CLYDEBANK 1975

Clydebank 1975. Film by Owen McGuigan.
This is a film I made in 1975 using Super 8 cine film. Clydebank was going through many changes then. Heavy industry was on the decline. The shipyards and the Singer Sewing Machine factory was struggling. There was a new shopping centre coming and the main road tenements were being demolished to make way for the expressway. This lets you see Clydebank as it was in 1975.
htpp://www.myclydebankphotos.co.uk
Music is Autumn Boy by htpp://www.danosong.com

[@MaelFilms]

Beautifully done piece of film here. I was barely born at the time but remembered that Clydebank in transition from then to now. Brilliant work. And oddly haunting too.

[@interdec]

This film is an absolute masterpiece! I first watched it ten plus years ago, and I hated the music then; it added to the desolation of the area, which I wasn’t yet ready to admit. These were my early teen years and I didn’t know how run down it was…even though there was still good employment then. It was just home, and normal. Of course much of this desolation, perhaps disgracefully, is still left over from the wartime Blitz. Germany recovered more quickly I believe. Today I revisited the film, and I see it as a historical memoir that has much value. The shots are amazing; either you took this footage knowing that one day they would be a memoir, or perhaps, since you were only a bit older than me at the time Owen, you are actually a time traveller, and went back for a day with a cine camera for a look around? If I had the skill of time travel, I would do the same and go back (carefully), but I’m way too afraid to go forward!

[@dorothy8495]

Owen: I watched this video some time a go (a few years?) but have come back to it. Places I've been trying to remember the names of are on your footage, it's confirmed much of what I remember, I just love this video. There are so many memories associated with these places - the pet shop next to Simeone's where I got my beloved goldfish, the Evening Citizen where the editor encouraged me to become a writer, the swimming pool where I got tossed in and had to be fished out...the list goes on. I was taken away from Clydebank in 1964, very much against my will, so although some of the housing appears to have been vacated, the rest seems mostly the same. I'm so incredibly grateful to you for making and posting this. Thank you.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you for your comment and your memories Dorothy.

[@bernielogue1]

Smashing footage, I was brought up in Livingstone St til 1967 then to Trafalgar St. I remember all the footage you have presented and the two ladies riding their horses lived at the bottom of Trafalgar St the 'tunnel' end, I know its them because they were the only two riders I ever saw in the area. Your footage brought back great memories and how refreshing to know that you seemed to aquire the foorage before it would be too late! I want more please!

[@Bevoin1970]

Thanks for uploading this film footage, I really enjoyed watching it. Im from the West Midlands, and would have been 14 at the time of this, but I can relate to everything that I see in this film. I would love to see a modern day version of this film taken in exactly the same spots, and run side by side with this film so as we can see just how much it has changed. A before and After view. I imagine the church is still around? Fascinating stuff! Many thanks :-) Paul.

[@lynryden3910]

Yes the church is the only thing still there Our Holy Redeemers

[@MrScopophiliac]

This film is beautiful. So thoughtfully put together. I was born in Dalmuir in 60s and remember these facades and roads.

[@par576]

I was a cop in Clydebank in 1975. Your shot of hall Street took me right back.

[@whitsthecraic]

Thanks for posting Owen, I'm a Bankie born in Duntocher Hospital in 1973 so would have been a toddler when this was filmed, but I remember vividly that view up Kilbowie Road just as they were starting work on the new shopping centre, the reason being, Campbell and Kennedy model shop was between the two railway bridges! Clydebank has changed a lot and I've been living away for 11 years, but I still have family there and get back as often as I can.

[@Insolation1]

The council took the heart out the centre of Clydebank more than the Germans did.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you. I never thought that 34 years later, people would be watching it on the internet.

[@Romamb]

Now 45 years and we still are ❤

[@gerardmaroney3918]

This piece of film is especially poignant to me: I was born in Alexandria Maternity, lived in Clydebank with my mum and dad until I was two years old (1975), then I lived in Dalmuir with my Grannie. These images are what I would have seen as I pottered about Damluir, Dumbarton, Parkhall, Mountblow etc with my Grannie, my uncle Thad and my dad. Every time I came back to Clydebank as an adult, it felt like these images (and the accompanying music to some extent). Thank you for this.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you for the kind comments. This is the way I remember Clydebank as a child and young adult.

[@colinmacgregor8718]

Well done Owen.I read that your late father worked at John Brown’s.My father worked there before during and after the war until him and his family came to Australia where I was born.Dad died of asbestosis in 1990 at 71 years old.

[@mclarke98]

I enjoyed watching this video. My mum and dad used to run Simone s Cafe before John Browns closed down. Mum and dad decided to emigrate to Italy after that. We eventually moved back to Dover . Dad always talked about going south. I used to help my mum and dad in the cafe as a we girl. Brought back Memories seeing the town etc. Thankyou. Marisa Clarke nee (Kerr)

[@T.robPrairie]

memories - all good ones - i was brought up here - wonderful people and times...thanks

[@myclydebankphotos]

Glad you like it Rob, I like Clydebank too

[@alzyerpal-TV]

I remember going through Clydebank in 1975 to visit our cousins in Old Kilpatrick and Hardgate. The film looks like a million years ago, yet the memories feel like 10 years ago. Time is indeed a curious thing.

[@scotaland]

I grew up in Clydebank and was 16 when you filmed this. A fantastic trip down memory lane for me. Loved the police car. Thanks for uploading

[@Jover22]

i currently live in clydebank and this film was made 9 years before i was even born and even i can say this film is awsome , theres parts where im like hell how much its has changed.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Hello Billy, I was in Simeone's cafe many a time, man & boy. I had my first job in Galbraiths in Fleming Avenue, Whitecrook. The shop is still there but it is owned by Indians. All the tenements where you lived are long gone and there are new flats there now. Our new college is now on the site of John Browns and all we have left is one crane, the Titan crane which is now a tourist attraction. My late father worked in John Browns, he drove the ambulance and fire engine in the yard.

[@intheshadows..2107]

Nice speaking to you today Owen videos are great. You really get a feel for the era

[@karenboyd8806]

I grew up in Clydebank...Roseberry place, opposite the Singer factory - 1963 'till around 1971 when my folks moved to the posh area...Old Kilpatrick! LOL I've been gone from Scotland for years but what a joy to relive the past through your film! :D

[@4guitarguy]

spooky i was living in and around clydebank in 1975 i would have been 11years old and the memories came flooding back. thanks for posting this it seems so dark and gloomy on the film but i can remember drinking in a few of those pubs my father even managed a few of them sad to think there gone but not forgotten cheers!!!!!!!

[@sambridges8644]

What's your name? My mum would have been about 10. I watched it to see if I could see her, my grandparents or great grandfather but I didn't see any of them.

[@mightyjoeloser]

Fantastic video. My family came to America from Clydebank in '72. I'm sure my mum would remember all of the place you shot in your film. My recent trip in 2007 to Clydebank was just a shell of its former self. Thanks again for posting.

[@Mennis199]

I was 10 years old when you filmed this and lived in Dalmuir. Enjoyed the trip down memory lane, thanks Owen. Maureen Reilly.

[@pattymccafferty1220]

Mennis199 oh my God im from Dalmuir. where abouts I was 84 durban Ave x

[@superwilf788]

Brilliant Loved the Panda Van

[@katethegreat59]

This is a great piece of work. Have watched it loads of times. Thanks for posting!

[@jimmyframe]

Enjoyed that. Was only 5 when clydebank looked like that. When houses got demolished in bank st? beside woolworths we moved to vanguard St. Happy times😊

[@lauraauldable]

This film was made about three and a half years before my time, I know the area, I left that town a long time ago at age 19, I came to America a few years later, I live In Los Angeles.

[@geesh59]

Thanks for that, Owen. I started my Apprenticeship in Marathon on Monday Aug 18th 1975 and remember the town as shown here. One of the most dramatic memories is from 1969 I think it was when we had the severe gales which blew the angel off the top of the town hall into Weddel's motorbike shop which was on the ground floor of 74 Dumbarton Rd on the corner of Miller Street. We lived above it.

[@ptonpc]

Weddel's still exists, It's a general car garage now.

[@Scotbren1]

Thank you soo much for posting this. Some things I do remember (I would have been 5 at this point). Rather bizarrely though I thought I remembered the front of the Seven Seas pub being more fancy, with nicer, etched windows with the name of the pub on. I also lived at 34 Kilbowie Road at that time, so it's lovely to see it again.

[@yaplamf]

Thank you for putting this on.

[@dotmacis]

My parents were born in Clydebank in 1928 and emigrated to Canada in 1955. They made a few trips back to the old country and their ashes are now interred at Dalnottar Cemetery. They sent me to visit my grandparents when I was 12 years old in 1978, just three years after this movie was made. I was very close to my grandparents (Alexander and Charlotte McFarlane), who lived at 11 McGhee St in Radnor Park. Unfortunately I can't remember a lot about Clydebank, but thanks for posting this!!!!

[@doro8856]

Owen: I just found a FB site and your video was on it. The site is all about Elgin Street School. I don't have a FB account, but I went to Elgin Street until about 1961/2 then went to Braidfield for a year before my mother dragged me off to Canada. Just saw the reference to Mr. Gray (the chalk thrower) and remember him well. Also Miss Bell, a lovely young woman, who I think went to the US to get married. I wonder what ever became of her. And who could forget Mr. Begg. But does anyone remember Mr. Crawshaw, the janitor? Great to see your video again, Owen.

[@dmainman349]

Love this watched it with my dad who was born in the fifties in Clydebank we moved away when I was little. Nice to see the place as it was back in 1975.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you

[@myclydebankphotos]

Yes, I had a lot of fun playing in Clydebank, going to the cinema, playing in Whitecrook Park, watching the model boats sailing in the pond. Going down the shops on a Saturday, walking round Woolworths, watching the trains crossing Glasgow Road and going into John Browns. lots of good memories.

[@marke5631]

Really good, I had occasion to spend some time in Clydebank 2005-2007 and I really like this short movie. I suppose I was looking for Clydebank in the wake of all of the industries and community that had disappeared, I suppose my time there was too late to see or hear the ghosts of the shipbuilding, Singers and the community that once walked those streets here. This filled in a few gaps. Thanks, the music is excellent too, there's loss here you can see and hear it...

[@georgemcdonald1169]

That was a great trip down memory lane. I would have been fifteen. Well done.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you for watching

[@gemsdiamond2002]

Very nice to watch areas from years ago. lost forever without the film!

[@spencerst]

well done i wasnt even born wen that was made i reconised a few places but all they tennements just looks the same to me would hav been great to know what area and what streets .. i liked the look of the old canal looking towards whitecrook where the chippy boat is very strange just look at it now wat a difrence

[@99fruitbat]

My dad was born in Yoker . He remembers watching his primary school burn down during the blitz , his family home was bombed out . His dad worked in the shipyard and his grandfather operated one of the cranes . Thanks for the video 🙂

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you for the comment. I was born in Yoker too, my dad worked in John Brown's shipyard.

[@joemancini327]

@@myclydebankphotos how long did he work there for? Wondering why they stopped building ships and what happened to the shipyard.

[@nibby1957]

this is great i left in 72 and this my clydebank . we lived in linnvale my mum and dad worked in the clydebank bar. so many memories here woolies and simonies café thanks FoR this you are a bankie

[@myclydebankphotos]

You are right. I still miss the old shopping streets of Dumbarton Road, Glasgow Road, Alexander Street and Kilbowie Road. I had a few drinks in the Seven Seas when I was a young lad. My dad worked in the yards and I still remember fondly, as a wee boy, when he took me into the yard at the weekend for a guided tour. He had a big bundle of keys that got him in everywhere. The town has lost its magic. Thanks for looking in.

[@Jock-Tampsons-Bairn]

Brings back great memories.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you, it was a different time and place back then.

[@karenmillar3312]

so nostalgic....thank you....x

[@TerryMcGearyScotland]

I started teaching in the college 3 years after that. Nice to see it! I have shared it on my Facebook.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you

[@lesitn8848]

Many memories of the pubs, think there were 48 or so in Clydebank at the end of WW2 in 1945.In Conneleys on Glasgow Road the John Brown's foremen went to the snug on Fridays and settled their bills with Dennis Maclauchlin the chargehand !!!!!!!

[@myclydebankphotos]

+Les Hamilton I remember Dennis

[@TerryMcGearyScotland]

I also popped it into my (G)Olden Times playlist. It's great illustrated history for people to grab. Thanks again for sharing it.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you

[@patrickgritton3314]

My brother and myself played for Clydebank Amateurs and we used to meet at Simeones Cafe . Charley McGarvey ran the team with great help from Tony Cairns . Pat Gritton.

[@transferdatathreewally24]

Haunting music. Great footage. Well done. Love from Sheffield x

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you very much for your comment.

[@davesr25]

nice song to go with this,I live in clydebank and seeing that just takes it for me. ty for posting

[@RobBob555]

love the old footage and photos Owen, I'm an east coast boy myself but been in Glasgow 8 years, ( west side) nice to see it as it was then mate :O)

[@doro8856]

Great to see that footage, Owen. Thanks for posting it. I'll check to see if you have any more. I hope so.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thanks Dorothy

[@johnnyludlow2822]

I was 4 but can remember s lot of it.

[@myclydebankphotos]

@bernielogue1 Hello Bernie. This video is very poular. I never thought at the time that it would be viewed worldwide. It was the only one I shot of Clydebank. The rest were family cine films and holidays. It was quite expensive for film in those days so I had to choose what I was filming. I have given all my cine films to the Scottish Screen Archives, part of the National Library of Scotland for future generations to view. Thanks for the comments.

[@billyj50]

I left Braidfield High School in 1975 . The Job AT John Temples was my first job. I remember me and my mum sitting in Simones cafe after i got the job. Less than a year later John Temples shut down. Later that year we moved to England. But it's incredible to see that building still there after so much was demolished. When i was first born unitil i was nearly 5 we lived at 111 Glasgow rd across from Browns (bet thats long gone). Then we moved to Faifley

[@interdec]

@myclydebankphotos I was 14 in 1975, and lived at Crown Avenue then, having grown up prior to that in Beatty St. Dalmuir. The video reveals things being more run down than I remember. I was a member of Clydebank Camera Club, perhaps we met at some point if you were ever involved with that crew. I knew a guy called Jim Gllagher, once had an exhibition in the Library. I lived through all the changes but the people are just the same, I recognise that when I visit. Superb Video.

[@ptonpc]

So much gone but still enough survives to be recognisable.

[@billyj50]

This guy has a great sight of old photos of Clydebank. The one of Kinzil Mansions i had my first job there at JohnTemples untll it closed down then i moved to England . They bring back so many memories

[@myclydebankphotos]

@keekabo Thanks. The shopping centre was opened in October 1978, just a few years after this film. You can see photos of it on my website at My Clydebank Photos. Town planners should be made to watch old films as lots of towns in Britain have suffered due to modernisation. All the heart gets knocked out of the town or city with it.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thanks. Clydebank has changed since 1975.

[@chubbygallasso]

I remember as a Hibs fan going to Clydebank.....scary place .....bus windows always got put in.

[@joekyrollos9550]

My Uncle Fudge & Aunt Agnes McFadden stayed in the flats in Yorker, climbed into & caught many a Doo in those derelict tenaments, christened in St Euans Curch, my Uncle John Tomm owner a Bakery just down from John Browns Shipyard, loved the sweet counter in Woolies, my Gran Mary Hillhouse worked in Singer & who could not love the Nolly lol! lol! Thanks for sharing

[@myclydebankphotos]

I remember the bakery

[@myclydebankphotos]

It is. I never thought at the time that I would get to show the world it though...

[@billyj50]

Dinner with the Lord Provost splendid. Is that because of your photographs i hope so. Your early ones caught Cydebank at the end of an era. Gone but not forgotten. I hope your efforts are appreciated .

[@empacae]

Brilliant video... Takes me back. I remember playing in the ruins of fallen buildings (or were they left over from WWII?) Coming from Canada every summer to visit the grands at Whitecrook. I love Clydebank, I haven't been back in 20 years... would love to get off my arse and get there and see how it's changed.

[@myclydebankphotos]

@Bevoin1970 Hello Paul, Thanks for your comments. I have been thinking of doing a 'Then and Now' video for some time but still haven't managed to get round to it yet. I might one day. The big Church, Our holy Redeemer, is still there and still in use. We have lost a lot of churches in Clydebank over the years with the Clydebank Blitz in 1941 and council redevelopment in later years. Owen

[@gemsdiamond2002]

It's very fortunate to see this and must be a one off. I began school in 1976 and, apart from the clothes, u wouldn't tell that much has changed! I'm from London and I think that there are many places around the country that still look similar.

[@xClaraJaynex]

This is so beautiful iv'e never lived there or visited scotland but this video is so amazing

[@gemsdiamond2002]

I'm from London but will look up what Clydebank looks like today, but films like this always make me believe that society was more tolerant back then! I was only a small child and may not have been able to notice that we have changed very little though! I have a football St Mirren page and would love to have seen Paisley back then. It's fairly nearby.

[@CookieMunstaaa]

i live here and it's so strange watching these videos because most of it was gone before i was even born :| lovely video though, will be showing my mum so she can have a wee look :) good job x

[@abeattie23]

outstanding owen...seems like yesterday

[@SuperCulloden]

With some, ignorance is bliss I suppose; however, even as a kid growing up around that area I knew that there had to be someplace much better in this World, so I moved to the USA.. It's not perfect here, but unlike this movie, where the background 'music' suits those scenes of "Dull, Drab, and Dreich" it's at LEAST a thousand per cent better. And to think that shambles shown here was replaced with yet another one of rows of shoe box "houses" and high rise flats. Well done Clydebank "planners"

[@dotmacis]

What's the name of the church in the movie? Is it Kilbowie Parish Church? My parents were married there in 1951 ... :o)

[@MaelFilms]

@myclydebankphotos It's not just that. It's the rhythm of your editing. The title cards are oddly very contemporary and the whole lo-fi presentation of the film makes it timeless (in a good way).

[@myclydebankphotos]

The town hall is still there, I was in it today having lunch with the Lord Provost believe it or not. A Canadian called Freddy smith had come over to see the new Beardmore sculpture in Dalmuir which has the ship HMS Ramillies on top and he used to be a sailor on it. He is now in his 80s and the lord Provost laid on a lunch for him and I was the photographer. The old baths are there but they are going to knock down part of it. They have not been open for years. Woolies is a snooker hall now.

[@myclydebankphotos]

@aw7263 Yes it was a statue of Mercury and blew down in the big storm of 1968. It was put back together by the shipyard but was too weak to be put back up. It stands in the foyer of the Town Hall, well it did, the Town Hall is closed for refurbishment and will not be opened again till 2012. There is a photo of the statue on my website in the 2009 album. my website is MY CLYDEBANK PHOTOS

[@BensCoolVideos]

Fantastic video. The closest thing we'll get to a time machine ! :-)

[@roouncle6392]

My oldman was raised in Clydebank , left after the war , never really got told anything as he died when I was young [ so was he ] . Only starting to grip what he went through during the war with his parents ...Sad really....The place looked pretty dull in the 70's I must say .....Thanks for the post

[@myclydebankphotos]

Yes, it was a tough time for Bankies living through the Blitz and the after effects. It was a time of change for Clydebank in the 70s and the 80s.

[@bassthing76]

I grew up on Elgin street In the 70's. well done with the filming it's as i remember it . it does look very dark and bleak, but what i can remember it was a great place to be a kid.

[@djrab1972]

great footage , takes you back in time, look at the old tenament houses that were empty , developers would die to rebuild these places now for the property market.

[@myclydebankphotos]

robert hamilton Yes, we lost a lot of good buildings

[@myclydebankphotos]

I took up cine film as a hobby in 1975 and filmed lots of things including this one of Clydebank as a lot of changes were happening then in the burgh

[@myclydebankphotos]

Home is where the heart is...

[@myclydebankphotos]

I have lived in Whitecrook for over 30 years. Great idea of yours to capture Clydebank or anywhere for that matter for future generations to see. Everybody should do it. Thanks for looking in on my website.

[@theinfideluk]

Good video and love the music too.....

[@billyj50]

I see the old town hall is still standing (well they couldn't) knock it down could they. If i remember rightly the swimming bath were there are they still opened. Me and my mate used to run with the Clydesdale Harriers ffrom the baths. I haven't been to clydebank for years (just seen old Woolies on ur vid) Brings back many memories. I still have family in Drumry and Dalmuir

[@LaurenP1503]

hi wow i love watching the old clydebank movie trail i was a toddler then but remember certain things cause it took a while to pull everything down

[@lorrainehamilton5051]

My parents lived in 8 Union Street (where Gerrys Snack Bar is) in the early '50's.

[@myclydebankphotos]

Lorraine Hamilton Hello Lorraine. Thanks for watching my film

[@patmcgubbin276]

I definitely type the O in Duntocher so I don't know what happened. The people in Clydebank are the salt of the earth. I often think about school friends ( especially the girls that I didn't have the nerve to chat up ) and wonder what is going on with them. If I could roll back time ( as the song goes ) I would have stayed there and built a better Clydebank. The people are still "close" enough that this can happen. I am an inventor and i may come back to build my products. A better Clydebank.

[@simonsteam]

Its crazy all this has gone and ships mainly get built abroad now!

[@myclydebankphotos]

@empacae You probably wouldn't know it now as a lot of it has changed, some of it for the better but I think the old magic has gone now. Thanks for watching the film.

[@patmcgubbin276]

I left Clydebank in 1975 for Canada. I spent 21 years in Alberta then moved to British Columbia. What a nightmare. This place is full of fraud unlike Alberta. I have put up some videos to explain the fraud which continues to the present moment. I need to keep adding to these videos and there should be about 12 parts. I loved going to the Clydebank public baths on a Sunday with my girlfriend, who became my wife. Some may remember me. I had a nickname the is now popular POD. Pat O'Donnell Duntcher

[@Jigaboo123456]

Hi, Pat: are you, or are you related to, the Pat O'Donnell who came from, or ran about Dalmuir?

[@myclydebankphotos]

Thank you.

[@myclydebankphotos]

@MaelFilms Thanks for the comment. Probably the music makes it haunting.

[@myclydebankphotos]

It was a long time ago but I must have realised Clydebank was changing and should record some of it. I did it in the late 70s with my 35mm photographs also. Never imagined it would all end up on the internet.

[@rednalkid]

nice to see the old place again worked in u.i.e(john browns shipyard) spraying the jack up oil rigs great days used to end up in the duntocher bar happy days .

[@MrTrolljohn]

I used to live round the corner from the Woolworths..Wallace Street.

[@TheStefmcd]

Was that Bannerman St at the 1.50 mark?

[@lesitn8848]

yes Owen Dennis was a family friend and was at my fathers funeral in 1971 ....I am trying to get a copy of the BBC "the Liners "as it shows my father outside the gatehouse of john browns , had it and lost the tape!!.ps I was only 4 yo when i was taken under the QE before she was lanched in 1938...WONDER WHAT THEY WOULD ALL SAY IF THE RETURNED AND NO JOHN BROWNS??CHEERS LESHAMILTON ENJOYED YOUR FILM!!

[@myclydebankphotos]

Yes, most of it has gone, but the shipbuilding was pretty much gone by then. The Marathon Yard was building oil rigs at the time of the video.

[@gemsdiamond2002]

You would very rarely see young children walking around the streets on their own today in London, but it was like in the film around same time down here! Society has become too unsafe and drivers speed along and literally don't care when they hit someone! 20 /30 years away, with more houses and roads built, the kids won't even have a park!