The Hidden Glasgow Forums

The area around Hopehill Rd. , Grovepark St. and North Woodside Rd. is, as it always has been, a mix of housing and industry.
I grew up there in the 50s and 60s: there were still working foundries - there's a photo of the Violet Grove Foundry on the VM - a brewery in N. Woodside Rd. behind the Seamore and the usual mix of small businesses, shops and pubs, the most famous being Ye Olde Tramcar Vaults on the corner of Maryhill Rd. and Hopehill Rd. where the Jaguar showroom now stands. I moved back to the area two years ago.
I think I've remembered how to add photos , so here goes....

Le dùrachd,
Dimairt

dimairt wrote:

Fantastic! Thanks. Quite a few people have been looking for a photo of that for some time now. Cheers

[quote="dimairt"]The area around Hopehill Rd. , Grovepark St. and North Woodside Rd. is, as it always has been, a mix of housing and industry.
I grew up there in the 50s and 60s: there were still working foundries - there's a photo of the Violet Grove Foundry on the VM - a brewery in N. Woodside Rd. behind the Seamore and the usual mix of small businesses, shops and pubs, the most famous being Ye Olde Tramcar Vaults on the corner of Maryhill Rd. and Hopehill Rd. where the Jaguar showroom now stands. I moved back to the area two years ago.
I think I've remembered how to add photos , so here goes....

Le dùrachd,
Dimairt



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That's the photo I referred to earlier. See the biulding in the back court in the central block - is that anything to do with the subway or was it completely underground?

Prior to refurbishment the subway stations were lit by natural light, which entered via a glass atrium above the platform. The remnants of Kelvinhall's can still be seen although it's no longer glass covered.

The structure your refering to is in the right place and is of the right design so it probably is the Subway station

Alan

And the entrance to it was through a tenement, like a lot of stations were.

St Georges cross was, I believe, one of the first stations to be refurbished at
street level, due to the tenements around it being bulldozed to make way for
the new roads.



James H

Not all the Subway stations had skylights and personally I don't remember there being one at St. George's Cross before refurbishment. I suppose it really depends on how deep the station is.

Somebody with more knowledge of the Subway system than me can no doubt verify this, but I think the tunnels gradually run at a deeper level from about Hillhead down to their deepest point at St. Enoch [or maybe it's Cowcaddens] and then start rising again. Most of the stations on the Southside are nearer the surface and they did indeed have skylights.

I believe most of the south side tunnels were cut & cover construction, so
yes, they're nearer the surface.

Cowcaddens area may well be the deepest section.



James H

I think we were told on our Subway visit that the deepest part is between Kelvinbridge and St Georges X.

dazzababes wrote:I think we were told on our Subway visit that the deepest part is between Kelvinbridge and St Georges X.

I would say that was right. Kelvinbridge going into St Georges Cross.

i thought he said it was only 3 metres below road level on gt western rd?

3 metres below Dumbarton Road

We all seen this? I must have got it from somebody on here:


Clicky for bigger. Edit: Thanks to GK

Never seen that before. Cheers.



James H

red_kola wrote:We all seen this? I must have got it from somebody on here:

From me

I've got a photo of the subway during renovation showing it in splendid isolation but here's one of of how it was in the early 1960s - imagine living above it!
The next photo is of St. George's Rd. looking south beyond the Cross itself. It was a very busy area with lots of shops, pubs, cinemas etc. This is how it looked after the first phase of "improvement."
I don't feel nostalgic about living in a slum - we had a room and kitchen in Oakbak Terrace - but the planners got it badly wrong in this area. I've seen official photos taken during redevelopment with notes and highlighted areas that indicate that they didn't know what they were doing.

Le durachd,
Eddy