harriers in 1904.

Cycling clubs are also mentioned at this period, as was a Shettleston Curling Club which met at a site off Springfield Road, (now Amulree Street), near the Tollcross Burn and adjacent to the present site of Sandyhills Bowling Club. A Shettleston Cricket Team existed from about 1893 and ran two elevens until the Great War period, and Springboig Tennis Club opened in July 1 895.

Well before the formation of Shettleston Football and Athletic Club in 1903, several football teams with quite fanciful names played in the Shettleston area, including Shettleston Athletic, Eastern Shamrock, Eastern Swifts, Wellington Star, Shettleston Hawthorn, Shettleston Westburn, Allanbank, Mount Vernon Zingari.

Most of those teams organised an annual outing, as the following intimation from a local paper of the period records:—

 “May 1892 — The first Shettleston Athletic F.C. will take their second annual picnic on Saturday 21st May, when they will drive to Balloch. The brakes will leave Shettleston Cross at 6.15 a.m. 

“May 1892 Shettleston Hawthorn F.C. will take their second annual picnic to Strathaven on Saturday 16th July. Brakes leave Old Drum at 7.00 a.m.”

Pleasures would seem to have been taken very seriously in those days as a 6.15am start no doubt meant as early a rise to attend their annual outings as normally would be made to go to work.

124) Membership Card Shettleston Westburn F.C. Season 1897-1898.

125) Allanbank F.C. Season 1913-1914.

126) Shettleston Juniors Football Team - 1922-1923.  In the old Well Park ground situated on the south side of Shettleston Road between Amulree Street and South Chester Street.

Shettleston Football and Athletic Club was founded in 1903, the first office-bearers~being President James Cunningham, Vice-President William Connor, Secretary William Jackson, Treasurer William Baxter. Their first ground, Well Park, was located south of Shettleston Main Street between what is now Amulree Street and South Chester Street.

Towards the end of 1932, as Well Park was required for house building, they had to vacate the ground at short notice. Fortunately there was a ground available less than a quarter mile away on Old Shettleston Road, Frankfield Park, the ground of the recently defunct Shettleston Celtic. This ground was purchased and much work was entailed in bringing it up to a reasonable standard for both playing and spectating. It was also given a new name — “Greenfield Park” — and has been the headquarters of the “Town” ever since.

Although the “Town” has never won the Scottish Junior Cup, it has over the years topped the League or Division in which it participated on several occasions and has been a prolific nursery of young players who have gone on to greater football fame elsewhere.

127) Shettleston Football and Athletix Club.  Greenfield Park - 1986.

128) A group of Shettleston Harriers about 1912 in the play­ground of Eastmuir School. John Howieson who served the club in such offices as President, Secretary, Treasurer for over thirty years is the bearded figure standing fourth from right in the third row.

On an evening in September 1904, a meeting was held in Houston’s Tea Room, Main Street, Shettleston, when twelve young enthusiastic cross-country runners met to form a harriers’ club and founded the Shettleston Harriers with, as the first office-bearers, President Donald McColl, Secretary Robert Nicol, Treasurer John Howieson.

In its early days the club used old Eastmuir School as its headquarters, but as membership increased after the Great War, new premises were built by the members in Gartocher Road, with a running track on adjacent waste ground. After the Second World War the club moved once more to new premises and outdoor track facilities at Barrachnie.

129) Keep Fit Campaign - Promotion Run.  Killin Street - 1937.  On left J.C. Flockhart, Scottish National Cross Country Champion.

SHETTLESTON BOWLING CLUB

130) Opening of Club and Green - August 1907.

131) McLennan Cup, won by Shettleston Burns Club - 1909.  James Allan, Councillor W.J. Grant (President), Wm. W. Stevenson, Jr.  Seated: Thomas Deans, John B. Deans.

Councillor W.J. grant was a local building contractor who built several tenements in Shettleston and Dennistoun.  Thomas and John B. Deans were members of the family who were proprietors of the Deans public House over several generations.

SANDYHILLS GOLF CLUB

At the instigation of Mr John Adam of Larchgrove, Springboig, a group of enthusiasts held a meeting in Hill Street Hall, Shettleston, on 20th June 1905 and formed the Sandyhills Golf Club. An area of 61 acres once known as Sandyhills Park was leased from Mr J. Cassels of Sandyhills House and a course lay-out prepared by a Mr Tulloch. The grass was cut and the course laid out to Mr Tulloch’s plans by members of the committee.  The course was officially opened in April 1906 with Mr John Adam, the first club Captain, driving off the first tee with a silver cleek presented to him by the committee.

132) Sandyhills Golf Clubhouse — 1925

NORTH BRITISH BOWLING CLUB

In 1921 the North British Bottle Manufacturing Co. Ltd. acquired a plot of land in what was then Springfield Road (now Amulree Street), laid it out as a bowling green and formed the North British Bowling Club for the workers in the bottlework factory.

At a later date members of the general public who were not employees of the firm were allowed to join the club as associate members. The bottleworks were closed in 1982 and the club members purchased the ground from the United Glass Co.

133) Members of the club with original clubhouse in the background, who won the Walker Cup in season 1938-1939.  In rear, left to right: J. Cunningham, J. Kuhn, D. Kuhn, J. Rafferty, J. McClure.  Seated: P. Latta, J. Boothby.

134) Matilda Todd as a member of the 1st Shettleston Company, The Girls' Guildry - 1927.

This company was founded in 1911 in connection with Shettleston Parish Church.  As the 8th Glasgow Company, The Girls' Brigade, it celebrated its 75th anniversary in April 1986.

135) The Boys' Brigade, 262nd Glasgow Company, connected with Eastbank Church, Session 1937-1938.

LODGE EASTMUIR No. 1126

A strong desire existed among Freemasons resident in the eastern end of Shettleston to have a Masonic Lodge. When the old Eastmuir School was vacated application was made for part of the building for adaptation for Masonic purposes, and in due course a let of the hail was secured from the School Board.

Eighty-six Master Masons as founders presented a petition to Grand Lodge, and a Charter was granted on 28th May 1913. The Consecration and Erection ceremony of the new Lodge, under the title “Eastmuir No. 1126”, took place on 21st January 1914.  The origin of the Lodge Seal can be described as follows:

136) Laying the foundation stone of Lodge No. 1126 Eastmuir at 1543 Shettleston Road on 20th October 1928 by Bro. A.A. Hagart Spiers of Elderslie, D.L., J.P., Provincial Grand Master of Glasgow.  Photograph by courtesy of The GLasgow Herald.

137) 

Eastmuir Masonic Hall was a popular venue for such functions as wedding receptions and dances.  The photographs depict two such functions and date from 1937.  The upper photograph from a dance organised by members of the 94th Glasgow (1st Shettleston) Company, The Boys' Brigade, and the lower photograph a group of local children taking part in a "mock marriage" display.

138)

130) The Miners' Welfare Hall in Amulree Street was another popular venue for local social activities such as in this photograph taken at the Annual Dance of the Sandyhills Tenants Association in 1935.  This hall is now the Tollcross and Shettleston Community Centre.

140) St. Paul’s Boys’ Guild Football Team.  About 1943.  Rear row L—R: Mr D. McManus, ? Mc Cormick, J.  0 ‘Rourke, J. McBride, T.  Docherty, J. Tolan, W. McCormick, Mr W. Bums.  Seated L —R: N. O’Hara, T. McManus, W. McManus, T. Harkins, H. McCreachan, W. Toner

This team contains two future Scottish Internationalists in Tommy Docherty of Celtic and Preston North End, and one time Scottish Team Manager, and Willie Toner who played for Celtic, Sheffield United, Kilmarnock and Hibernian, and gained two full international caps.

CARNTYNE OLD CHURCH OPERATIC CLUB

The Carntyne Old Church Operatic Club was formed in 1945 by John T. Wright with the church hall being used for rehearsals. The first production “The Country Girl” was performed later in the same year in Shettles­ton Public Hall with Alexander McLeod as producer and Fred. Smith as musical director and conductor.

From 1946 until the club was disbanded in 1955, a series of successful productions including “The Belle of New York”, “The Maid of the Mountains”, “No, No, Nanette”, “The Lilac Domino”, “The Desert Song”, and several others were performed in the Shettleston Public Hall, with a few productions also performed in the old Lyric Theatre, Sauchiehall Street.

In the ten years of the club’s existence, from the proceeds of the above productions, a sum of about £2000 was donated to various charitable causes.

142) Dress rehearsal for "The Lilac Domino" - December 1950.

SANDYHILLS EAST COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The idea of Community Councils grew out of the review of local government undertaken on an all-Scotland basis by the Wheatley Commission in 1969. When the recommendation was made to change to a two-tier system of regions and districts, Community Councils were seen as the counter­balance to the remoteness of the new authorities.

These recommendations were incorporated in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 which states that the functions of a Community Council shall be: “to ascertain, co-ordinate and express to the local authority for the area, and to public authorities, the views of the community which it represents in relation to matters for which these authorities are responsible and to take such action in the interests of the community as appears expedient and practicable”.

In August 1974 Glasgow District Council drew up a scheme for the establishment of Community Councils, and after due consultation with various community organisations submitted their scheme to the Secretary of State in May 1976. The scheme was finally approved in January 1977, thus enabling Community Councils to be set up as from March 1977.

Sandyhills East Community Council was established on 17th April 1977 and since its inception has endeavoured to be the voice of the community, participating in such local issues as the modernisation of council houses in the area, the creation of Strathclyde Park and the building of the new Eastbank Academy. It has promoted several Gala Days and over the past few years has promoted an annual Garden Competition. Council members are represented on and regularly attend meetings of various groups, such as G.E.A.R., the Glasgow Health Board, the East Area Management Group, the East Area Liaison Group, the Crime Prevention Panel, the Arts Council and the Tollcross Mansion Steering Group, all concerned with various aspects of community life or environmental change.

Community Councils are voluntary bodies relying on people to give up spare time to serve the needs of the community, so their level of activity tends to fluctuate, dependent on the interest and enthusiasm shown by Council members. It can be said that Sandyhills East Community Council in the nine years of its existence has, with varying success, fulfilled its dual role of representing community interest and taking action when necessary in the interests of the community.

143) Sandyhills East Community Council — September 1986.  Back row. J. Finlayson, C. Murray, J. Hill, J.  McGregor, Miss M. Kennedy, R. McLachlan, Mrs K. Murphy. Front row: Mrs M McKenzie, J.  Stewart, MrsM Cunning­ham (Secretary), J.  Abercrombie (Chairman), D.J. Turner (Treasurer), R. Cunningham, TM. Waugh.