The Hidden Glasgow Forums

Can anyone tell me about st pius church up near drumchapel high school? When was it built and what's due to happen to it?

St Pius is officially at 4 Bayfield Terrace. Built in 1954-57 by Alexander McAnally. Described as a sub-romanesque composition in red brick and stone. Tower capped in copper.It has an apsidal sanctuary and baptistery with shallow transepts but no aisles.It is a category "B" listed building. I suspect that it has not been demolished unlike St Benedicts which was due to get an "A" listing as hopefully some use might be found for it.I think an episode of Rab C Nisbett was filmed in front of St Pius. The Glasgow council approved demolition of St Benedicts on 25th January 1991 and after mass on Sunday 17th March 1991 the bulldozers moved in. St Pius is now surrounded by green fields(?). New housing has been talked about for at least ten years now.

I have a picture of my First Communion Group, taken in 1957 at St Pius' Church. I've got a feeling that it was the first ever group to go through that particular celebration after St Pius' opened. I was a pupil at St Sixtus' in Kinfauns Drive at the time !

Tombro

Thanks moonbeam. I wonder if anyone has photos of the surrounding buildings before they were knocked down.

Tombro - I actually saw that photo last night on another forum after I had posted this!

Kristy,

I live in Australia now, have done for over fifty years, but I'm always on the lookout for any connection with 'theDrum' of the late fifties.

I don't think I've ever posted that photo on a forum (I would have last night but I can't get photos onto this forum other than through a secondary agent) so I'd love to know where you saw it !

Tombro

I have a nice photo of the newly done up back courts in Cally Ave etc. I have no idea how to get it on this forum

I lived in Cally Ave when l was first married

Tombro - not sure what the etiquette is about mentioning other forums on here, so I will send you the link via a private message. It's from 2009.

My interest in drumchapel is because I've worked there for about 5 years now and am also interested in Glasgow housing and it's history

Thanks Kristy for your PM.

I knew I hadn't posted those pics on this forum as I have never worked out how to do that. Glad you found the pics though and hope you enjoyed them !

I lived in 'theDrum' from 1955 to late 1960, Airgold Drive and went to St Sixtus' School, both of its annexes and the big school on Kinfauns Drive. I have a couple of Class Pictures that I could post; my 1959 picture shows a class of forty-two and I can still name over thirty of them after fifty years.

Those early days in 'theDrum' were some of the best days of my life !

Tombro

Many years I had a long discussion with a Glasgow Corporation councillor. My question was "Where did the idea for the type of terraced tenemental housing built in Drumchapel with balconies come from?" The answer I was given - in 1948/49 officials decided to use a design of socially rented housing built in Norway ie Bergan/Oslo etc in the 1930s. I recall being in Bergan in Norway in the late 1960s and seeing a simllar style of housing. Of course my other question was "Why did they not build Drumchapel like Blairdardie". Answer" Blairdardie was for teachers, firemen, policemen and was a move towards the middle class". I still think when they built Knightswood in the 1920s they got it right first time. I dont think the corporation of Glasgow in the 1940s every thought the working man would have a TV, washing machine, car etc. The houses up in Ladyloan had a very poor electric power supply. Woolworths in the shopping centre used to stock old round electric two pin plugs for these houses.

moonbeam wrote:"Why did they not build Drumchapel like Blairdardie". Answer" Blairdardie was for teachers, firemen, policemen and was a move towards the middle class".

Dont forget that as the scheme of Drumchapel was being planned/built the UK had just come through WW2 - building materials were still in relatively short supply and expensive - hence the build it cheap and tear them down 40 years later type buildings that were constructed.

I remember my grannies flat in Airgold Place having the old round 2 pin plugs and being sent down to woolworths to buy replacements whenever she bought a new appliance

The type of house knocked down in Drumchapel are still in good condition in the Newlands area of Glasgow.Was it the tenants who did not take care or care for the houses. An example of very cheap late 1950s Glasgow housing is in the Keal area of Blairdardie. Low rise flats using a Wilson precast block. The system was "imported" from Manchester. The Manchester "flats" are nearly all demolished.Those in Keal remain. I think the Keal flats are fairly unique to Glasgow.
Another unique to Glasgow type of "council" house in Drumchapel are the ones in Dalsetter Place built by Dunbartonshire County Council before Glasgow took over the Drumchapel area. Are there any other "out of the ordinary" council type housing in Glasgow built saince the late 1930s? I dont mean special one offs or demonstration houses. The "Sunlight" homes in Kelvingrove Park spring to mind as sort of one off unique style of "council" house.
I well remember those round two pin plugs. The electric cables used to overheat in the close my mate lived in at the top of Ladyloan. I seem to recall a fire in Monymusk Place where overheating electrics was suspected.

When did the flats on airgold drive and invercanny drive come down? I seem to think there were some in 2007 but might be a false memory!

You're most probably pretty close, Kirsty.

That's around when I started looking to my roots and I remember showing the kids in my class the tenement building at 17 Airgold Drive I lived in. At that stage the tenements on the other side of Airgold Drive and those in Invercanny Drive had already been demolished.

From looking around the various forums, I reckon Robert Pool might be the man to answer any questions you have about the demolition of that area of 'theDrum' !

Tombro

photos l took of Invercanny demolition from my flat in Linkwood Drive in 1998 or 1999. I left the flats in 2000.


Demolition of Invercanny Drive, Drumchapel, Glasgow


Demolition of Invercanny Drive, Drumchapel, Glasgow


Demolition of the houses at Invercanny Drive with the construction of Drumchapel High School, Glasgow in the background

the new Drumchapel High School you see being built was officialy opened in 2003

here is a link to photos of Drumchapel on my Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertpool ... 091627157/