Appraisers find much to praise, but plenty to do as well
Strathbungo’s long-awaited Conservation Area Appraisal is now available online.
It’s an attractive 26 page document that’s hugely informative, covering everything from the early history of the village to the current state of the lanes and railings.
Of course, the overarching concern is preservation and enhancement of the architecture and built environment and the good folk at the Council’s Development and Regeneration Services have given us a comprehensive guide to what needs doing.
Expect to receive a leaflet sometime soon explaining the implications of living in a conservation area and details about grants and other assistance available to householders.
Overall, the appraisers found much to praise in our little island – which makes it all the more important to get busy on the black spots. They mention, for example, the roundabout and the pedestrianised area outside Sammy Dow’s – no surprises there!
They also point to the footbridge landing at Moray Place as ‘cluttered with street furniture, poor fencing and damaged walls’ but alas, no 150 year old beech tree gracing it any longer.
Looking on the bright side, there’s also now strong evidence to underpin the Strathbungo Society’s campaign to restore the back lanes.
All in all it’s a great read and no home (in the conservation area) should be without one. To order your free copy, contact Susan McGowan on 0141 287 8629 or on email. Read it online (PDF).
Help us create a fascinating profile of the past 150 years in the Bungo!
Like researching family history, tracing the history of one’s house is a fascinating insight into the past. What sort of person lived in the houses and tenements of Strathbungo? Were they industrial workers, tradesmen or professionals? Did they work locally or commute into the commercial and industrial city centre? Did they have servants? And how many children?
The Strathbungo Society would like to encourage and assist a co-ordinated attempt to record all the past owners of our houses and illuminate the lives of the families that have lived here over the past 150 years.
The sources of this information are easy to find in Glasgow’s Mitchell Library. The most comprehensive and easily accessible are the of annual Trade Directories, which list the householder at every address, including their occupation and often their place of work.
For more detailed information on families and servants, the ten-yearly census returns record the names, relationship to the head of the household, age, marital status, occupation and place of birth for each person in the house on the night the census was taken.
Voters’ rolls (or electoral registers) list the names of all those eligible to vote in local and general elections, and valuation rolls list the owners and the rateable value of commercial and domestic properties and the names and occupations of tenants.
All we need is a handful of enthusiastic volunteers who would be willing to spend a few hours a month in the peaceful atmosphere of the Mitchell Local History section recording these names and addresses.
If there is sufficient interest in this the Society will provide an Excel spreadsheet, or paper form, for you to fill in. We will set up a spreadsheet on our website on which the information can be displayed for all to see – a unique resource for every Strathbungo resident and local historian.
Here are some swans from Queens Park…
