The Hidden Glasgow Forums

Living in East Glasgow in the 40s I can recall that there was mounds of rubbish, mainly of an industrial nature dumped of many areas of open land.
For instance, the former quarries east of Firpark Street in Dennistoun had been end-tipped in the past such that myself and pals regularly excavated decorative clay pipes which presumably were rejects from a clay pipe factor in the distant past.

Between the open section of the Molindinar, and up to the canal, the whole area was composed of tipped rubbish including fused black slag standing about 6 feet high, all of which must have been potentially toxic.

I understand that reports of overcrowding and poor sanitation in the past reported domestic rubbish being stacked as high as the houses before removal. I understand that farmers often removed this, which included 'night soil' for spreading onto fields around Glasgow.

These locations and many others have since been redeveloped, but I suspect that much of this waste has been leveled but is still beneath the ground as another example of Hidden Glasgow.


John

Probably recycled to make building material for the commonwealth village and other such modern developments!

Night soil and manure in the 19th century was loaded on to canal barges and moved to the outskirts of Glasgow where farmers spread it on fields. One side effect was this foul muck had a nasty habit of running into "drip" or other wells. Thus spreading typhoid etc. A lot of waste was dumped from Beardmores, the Blochairn Steelworks in the 1940s plus the St Rollox chemical works. Their sulphuric acid plant was still going strong on the early 1960s. Garroways Fertilisers off Duke Street was another chemical plant. Another chemical factory made nitric acid beside the railway north of Blackhill.

Thanks moonbeam,
for taking up this very serious subject proper consideration- I well recall the 'acid rain' which choked me in my youth and spawled the faces of tenements in the east end of the city.

I maintain that much dumped rubbish is still there underground in many sites which have been subsequently developed before the legislations of environmental health. Such rubbish is probably interesting for archaeologists but maybe a potential time bomb for future generations.

Contaminants in ground water can enter leaky water pipes as has happened in the past. Glasgow had more than its fair share of black smog when you could find that you could cough up black phlem.

When I was about 6 years old in the 40s I attended a ' magic Lantern Show in a local church which showed, among other things, slides of sections of lungs , that of a city dweller was black as coal and of a country man, pink. Even at that tender age, I thought that must be how mu lung would be.

Not a cheerie subject but one that should be important to our fellow citizens and very relevant to 'Hidden Glasgow'

Best regards, Moonbeam- keep on shining!

John