Glasgow 1980 (made in 1971)

A film about Glasgow's future. Made in 1971.

[@skabbymuff111]

Fascinating. But how badly those dream estates/schemes degenerated in such a short space of time is absolutely shocking. Not just in Glasgow, but the whole of the UK.

[@marionboys6406]

I was 7 in 1954. At that time my family of 6 moved to Garthamlock. The early days were great, lots of exploring, not to mention the great neighbours. I left in 1968 for Canada and have lived here ever since. I’ve got to say that my generation were the last decent kids, as I believed what followed and what happened to Garthamlock was so sad for a long time. I believe it’s better now.

[@terrypussypower]

All those beautiful tenement buildings destroyed instead of simply renovating them. The entire Parliamentary Road, half of Townhead, including Hopetoun Place where we used to live right in the city centre....hacked down in an orgy of pure, short sighted cultural vandalism. Getting rid of the tram system that used to go right by our house in Cathedral St. Glasgow City Council has a lot to answer for.

[@rjmacf0015]

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, this is just nonsense. You must never lived in a real Glasgow tenement? I did as a student in the 70's. They were cramped, filthy, freezing, crawling with vermin, a fire risk and generally plagued by violent drunken men who used the entrance way as a toilet etc etc. Fit for nothing but demolition. I lived in Fir Park Street by the necropolis and next to the cement factory. Horrendous with NO redeeming features. The end wall was an internal wall left when they demolished the block. Tenements were never beautiful in the vast majority of locations.

[@terrypussypower]

@@rjmacf0015 Mate, I was BORN in one of those sh*tholes in 1959 in Hopetoun Place, a street which you’ve clearly never heard of. A street directly across from Alan Glens School, perpendicular to Cathedral Street, that was bulldozed into oblivion and Strathclyde University built right over the top of it in 1967! My granny lived in Parliamentary Road, in a run down close with a tiny scullery with rats and cockroaches running rampant inside the walls! I’ve got photos my old man took of me in a cot with cockroaches crawling around! So you’re not telling my nothing. I grew up amongst it. The REASON those building got into that state was deliberate neglect by Glasgow’s housing authorities. If they’d put in the money required to renovate them, instead of pumping it into the schemes that inevitably turned into even worse sh*tholes, those buildings would still be around today. You only have to look at the West End’s sandstone buildings to see what they threw away in the city centre. The bones of those buildings were as stout as they were when they were first built….all they required was renovation. But there was far too much money to be made by knocking them all down and turning the city centre into a commercial zone, which was the plan all along…f*ck the communities that lived there, they didn’t count! They all got dumped into even worse sh*tholes like Easterhouse and Castlemilk and left to rot.

[@andrewpreston4127]

@@rjmacf0015 Rather depends on your definition of 'tenement'. Typical tenement for me was 3 stories high, with a common entrance close ( passageway )which ran all they way through to a courtyard at the back, and the stairs to upper stories part way along the close. As a student, I shared a tenement flat in Kelvinbridge with 4 other students. It had a massive hallway in which we played football. Kitchen, bedrooms, living room, box room all ran off the hallway. All, bar the box room, and bathroom were substantial size. A couple of years later, after uni, I rented a bedsit in Mount Florida. This had originally been almost the same layout as the one in Kelvinbridge, except it had been divided up into 4 bedsits. Basically it was very scruffy, heading towards being something of a hovel. I don't know what the state and layout of tenements in places like the Gorbals was. I was also a student in the 70's. I don't recognise your all encompassing description of tenements.

[@rjmacf0015]

@@andrewpreston4127 errr….. seems like you had a charmed life or your memory is failing you? Fir Park street as above was next to the necropolis. Nothing to do with the Gorbals…on the other side of that water thing you got to using bridges? Again to restate the obvious it was demolished because of …fill in the above. Try reading the original before commenting. Number one in this clown show thinks trams and tenements were a great idea. The world has moved on and the past is for people with poor memories. Glasgow is a dammed sight better without slum landlords stealing from students. Student residences in the west end are a money pot for the UoG now but at least they ensure they are clean, warm and free of vermin. Wake up or try revisiting the city?

[@andrewpreston4127]

@@rjmacf0015 Perhaps this is a moment to wind your neck in somewhat, take a few deep breaths and exhales..., relax and..let go. I mentioned Gorbals because that is the most infamous byword for slum housing. My/our flat in Kelvinbridge was decent. It didn't have heating other than a big coal fire in the living room. Neither did my parents home (owned), nor did the homes of at least 2 of my flatmates families. I was young, and fit, and the flat didn't seem oustandingly cold. The Mount Florida flat, my one room bedsit, was as I said, heading towards being a hovel. I had a single bar electic fire, and a losing battle with the resident mouse. Bed so piled high with blankets, and my bus driver's greatcoat, that I almost felt more tired in the morning. ( The reason for being there was that after university, I wasn't too sure what to do next, so took a job driving buses in Glasgow. All my flatmates had gone off in their different directions, so I had to find somewhere to live that I could afford myself off a bus driver's wage. I was on my tod, with no family support. So yes, also with some of my experiences on the buses, I have seen some of the more dismal sights of Glasgow. However, the wider point I was making is that not all tenements were equal. Trams ? If they are so awful, why do so many European cities have them? I drove the buses in Glasgow for 18 months. I recall one night when it had been -18 degrees overnight. In the early hours of that morning I walked the mile or so to the bus depot. As I walked into the yard, I was almost enveloped in diesel fumes, due to the buses being left with engines running all night to prevent the diesel waxing up in the fuel tanks. For me, electric trams are a brilliant, clean, and healthy urban transport solution.

[@curt3494]

Although this film is about Glasgow, the situation has been the same in countless other British cities. Ruined by the town planners of the 1960s-1980s.

[@scarlettdavidson3394]

This film is amazing . Made before I was born ,it shows a Glasgow that they hoped to exist in 1980 . The Glasgow I see is not what my children see or what my grandmother once saw . Powerful movie .

[@routeman680]

High rise flats - "a sense of freedom"? No shops for miles and lifts that get vandalized! What madness to destroy so much of the city centre and replace it with high-rise, especially way out of town. I was an Edinburgher most of my life but lived in Glasgow for a few years. I like it a lot. While I agree the housing estates are too far out and lack facilities, there are lots of traditional housing areas in Glasgow that have been left alone by planners, like Kelvin/Hyndland/Broomhill/Jordanhill/Anniesland and much of the south side just south of the Gorbals.

[@katy3901]

Traditional tenements are becoming so gentrified now. Partick's already so expensive and has a massive block of private student flats; Dennistoun, Bridgeton and Govan are going the same way.

[@josephberrie9550]

yes that is the good western part of glasgow where the high ups lived so it was left alone

[@rjmacf0015]

@@josephberrie9550 It didn't need demolition as it wasn't in a state of abject squalor?

[@danielward7008]

@@rjmacf0015 I'm sure many of the old tenements in other areas could have been renovated and would be attractive places to live today but the rush to go high rise was just too great.

[@rjmacf0015]

@@danielward7008 Thanks. The message about tenements is about the environment and people who are forced to live in them through poverty. Comments about Hillhead etc are irrelevant. People who lived there were not in any way wealthy in 1935 or now. They simply looked after the area and usually sealed off the front door. This never happened in the vast majority of tenemented property leading to an awful environment with nothing good about it. I physically threw a disgusting elderly man down a set of stairs for using our South side tenement entrance as a toilet. High rise flats failed because of the density of population, total lack of community facilities and the behaviours of a minority of the people who were placed in them. Ask anyone above the age of 70 from East Kilbride what they felt about the decanting of Glasgow to the South East??

[@StephanieG1]

I remember back in 1979 when a teacher who was struggling to get a suitcase size piano keys video recorder to play turned to us in his frustration and have a spontaneous speech about how we were the 'lucky generation'. We were going to be working Mon-Thu 10:00 -4:00pm. The machines,robots and computers would do all the monotonous,repetitive,dirty and dangerous jobs and because these things never got tired/bored they could work 24/7 and we would reap the benefits by being paid full-time wages/salaries but only working part-time hours. This documentary failed to forsee long-term unemployment,under-working,zero hours contracts and internships. Ladies and gentlemen always be wary of those glorifying the past and those promising a wonderful,shiny future.

[@noddyholder79]

Well said. Nostalgia for lost futures and a pox on Basil Spence and his ilk

[@BlookbugIV]

I saw similar make-believe promising an automated utopia gifting the workers a life of leisure on an old Pathe style reel from just after WWII. The delusion very much predates that teacher’s ravings.

[@davidconnelly1793]

That modern architecture was a disaster. It really took the heart and soul out of Glasgow.

[@Easternborders]

How town planners are educated is beyond my comprehension ,they rip the historical heart out of their cities, they should concentrate their efforts on decent housing for decent people, so David I entirely agree with your sentiments

[@lucilovecraft1621]

Glasgow really is a modern city that changes its skyline etc all the time. Nothing is built to last really and areas will look different again 50 years from now.

[@paulfrewzy7374]

Aww in favour AyeAye Well said dear sir...

[@paulbryson7021]

Chase yer self

[@aprilia6499]

The modern architecture they are 're producing in 2019?

[@craigymac5386]

Glasgow city council has got a lot to answer for , flattening decent buildings for concrete monstrosities and getting rid of the best tram system in Europe.

[@taiterobinson793]

Craig MacFarlane don’t blame Glasgow City Council as it was only formed in 1996 Blame Strathclyde Reigonal Council and it’s predecessors

[@kenandchr]

It would be great if the old tram system still existed, in a modern form.

[@deadsouls72]

@@kenandchr No it wouldn't, modern tram systems are hideous. Look at the ones in Edinburgh.

[@kenandchr]

@@deadsouls72 yes if would, and it would also go some way towards improving the air quality in the city. You obviously prefer to keep the dirty buses!?

[@deadsouls72]

@@kenandchr I did not say anything about air quality, I merely said modern trams look boring and horrible compared to the old trams. Compare the beautiful trams in San Francisco, to those in Edinburgh or Sheffield.

[@jamesmichael2646]

Glasgow city council have been very busy since then destroying all the beautiful buildings, and putting shit up in their place.

[@Revolver1981]

James Michael A lot of they buildings in this film are still there. The 60's and 70's was when a lot was lost.

[@lesitn8848]

James Michael u

[@78thomo]

I agree the city is to commercial like London, more money per square foot in student accommodation compared to social housing and mysterious fires etc and taxi badges dished out like confetti. Glasgow city council is a disgrace a f@@@@@ DISGRACE.

[@nikkiajbaillie9514]

James Michael true

[@ZooScott]

A perfect example of their destruction was Saint Enoch Hotel .

[@okiwatashi2349]

Just at the “to be continued “ bit it shows where the Kingston bridge was meant to join up to the M74, 50 years later, it’s still exactly the same

[@jemimallah]

that was deliberate as they didnt want to put any more strain on the kingston bridge by directly linking the m74 to the m8

[@okiwatashi2349]

@@jemimallah I know I just like the irony of to be continued, and it never was

[@Fee_V]

Dammit! You beat me to it. Giggled at that myself. 😂

[@pduffy421]

I turned 1 in the summer of 1971, in Glasgow. Was living in a tenement in Glenapp Street, Pollokshields on the south side.

[@jamesmichael2646]

All the buildings in tradeston for example were rented dirt cheap to cash & carry owners , who used them for storage, and never bothered to maintain them , until they were beyond repair. Quick buck for the council, but a tragedy for glasgow`s architecture. Stuff like this happened all over the city.

[@yellowfolder]

racists

[@bigbill74scots]

@@yellowfolder Fuck off bawsack. Truth is truth.

[@mikemcguigan9754]

nice video of how the town planners comprehensively destroyed the city after the war

[@dirkbogarde44]

They cock up every city and town .

[@roddy2body]

dirkbogarde44 Who builds a motorway through the centre of city but? Just got to the bit he mentions a ring rd.. Wit happened tae that - is he on about the rd that goes no where next to Kingston bridge? S(one at end of the film lol) Cunts shoulda extended the underground!

[@smoothfags20]

They should have kept the trams as well.

[@morry271]

Seriously ??

[@jimmywalker1568]

Looked at that on Google Maps what a balls up on the south side next to Wallace Street

[@jimbojazza5539]

The high rises were such a success most of the newbuilds seen here have been demolished. Honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[@madstanwan]

Love the bit at the end... to be continued... .... 47 years later.........

[@Jamie-kv9eg]

50 years now basically. Christ almighty.

[@danbreen6946]

@@Jamie-kv9eg Celtic winning everything then and winning everything now Hail Hail

[@Jamie-kv9eg]

@@danbreen6946 Pretty sure rangers won two trebles and a european trophy during the 70s so guess again wee boy.

[@FettFotze]

@@Jamie-kv9eg Aye but that club is deid noo, Sevco (A new club founded by Charles Greene) are now the new most hated club in Scotland, And i suppose in engerland too as it was the queen of engerland HMRC who sent the Glasgow Rangers into liquidation.

[@Jamie-kv9eg]

@@FettFotze Dead or Alive still the most Successful club in football🇬🇧 9iar and 4 domestic trebles and yer still behind the famous in trophies. Embarrassing. Rather be a zombie than a pedo. Big jock knew.

[@GlasgowGallus]

Actually quite an interesting wee film: high hopes, unrealised in the main. Most of the tower blocks gone now. Matter of fact, the motorways are the most familiar. Noticed that the editor was pre-fame Bill Forsyth...

[@johngeddes4161]

interesting film my home ,worked at botanic gardens in orchid houses as an apprentice and in queens park happy memorys

[@camacassie]

I love my city, but hate the disregard the council show to folks it the city. Our history, bloody as it is, is well worth saving. We have awesome historical buildings.

[@chrisscott6417]

Aye the councils are doing it. It's planned, it's not just incompetence. Everywhere this is happening. I'm from Dunfermline, the councils done the town in here too. Destroy small biz, eliminate the middle class. Sabotage, Agenda 21.

[@heresjonny..8189]

Feels like the Glasgow of today is in a race to forget about Glasgow of yesteryear…. It’s disappearing so fast …horrible

[@johayes7529]

WOW I thought Thatcher closed down the UK in the 80s. And didn't the first heroin epidemic start in those highrise appartments? This is just brilliant andvery funny.

[@mt2oo8]

Shawlands looking no different 40 years ago than today I see

[@tsb3093]

Sad to think that the majority of adults in that film will be dead now and those young students at the teacher training college that looked quite hot in their early 70s fashion will be at least in their late 60s...let’s hope they have had a good life.

[@abw48]

I was born in Glesga, Toonheid and Dennistoun, 1948, Alexandra Parade, left in 1966 and when i went back for a visit in the 1980s i was shocked to see that they had pulled down The Enoch Hotel and put up an ugly glass structure, why would they do that?, though much of the centre of the City was very nice, sand blasted the beautiful old buildings down Argyll Street and Buchanan Street area showing that under all that soot and dirt were some of the most beautiful buildings throughout the entire British Empire. I belang tae Glesga nae matter where I roam.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

St Enoch's subway station now looks like a homogenised steel and glass salute to Berlin nowadays rather than the comforting 80's glow it once had. Govan's station is the same and that is a particular atrocity considering how iconic it once looked.

[@britbyname3620]

How can a film be made in 1971 about a place in 1980 ??!!

[@BlookbugIV]

@@britbyname3620 they must have had the aim that all their plans would be completed by 1980. The cars and fashions and extant buildings say 1970 not 1980. I didn’t realise so much of the M8 was already completed by 1970-71 though. You live and learn.

[@chazmork8265]

still my city, in my heart and soul, people make Glasgow, always, still here today, tomorrow vibrant and forward thinking beautiful art murals and parks, with a wealth of comedy talent and actors who have taken the world by storm from David McCallum Billy Connolly to Robert Carlisle, Gerard Butler, James McAvoy, great Art Museums, Charles Rennie McKintosh, the Glasgow Girls art movement so much history proud to be born and bred here, Let Glasgow Flourish, love the documentary, 10/10.

[@Del-Blanco-Diablo]

Gerard Butler isnt glaswegian.

[@sandrafinbar]

@@Del-Blanco-Diablo Yes, he is. Born in Paisley. Close enough.

[@SilverSparkles22]

​@@sandrafinbar😂😂 Again, Paisley is NOT in Glasgow. Close enough ffs🤣🤣

[@colindevine3233]

Quality funky tunes :)

[@Theo-Edward]

destroyed, reinvented then destroyed...Thats pretty much the never ending story

[@HuwiteNFI]

At 26.31 those 2 on the bridge are literally walking nowhere as that bridge was a dead end up until relatively recently😁. I was probably crawling about on the floor as a child a couple of hundred meters away when this was filmed.

[@theflyingstonemason6867]

Glasgow in 1980 made in 1971 ?I didn't know time travel was possible. 🙌

[@MrPoupard]

At 4.00 that brand new B of S building you see under construction at the corner of Ingram St and Queen St was itself demolished in 2012 .

[@taiterobinson793]

MrPoupard RIP a real modern Piece

[@martinmillar8447]

I noticed it too. Shambles.

[@MrPoupard]

@@martinmillar8447 To be fair the narrator was accurate: it was indeed a bank for the 80s and 90s (only).

[@telephoneguy1775]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Just a shame half of it is gone now.

[@donaldclements6358]

The narration sounds as if Glasgow is going to become an urban utopian metropolis, how wrong they were.

[@imagination7710]

I'm from the west midlands in England but I have been fascinated with Glasgow since I passed through it on the way to the highlands on a family holiday when I was a kid (also more recently honeymooning on Skye). I think Glasgow has the best views of any UK city. After driving for hours through border country the place feels isolated, like the city on the edge of the world... The place looks absolutely huge from the motorway, just endless panoramas of barren hills and grey multistoreys. I know life was and maybe still is tough for people there but to be arty about it I've never seen somewhere with a more gloomy and melancholic atmosphere. For people that like this quality of the city I recommend a book by a French photographer called Raymond Depardon (the book is called 'Glasgow') and it is photographs of some of the rougher areas of the city in the 1980's. It's grim to be honest but I really can't stop looking at it.

[@nothingisreal8618]

Nice One! As a citizen of this City I will check that book out. Cheers

[@lucilovecraft1621]

There taking down a lot of the high rises. They never worked.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

Battleship grey skies, wind and rain is incredibly beautiful at times.

[@torquemada3273]

@@robertmcmillan3638 Aye if ur on the golden brown...whoever designed the Kingston bridge should have been jailed...what an eyesore and basil faulty's efforts in the gorbals...thank God they're gone.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

@@torquemada3273 Nah! Your problem is you have no sense of artistic romance 😀.

[@anthonycaldeira1030]

As an American, with Irish/Scottish roots I'm always curious to see all the u.k. And I really enjoyed this video, but it makes me feel old. The 80s don't seem so long ago to me!!

[@dcanmore]

this was filmed in 1971

[@audreydempsey247]

I'm IRISH and the EU UN all Zionist media NGOs and borderless charities must be disbanded for Europe to keep it's European cultural heritage identity and have a peaceful future

[@MrPoupard]

A grand plan conceived by Glasgow Corporation's Planning Committee and department in the 1950s and 60s and given birth in the 1970s. A combination of good intentions, stupidity, incompetence and possibly corruption led to wholesale destruction of swathes of a Victorian city and the communities who had lived there for 150 years. An almost identical parallel scheme for destruction and "improvement" was planned for Edinburgh which included thrashing a 6 lane motorway through the Royal Mile but ordinary people there organised and fought tenaciously so that their grand plan for "improvement" never happened. In Glasgow nobody appears to have cared a toss. I hope those who planned and executed this destruction on my city are rotting in hell.

[@canturgan]

No, they bought villas in Spain and retired with a nest egg from all of the back handers they got from construction/demolition companies, at your expense.

[@andrewmckenna00]

Amazing, talking about an amazing new childrens hospital, which is now abandoned

[@MrPoupard]

And the brand new completed Yorkhill building quite literally fell apart along with with a poisoned water supply the moment it was finished in 1973.. Built by Costain construction John Laing got the contract for the remedial works. Staff and patients and expectant mothers had to work within and around a building site for almost 10 years. No one was held to account, not the contractor, not the Design Team, not the Clerks of Works who signed off completed work on a daily basis. No one. Scandalous.

[@jockbawheid5089]

Was it Michael Jackson's children's hospital?

[@robertmcmillan3638]

@@MrPoupard I did not know that. Surprisingly coincidental, The new QE University Hospital opened up in place of the old Southern General a few years ago is currently going through a poisonous water supply scandal in 2018/19 that's giving patients infections (including kids).

[@MrPoupard]

It became clear very quickly after completion that the issues weren't confined to the water supply pipes which mean't water itself was undrinkable. External cladding had to be taken down, and replaced, ditto windows etc etc. The client ended up spending a 7 figure sum on a remedial works which were carried out by John Laing (the original design team for the new building were retained to oversee the repairs). Costain and the client agreed to legal arbitration over a 10 year period ( more costs) but ultimately no individual or organisation was ever held to account. From 1973 onwards it was a functioning specialist hospital: staff, patients and visitors had to endure working in and around a busy functioning building site for 10 years after the building they'd been promised was "completed". In the early 1980s I visited the H of P as a tourist and when my local MP asked me what I did for a living he muttered that Yorkhill should've been the subject of a public enquiry. I know that Willie Hamilton spoke in the House and was outraged by what had taken place. Yorkhill Childrens Hospital was a horror story never told in the annals of public buildings.

[@davie8906]

@@MrPoupard "literally"

[@Anthony-sl6gt]

Thats very interesting! I also hope the guy in the white car on the mororway eventually found the exit and isnt still wandering the M8 in 2019

[@djrichylaurence8991]

It was a Triumph 2000 MK1 in case you wondered.

[@oddities-whatnot]

Should have used a sat nav :D

[@davie8906]

You've never been on the m8 in your life

[@draxlerchronicles5851]

You don't really see old women with purple hair anymore these days.

[@MMESSINA2]

Wonderful video! Thanks for sharing, Anna. By the way...I lost your connection of Instagram.

[@chemicalBR0]

It's still a shitehole nearly 50 years later the bridge to nowhere in Anderston says it all really about the ineptitude of Glasgow city council (started in the 70's the shopping centre it was meant to connect to was never built and the "bridge" floated in mid air, unfinished for over 40 years, the bridge was finally completed in 2013)

[@DZ-hh5dw]

​@@tartanmctwisted4223 Full of shite, glasgow is a great time. Loads of characters and genuine people. You're alone in this opinion and it leads me to think you're the problem, not Glaswegians. If you're an obnoxious Englishman or a fascist, that might explain some things.

[@Madchuck7]

@@DZ-hh5dw Being incredibly defensive is part of the problem. Though I agree that Glasgow is full of characters, and before all this covid shite it was a funny night out.

[@Davidlouis3]

We are not scum arsehole. Full of dickheads but don’t say scum idiot

[@Madchuck7]

@@Davidlouis3 Full of dickheads but don't say scum. Spot on mate.

[@sputumtube]

Fascinating insight into the optimism of the town planners. Without being able to look into the future it was an excellent idea. With hindsight it's easy to mock now because we know better, but their intentions seemed honourable.

[@MrPoupard]

the road to hell ....

[@alexbutler9343]

urban freeways don't work in old cities

[@jimbrown1143]

Most of Glasgow's Town planners lived outside the City. They showed contempt for the residents by bulldozing good building's that could have been refurbished and improved by intelligence applied like 20 years later when some Gems were saved. The MORONS by then had destroyed 180000 homes more than WW2. It is still happening example, Springburn sports centre ( red sandstone outstanding ). The Old College Bar flattened after nearly 300 years. What's next for the Neanderthal planners. Please don't let it happen again.

[@alzyerpal-TV]

The plan was sound at the time, as no doubt were the rat infested closes, outdoor cludgies etc etc before they too needed replacing. Hindsight as ever, is a wonderful thing.

[@rjmacf0015]

@@alzyerpal-TV Astute observation Allen. The country as a whole could do with moving away from people who think they are clever after the fact. As the film points out for those not old enough to remember Glasgow was in major decline with some of the worst urban deprivation in Europe. Re development and relocation was a huge improvement for many families trapped in squalor. Its grandeur remains intact and having been away for 35 years its much better than when I left it thanks to continued improvements. The locals sadly can't see beyond the flippant headlines from those that never left.

[@g2macs]

It was hugely short sited to simply evict a city population to estates miles outside the city. And despite its obvious benefits we must of been the only city ever to cut its self in half with a motorway. (I have to admit though it is an asset that I use frequently)

[@wboyle9721]

Glasgow is still recovering to this day with new generation projects because of mistakes in housing glasgow is getting better but there are still pockets of poverty throughout the city let's hope they plan better housing and communities for future glaswegians

[@perham44]

I believe many on here are looking at old glasgow through rose tinted spectacles. Born in Possilpark,5 of us living in a one room flat in a tenement. No room,paint peeling off walls ,damp and mouldy. Glasgow City didnt start renovating these until the mid eighties,we were long gone by then,but my Aunt still lived on Killearn Street. Funnily enough she was decanted to our old flat in 251. Loved Possil ,still have family there,but in the 70's both it and Springburn were in dire need of renovation,which didnt arrive until the 80's.

[@runawayronnie]

Exactly what I was thinking. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. What the promotion film doesn't say is much of this 'dream' would be done on the cheap and that's what lead to many future issues. I do like the section where they say the small shops are being replaced by large shopping centres. Those large shopping centres are now full of those small shops.

[@hazboy11]

Honestly no need for all the negativity in these comments, this personally made me appreciate my city even more, knowing more about its history and unique culture. It also reminded me that there are still some really beautiful places in this city, like the botanic gardens and kelvingrove park ❤

[@taiterobinson793]

Listen to me all Do you think the people of mid 19th century Glasgow were happy with their new tenements yes they were at start but then they deteriorated and then post WW1 Early Suburbia starts to unfold which took quite a few thousands out of the city and were those suburbs good of course they were them WW2 rolled about then people decided that the tenements were old and rotten and that Towers Blocks were the future and did those people at start like their new council housing yes they did but then the Asbestos and dampness problems started if they learned from mistakes in the past then they could’ve made Glasgow as mix of old and new I mean who would want to live in a Victorian city in the 21st century Modern Post War ideas were optimising but missed 3 key elements Community, Central Heating, and Asbestos instead of fibre glass insulation

[@nickwillobey2205]

My friend lived in Maryhill, I loved Glasgow... great place!

[@stevenholt458]

Not a mobile phone in sight. The good old days.

[@09weenic]

Steven Holt oh aye inflation sky high

[@colinneale4182]

Not a immigrant in sight either back in those days either 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@charliemclaren4939]

@@colinneale4182how is that a good thing?

[@Flipdrivel]

@@colinneale4182 And when you say "immigrant", we all understand what you mean is "black person". As if you could name a time in the history of Glasgow when there were no immigrants.

[@boyblunder8889]

Glasgow 1980 , made in 1971 ? Cool , a genuine time travel video 👍

[@mcdon2401]

The irony of the closing journey... one of the many "roads to nowhere" that remained exactly that for more than 4 decades... So many dreams and high ideas that came to naught. While some of the changes were definitely necessary, what were brought in as improvements have sadly been proven to be nothing of the sort.

[@mralfred3698]

Those city overseers, way back when, should have been thrown into the cement foundations for the henious regenereration they imposed upon the city. I trust today's overseers of the green dear place should be made to watch this on a monthly basis and try not repeat the same mistakes as previous decimators....

[@jamesmenzies9932]

I like the idea. It would give a different meaning to the city fathers being ‘immersed in public works’ and being ‘pillars of society’.

[@Weegie_in_Spain]

Glasgow City Council spent money having the pish ripped out of them on film.

[@nickiaaaaa]

lol 'the age of computers and automation' also the age of obesity and redundancies

[@barbara1904]

The motor ways cut throw buildings with no remodeling to hide the ugly ends of buildings. Thanks to the Bruce report and the District council they demolished some beautiful buildings.

[@johnmehaffey9953]

I got a tour of the city chambers and my blood was boiling when I saw the grand old forefathers grinning down at me, their destruction of a beautiful city and destroyed city transport is in my opinion a criminal offence and the ones who caused this obscenity should have their ugly portraits taken down and put into foundations, proper ones not like the ones that cannot carry a bridge across the Clyde, Glasgow is a beautiful city and needs taken care of, I'm not from Scotland but from Ireland but both my wife and I love Glasgow its parks and museums and when this covid is over we'll return for another holiday

[@mounamohamed5166]

Glasgow my heart my home my favourite place it's in a special place in my heart

[@elamcb4306]

Same here...

[@fastteddyb]

The soundtrack is the best part :)

[@nogingerfool1]

who the hell bought a melon in 1971 , no way did that happen

[@Caldyz]

I grew up around the fruit market ,and I was thinking I never saw a melon till 1990.😂

[@audibleeye]

@@Caldyz I remember melons in the 60's, they where just seasonal. Those thick green husks were distinctive of the variety available.

[@tsb3093]

Yeh that bit was filmed in Spain🤣

[@jameswest4692]

No way was there fruit in Scotland pre 1990

[@oddities-whatnot]

Maybe off topic but it still amazes me how many blocks of high rise flats there are around Glasgow.

[@runawayronnie]

Funny looking back at the city, as a kid I remember those building being torn down and being taken on a school trip to the Gorbals to see the future. Ha ha. Plenty of comments about taking the soul out of Glasgow. Yes the vision the planners had was flawed, but people seem to forget Glasgow was much much worse. Large families sharing two rooms and outside toilet? The tenements were not lovely, they were horrid. It's easy to forget that. Question is , what would your solution have been back in 60's Britain? What strikes me about the film is the lack of cars and look at the people on the streets, how may obese adults can you see? I walk around Glasgow today and most people are a heart attack waiting to happen. Those kids kicking a football around have been replaced by kids eating fast food. Has mortality rates in Glasgow changed any? I doubt it.

[@terrypussypower]

Fuck, that's Cathedral Street they're tearing down at 2:16, just opposite the College of Building & Printing! We lived at Hopetoun Place which was just a wee bit to the right of where that's being filmed, 'til 1967. They built Strathclyde University right over our old street!

[@moniquedewyk6341]

These photos and those on other sites remind me sooooo much of Hamilton, Ontario. The old and new photos too could be taken out and transplanted here and no one would notice.

[@anonUK]

Was Hamilton Ontario modelled on Hamilton near Glasgow?

[@erdishzane472]

Been there. My partner studied at McMaster university, she’s from richmond hill

[@Shannmeister]

And not a mention of Craiglang.

[@ayrshireman1314]

And its MP, Mhairi Black.

[@Shannmeister]

ayrshireman1314 Thought she was MP for Paisley?

[@ayrshireman1314]

I was being sarcastic. Cant stand the lassie, she sounds as if she is the MP for Jack and Victor and their crappy fictional scheme.

[@ToastedAlmond98]

Craiglang - Developing for the Future! Craiglang - Modernity Beckons! Craigland - Tomorrow's Already Here! Craiglang... *SHITEHOLE!*

[@Kelly14UK]

Fuckin LOL

[@CountDankula]

"By 1980 the river water will be pure enough to support fish once again" Lol

[@iandorans2763]

They’d be asweel fillin in the potholes in the roads wae coco pops

[@Cairo98_]

😂

[@davidjohnston7512]

Wow.Glasgow is the home town of my father.He was born in Glasgow and emigrated to Australia as a child with his parents (my grandparents)after WW2 .I know Scotland has some beautiful places but fuck me,Glasgow looked like a ghetto in 1971.

[@127cmore]

Small and narrow minded Glasgow, they never learn. Flat roofs in the west of Scotland ?

[@bikeboy6674]

The horrendous cleaving in two of glasgow by the M8 is exemplified perfectly here with those images of a once beautiful Charing Cross being bulldozed out of existence. We badly need to reverse this and restore this whole area back to a more humane design where people and nature are re-prioritised into it's construction, not motorways and polluting traffic.

[@oddities-whatnot]

Bulldozer at 2:35 with no protective roof. Nice. As regards the video, im not Scottish but would rather live in Glasgow than London, although I dont live there either. Love the Scottish accent and contrary to common opinions, I have always found the Scots very friendly.

[@greenlichtie1570]

Jeez he made it sound like progress........I wonder if he'd been as enthusiastic if he'd done a remake in the 80's

[@abw48]

I was born in the tenements,Toonheid, and the City Council would have been better off refurbishing those buildings rather than destroying them and replacing them with wee small boxes for people to live in as the tenements were well made, solid, to keep the warmth within and the cold out. You can take the boy out of the slums but you need to take the slums out of the boy... Thats why most of those "New" Flats ended up being bigger shiteholes than the tenements they moved the people out of, places like East Kilbride and Drumchapel, Cumbernauld and I have family in all three of those dumps. I ran away in 1966, never lived thee again, left the UK for good in 1970 and never lived there again.

[@barbara1904]

When you look at Glasgow as it was, it was quite beautiful. It was like a mini Paris or London. But instead of refurbishing, they flattened it in a bitty way. Instead of doing it in phases, they did it all over the city. So when they ran out of money, the whole city was left higalty pigalty. This would never have happened in London. Sad.

[@bigbearfuzzums7027]

London's allready destroyed!

[@lucilovecraft1621]

London’s even worse than Glasgow.

[@jamesmenzies9932]

Carol Foreman's book, Lost Glasgow, describes the actions of the philistines.

[@billy2wheels]

What a waste knocking down most of the buildings should have redesigned tenements kept old GLASGOW thought through new schemes to

[@taxidude]

Beautiful historic areas and buildings destroyed by the M8! A master stroke!

[@jemimallah]

the only area "destroyed by the m8" was charing cross.

[@derekoreilly6526]

I lovely Triumph 2000 Mark 1

[@FrazerSmithsChannel]

Woah! We've got to lose that trumpet solo at 27:40

[@nickiaaaaa]

I just feel so sad when I watch this, it was all done with good intentions, to improve things, but it all just seemed to go down the shitter. A lot of things now knocked down or not even finished!!!! Like the ski jump ramps at the very end of the vid. They tried to make a wee 'utopia' but it just never came to fruition unfortunately. Hindsight is great though... :(

[@robertmcmillan3638]

@supernumery Glasgow is still going down the shitter. Now Glasgow has death defying potholes as well. Probably no money to fix them as ever increasing amounts of money are getting used for integration projects and further Scottish independence referendums.

[@nyannya4990]

The buildings in pollock sheilds and ibrox are still here today

[@twiglet2214]

Been there a few years ago - we enjoyed seeing the Burrell Collection and it's beautiful home. I believe there are over 400 words for snow in Scottish,it must make the weather forecast a bit long winded ? My version for precipitation is Rudolf - it's going to reindeer. Unfortunately the only word (un-snow related ) i know is numpty which has a certain cache to it. Any ideas on it's origin and when it first entered the vernacular ? A work colleague from Aberdeen used it frequently and now that i'm retired i rarely hear it so it would be nice to hear Andrew Cotter describing a rugby player that had just given away a soft penalty as " a bit of a numpty " ! Anything's possible.....

[@josephberrie9550]

sorry but the 400 words for snow is not scottish its innuit eskimo

[@twiglet2214]

@@josephberrie9550 Perhaps they have but this says there are 421 words for snow in Scottish language so put that in ya bagpipe and smoke it ! Scotland has more than 400 words and expressions for snow, according to a project to compile a Scots thesaurus. Academics have officially logged 421 terms - including "snaw" (snow), "sneesl" (to begin to rain or snow) and "skelf" (a large snowflake).

[@richardekers3025]

I love the opening sequence showing empty roads! Presumably we were all supposed to be travelling around using jet packs by then!

[@ajs41]

In reality 1980 was probably one of the worst times ever for Glasgow.

[@anonUK]

as well as Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham...

[@scotiajinker8392]

4:13 where is the power station? The only 2 I knew of was cambuslang (it’s definitely not there) & dalmarnock .

[@sharknewswires3104]

pinkston power station in the port dundas area

[@scotiajinker8392]

Thanks , I’m too young to know that one .

[@Flipdrivel]

I can't watch any more, it's too depressing.

[@ionabarker]

Yeah I got to 7 mins in and had to stop.

[@fauntleeeeroy]

I know, so sad that futurist, globalists technocrats run the world now. And can create fake pandemics, plandemics, scamdemics, global hoax

[@cepcee6035]

Charles Rennie Macintosh building .....makes me cringe when I think about how it was destroyed 🥴

[@elamcb4306]

It is the biggest cultural loss to beautiful Glasgow and all its people....I wonder which developer is after this most beautiful,panoramic spot...?? ........was very Suspicious fires........ I LOVE Glasgow and its people....

[@studebaker4217]

Amazing contrast between the spoken "narrative" and what we know from later decades. A wonderful people deserve better.

[@jamesdiver2183]

It all seemed so prosperous, what went wrong, the introduction of hard drugs perhaps.

[@ajs41]

There were an unusually large number of low-skilled workers in Glasgow, so when all the factories closed it was particularly hard hit.

[@pointblank6]

I've only lived in Glasgow 3 years now but whoever designed the motorways needs a slap. Heading north on the M77 and want to head west on the M8? Nope that's not happening without heading East first then coming back on yourself. West bound M74 - M8 west? Nope. Right lane slip roads? Yep.

[@davecroft8220]

I

[@ow4148]

i first work in glasgow in late 70s. i last worked in glasgow 2012. a massive changed during that time for the good of the city.i have found the good people of glsgow still the same.welcoming,,,,,good humour....always helpful...i love that,,as a german i have always feel people respected me in glasgow...My team in glasgow THE CELTS!!! 1967!! THE BHOYS!!!FUCK THE HUNS!!! Brilleant memoriesSEAN SOUTH OF GARRY OWEN!!! 9in a row...Im fucken pissed

[@paulmcbride8132]

..cheers mate your a.9 in a row spunkbucket..

[@erdishzane472]

@@paulmcbride8132 you’re 🙄

[@livelongandprosper70]

yes, we were so clever with automation, we got rid of all the fucking jobs !

[@GG-im1cb]

Despite the numerous recent re-developments, to remove much of what we see here being conceived and built, we still have much of Glasgow as dysfunctional former tenemented wasteland. I have watched many of these visionary post war films for cities and new towns across Scotland and many of them were clearly flawed from inception, however much of the subsequent failure was due to compromise and a lack of money to fully implement the infrastructure required to support the new areas. But despite all of the previous development disasters we have learned absolutely nothing, we have replaced or reclad the damp post war concrete eyesores with aluminium eyesores on largely the same footprint, many of which would appear to be clad with flammable materials and generally of poor quality and limited lifespan. 🙈

[@barbara1904]

Greig G Good points but most won't read it cause its too long.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

Every City in the UK is in danger of ending up looking the same nowadays. Are some Illuminati department trying to kill off tourism? Their will soon be no need to travel to other Cities in the UK if they all end up looking the same.

[@judgedeath7193]

The Nazi's or Glasgow Corporation/Council, who did the most damage to the city, discuss!

[@leeboy2k1]

The N@zi's? you mean the Ford/Krupps funded party in opposition to the Bolshevik Weimar republic which pushed transhumanism/abortion/transgenderism/pornography/pedophilia and a systematic dismantlement of western values on it's bewildered citizens driving it into an economic depression in the 30's? tough one that.

[@eily_b]

The Nazis? No airstrikes on Glasgow...

[@NeverRubARhubarb]

Who made this film? Sounds like a load of corporate propaganda. The optimistic bollocks about the charms of high-rise living is particularly galling.

[@greenlichtie1570]

There's an old firm follow up version of this film.......Glasgow 2020 (or indeed any year) made in 1690

[@ruematty1470]

😂😂😂😂

[@georgerichardson7728]

I was in Argyle Street today, would break your heart to see the mess our city is in now, an absolute midden, the council have run it into the ground, no pride left in the place, embarrassing shithole.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

Wait until you see Sauchiehall street 😂.

[@georgerichardson7728]

@@robertmcmillan3638 Total shitehole too, aye, most of it burned to fuck, the city council have ruined the city, disgusting

[@SpaceHCowboy]

My dad was born in Scotstoun in '53. One of 3 brothers. He stayed in Scotland, married and children. Me and all my cousins all have health, houses, family, cars and jobs........ Whits yer point?

[@lucilovecraft1621]

The shit they built on the Clyde after millennium has already aged terribly✌️

[@CalvinsWorldNews]

Thought exactly the same last time I visited (I'm in the US currently). I vaguely hope that in another 20 years, so much millennium stuff will have been torn down that what remains will have a curiosity value. Same as how brutalist stuff has had a comeback in so much as not much is left and what remains is now historically important.

[@johngeddes4161]

the green spaces of my childhood were wrecked now areas under motor car dealerships disgusting at one time the river cart in shawlands at bridge had willows planted along river bank last time i visited there was tenements ruined the bar at foot of station gone replaced by flats,the moral folks never go home remember the heydays .

[@soulstorm_music]

...and OH WHAT A MESS THEY MADE. A mess we're still tidying up.

[@billyleadbitter5661]

Grew up in the East end(Haghill)but its not the place i remember a city destroyed..

[@BarryMann]

Shawlands arcade at 6 mins. If that was in 1980, by 1995 they had filled it in..

[@derekmcfadyen127]

Buchanan st .... and surrounding streets ... dirty worn out just an eysore to most folk .... closed shops ... expensive to park your car .... Just not the place to shop it once was ... just like most citys these days .....

[@oldmacdreadapexriddims1460]

What's it called......

[@wboyle5899]

They are still repairing Glasgow 50 years later after this utopian nightmare by planners Glasgow housing work better in urban grid blocks still a long road ahead to fix the city one thing has not changed and that is glaswegians people do make Glasgow