GORBALS NO MORE - Yet Another Bit of Old Glasgow Lost

What is wrong with Glasgow?
Here's a question for you: why doesn't Glasgow City Council work more closely with housing developers to repurpose the city's old unused buildings for housing?
On far too many occasions the city's inhabitants are being fed that tired churned-out excuse about buildings beng privately-owned so there's nothing the council can do. Compulsory purchase would appear to be an unrealistic or perhaps just unused option.
Meanwhile, the city is falling down around us. Only in the past week Glasgow has been described as looking like it's been bombed. And it's not solely down to the upheaval of any number of pedestrian/cycling works.
Here in Glasgow we have a huge number of fine old buildings that are now abandoned; a huge number of fine old buildings that are not being routinely maintained; a huge number of fine old buildings that we all pass every day until one day we walk by and that building has gone.
This video is about one such building: India Buildings in Bridge Street, on the edge of The Gorbals, a building that is being demolished as I type.
India Buildings is a fine old Glasgow building. Once a factory, it has lain empty for many years. It has also lain untouched and unmaintained. Here in Glasgow we only seem to care for old abandoned buildings when bits of them fall off and land on the heads of the populace.
You only had to look at the frontage of India Buildings to see that plants were growing on its vacant facade. But not just plants; India Buildings had trees growing on it! The roots of large plants will quite happily find their way between stonework, and will in the end manage to actually move and displace stone.
In the last week India Buildings saw a partial roof collapse. With the loss of essential roof trusses to keep the walls and the whole structure together, some wall movement was detected which resulted in adjacent buildings beng immediately evacuated and many residents made homeless. Demolition was now the only answer. Oh what a surprise!
It's almost as if we've all turned our backs on these architecturally grand structures in the knowledge that to turn and look would be to witness the last dying throes of Glasgow heritage.
Surely working with planners and developers in the renovation of these structures for housing makes perfect sense? Or is Glasgow addicted to the demolition of its past?
What is wrong with Glasgow?

[@tok1964]

It’s a disgrace what has happened to Glasgow buildings, they are either left to decay or they go up in flames

[@WhammyBamber-wn2jv]

Change the people...... change the buildings.....they have no care for the Glasgow past ...

[@dannygmtg]

Change the people?? In what way do you mean?

[@walter77ify]

@@dannygmtg Many of the buildings are owned by foreign "investors". Also Glasgow's character is a mere facsimile of what it used to be known for, due to the incredible demographic changes of the last 5-10 years, amongst other factors.

[@neilmckay8649]

I can't see how demographics has influenced these buildings being abandoned. When was India Building last occupied? Decades ago. The Council members who made these 'first' decisions in the 1970s are likely dead or retired by now. Ed is right when he says that Edinburgh seems different. The need for these buildings has changed, from small industries to office type businesses. Updating a building with electrical power, ventilation, thermal insulation, telephones (now wifi) networks, through thick walls, it was often cheaper to build new, increasingly so when specifications increased.

[@JamesMurdoch-xz4sw]

If Glasgow council. Keep pulling old buildings down taking away the character of glasgow, why would anybody visit it as there will nothing to see,

[@eileanvm]

Couldn't agree more Ed. Part of my family ( grandmother ) lived in the Gorbals, ( Crown Street ), before WW2. Back then it was a thriving community and those old buildings would have been grand structures in their day. Like my own early childhood community of Townhead, it was obliterated in the late sixties. *sigh*

[@hanscattini468]

My grandmother lived in Norfolk court Gorbals. I used to visit her there.

[@Al.W7263]

Thanks for the video. Much enjoyed.

[@StevieBluenoseScott]

Yer so right ,its Glasgow's shame. Down with the old and up with the motorways and expressways ,it is a disgrace.

[@DarrenCGraham]

These videos deserve more recognition. Fantastic as always

[@EdExploresScotland]

Many thanks Darren.

[@DarrenCGraham]

@@EdExploresScotland I started on your ardeer video as I live in the houses currently situated on Ardeer square 😂 blown away by how much it has changed

[@EdExploresScotland]

You'd never know by looking at the area today what it once was like.

[@teriofshalott]

Im really sad to hear of the imminent demolition. I always look out of the train window at this building on my way into Glasgow central, and feel heartbroken at how it had been left to get into such a sorry state. The empty space it leaves will be heartbreaking still.

[@triodehexode]

Glasgow Council have let some cheap ugly Stalinist blocks to be thrown up recently. Its like going back to the carnage of the 60s and 70s. Don't maintain listed buildings let them rot cheap prime land for private developers. Well done city fathers. Old Schools demolished and land sold off etc etc . Cycled through Coatbridge recently cheap modern development ripped the centre apart there are some nice bits though Summerlee is good.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Thank you. Something stinks in Glasgow, and I can't quite put my finger on it. The lack of regular routine maintenance is for me a major issue. Looking after and maintaining a few worthy structures is not enough.

[@magimac9979]

@@EdExploresScotland it’s worthwhile looking up the WEF plans & ‘their’ sustainable goals/plans for the world (alongside the UK100 councils incorporating 15/20 minute cities, ulez etc of which the people have NEVER been consulted). Might explain things. Shocking stuff & too few are aware. Best wishes.

[@stephenmacdonald4443]

Good work sir !

[@EdExploresScotland]

Thank you.

[@shaawewa]

Well said Ed. Neglect became a way of continuing the cultural vandalism started in Glasgow in the 1960s. The former Hillhead Baptist Church building is next.

[@TheDefendedOfficial]

Thank you, Ed for pointing these things out. It's really disappointing to see our home decay into disrepair. Also, I like the veiled Proclaimers reference in the title!

[@mairimillar6606]

Ed, it's so sad and quite disgusting how it's allowed to happen. Did Glasgow Council learn nothing from the old days of demolishing so many of it's lovely old buildings? Good that you care so much. Thanks for sharing on here 💞

[@williamf4544]

Aye - They learned how much money they could get from developers for the land once the building fall down

[@egallagher41]

As a "Gorbals boy" 184 and 165 Hospital street Glasgow during the late 1950s till the early 1970s I watched the demolition of a city, a society and a way of life and not for the better, the more the city destroyed itself and the more people it displaced the more clinical, inhumane and incompetent the council became ( remember the H blocks, designed for the continent but built in Glasgow), but maybe a corner has been turned? I love and admire the look and the build of the new Gorbals and the direction it seems to be going as the preservation of historic buildings and the repurposing of old quality structures seems to be happening in some parts, but nothing works without a sustainable plan, so goodbye to the unsafe and a mandatory order of preservation for the owners of all the neglected building in Scotland would be my request to a Scottish Government.

[@williamsafari6437]

my family 192 hospital st .me old rutherglen rd 1954

[@heatherbruce4496]

I couldn't believe half of argyll Street is gone .I don't recognise glasgow now 😢

[@EdExploresScotland]

Someone said in the last week or two that Glasgow looks like it's been bombed. Oh how tragically true.

[@heatherbruce4496]

I agree ì cut through today going to milngavie. Pound shops. E shops and nails shops. No fab department stores anymore. No shoppers just students scurrying about to their colleges. Could believe there demolishing that massive big building opposite what used to be Mcdonald furniture No longer there either. Don't know what that building was but was there from the 50s or 60s. Any idea ed?

[@alanglasgowbassist]

Looks like a lovely old building. Probably get replaced by a concrete monstrosity or hoarding 😢😢

[@Cachtice1181]

The majority of beautiful buildings that once graced Glasgow are gone and space replaced with glass monstrosities. Glasgow no more.

[@williamf4544]

The biggest outrage is how this was allowed to happen - Anyone passing by this building snd the buildings behind it could see it was an accident waiting to happen but they were happy to just ignore it even if it meant the building falling down and killing people and just down from there in Carlton Place another area of building being left to rot - Maybe if they spent less money on camper vans and other airy fairy pipe dreams they could find money to save some of these buildings - Some of these people in charge should be charged with neglegence and jailed - Breaks my heart to watch Glasgow fall down before our eyes then the land sold to developers for millions

[@chrisb9360]

Similar to the near 200 year old villa on bank street in the west end and the old Baptist church off Byers road. The usual suspects own these (construction companies) and waited for the green light for demolition due to safety. In the case of the bank st / great George street villa, the owner appears to be a construction company that’s never constructed anything - a company called G12 10.

[@johnkelly3886]

Patrick Geddes was the father of building renovation and recycling. Have a look at his work in Edinburgh Old Town. Glasgow destroyed almost all of the Medieval city, in the industrial revolution.

[@borisvondoofenschmirtz3488]

Hear hear Ed I’m with you on that one. My old man was from the gorbals and I’ll bet you he would be turning in his grave just now. GCC are only interested now in fleecing the motorist to prop up their failings as a council and not maintaining our beautiful city. Shame on them, I often wonder why tourist come here and jump on the hop on hop off bus…. Why? There’s not much left to see.

[@FabnazKunrig]

So depressing. Every other week we lose another historic building, and no one seems to care. Why is this allowed to happen in Glasgow where it wouldn’t be tolerated anywhere else? What can we do about it? Can we petition and compel our despotic city leaders to stop this wilful neglect and civic vandalism?

[@dawnarnold3176]

Hello, Ed. Yes, to all you said. It is no consolation, but the same seems to be mostly the case here in the US. We can't be bothered nor afford to take care of our infrastructure and buildings and houses. So it becomes vandalism by neglect. Cheers, Paul Arnold

[@chrismacdonald7955]

It IS an absolute disgrace ! What the city council doesn't demolish they just leave to rot slowly on their own. WHY ? All that stunning architecture gone forever. Council claims they can do nothing because the buildings are owned by "SOMEBODY" If so then they should be ordered to maintain them or pay heavy fines. I live in Canada but was born in Glasgow and I promise you that many people from this side of the world would LOVE to visit SCOTLAND. Glasgow is doing itself a real injustice by destroying the old stone buildings THAT'S what the tourists want to see !!!

[@richardteale3217]

It’s totally shocking and so sad to see this. I’m a seventy year old carpenter (English)and I visit my son in Glasgow a half a dozen times a year. I often walk round Glasgow and look up at the many fine buildings just going to rack and ruin. The generation coming up aren’t interested because they haven’t been taught to recognise and appreciate real quality. Now it’s all just false eyelashes,tattoos,stupid haircuts,fancy watches,trainers ,mobile phones etc etc. Our lovely British cities are dying , people buy crap from Amazon ,so local small shops are becoming a thing of the past . Heartbreaking.

[@jimmitchell5629]

Absolutely agree with everything you said Ed. I came into Glasgow through Gorbals Street and over the bridge into Stockwell Street but before you come over and look at the buildings along the Clyde you could be in any big city in the UK, It's all glass cubes, the character of the city is being allowed to disappear. Talking of the comparison of the Clyde and other major river cities, there is no nightlife on the Clyde side, no bars, restaurants or whatever. The area I lived in was decimated in the early 80's, Springburn, the Luftwaffe would have been proud.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Hi Jim. I've never been able to understand why, as you say, we haven't made better use of our riverside, with cafes and bars and outside seating. It's largely dead. Even walking by the Clyde is naff as there are that many frantic joggers and cyclists you just cannot have a relaxing stroll.

[@johnsnedden5619]

Hi Ed you are so right in what you are saying, maintenance is the key , I have worked on many a tenement and stone builds from Partick to Possil carrying out stone restorations, it is easily done if funds are available, regarding Glencairn House Dumbarton after cleaning the stone work they did let the gutters overflow through vegetation growth, which then stained the clean stonework and have you seen the face of a man smoking in the render patch at the waterside above the pend close at the Glencairn House, I had it pointed out to me in 1965 and I don't think many locals know it's there, cheers.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Cheers John. Funding is clearly an issue. I don't know why councils can't work with architects and developers to create housing in these old structures.

[@smallfeet4581]

​@EdExploresScotland , need a gofundme concert for Glasgow buildings , I'm sure Glasgow and surrounding areas has plenty stars to host an event , they do things for everything else why not their home town , I'm not interested in the who why or where is the cause , just to see old buildings sorted up and kept ,

[@luckycockayne]

Appreciate this video. How did you find out they were going to demolish it?

[@EdExploresScotland]

Thanks. I think it was in the Glasgow Times.

[@colinblack7049]

Hi Eddie, it's sad to see the comparison between the Embra breweries building in the last video and Glesca leaving the old buildings until the only thing they're fit for is demolition.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Such a contrast between the two cities. May be down to the stone used in buildings.

[@colinblack7049]

​@@EdExploresScotlandI saw on the news last night they're attempting to at least save the name off the top of the building. Too little too late?

[@EdExploresScotland]

Absolutely.

[@ladygardener100]

My brother was a civil engineering student and helped with the famous Red Roof Flats, they should have been maintained to give them a long life. No maintenance so now demolished.

[@garyhiggins2247]

Glasgow is in a terrible state. So many beautiful old buildings that have been left to fall apart that will be knocked down and replaced with cheap rubbish that certainly won’t last anywhere near as long and will no doubt have to be replaced in 20/30 years time. Extremely sad!

[@hanscattini468]

It’s a pity my friend 😢😢 Norfolk court was taken down , where I used to visit my Scottish Grand Mother in the 80’s .

[@orange_light_pictures]

It’s not just Glasgow. There’s a few buildings within Fife that have “mysteriously went on fire” or been left “too long” to be viable to repair. In most cases it’s an owner who doesn’t care, and is struggling to sell building or land Kitty’s in Kirkcaldy is a prime example of someone who could not sell a building let it go on fire 4 times. You’re not telling me that’s an accident. It’s a general apathy for an area where the past doesn’t matter, and is only searchable through books and bloody name plaques on a wall of here once stood xyz; well what funtin good is that.

[@richardroberts3960]

Goodmorning Ed. Looking forward to your next video. Keep it going Ed, you give people like myself and others a lot of information, what ever video 📹 you make!. I know the Scottish weather doesn't help. Here's looking forward to your next adventure, where ever that may be. Richard and Dalcena from Rosyth.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Thanks Guys. All the best to Rosyth.

[@ladygardener100]

A lot of lovely buildings in Glasgow, but , as you say, lack of basic maintenance is astounding.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Absolutely.

[@borderlands6606]

The second city of an empire that covered a third of the globe.

[@Dhoggy]

The second city of a nation in union with an empire that covered a third of the globe. That great Scottish empire that people reminisce. And possibly something Aberdeen might disagree with.

[@highlandexplorer990]

Absolutely agree! 👏 This is such a shame to see 😞 It's heartbreaking when beautiful old buildings are neglected like this. It sounds like some of the other buildings in the area are in danger too 🏚 Glasgow has such a rich history, it's vital to preserve these pieces of the past! Do you think there's anything to be done to raise awareness of this problem? 🤔

[@EdExploresScotland]

Thank you for your comment. Clearly in Glasgow there is awareness of the past, and we do in fact manage to preserve many fine old buildings. But there's just something lacking outwith that sphere, and I'm just not sure what it is. I see no reason why Glasgow City Council cannot work with planners, developers and architects to preserve much of the city's tired yet interesting structure, and create housing within it.

[@CoraPringle]

The nursery up from St Andrews Bridge has a statue of winged angel stunning peice of work

[@donnasmyth45]

Not dissimilar in Belfast. The old law courts on the Crumlin Rd and the Assembly rooms on Waring St. been left to rot.

[@mac-vl4ib]

Council know this is prime developers ground with city centre over Bridge the whole of that part of the gorbals will soon be gone

[@EdExploresScotland]

Quite unbelievable the mess that whole area is in, what with subsiding pavements and god only knows what else.

[@sapien82]

that print works not really in gorbals but another building just sitting empty

[@neilmaclean294]

What a star you are Ed.

[@connormeechan5784]

Was in Number 9 Oswald a wee while back and the Stone work is just as wet as they say it is in the Interior

[@dar4171]

The History of your lovely city is being swept away. Beautiful stone buildings that would cost a fortune to build could be renovated and returned to beautiful useful homes are turned to rubble on a whim. You can’t replace history.

[@triodehexode]

Sorry to but in again but I was thinking my memory had failed as it was hard to find an image of The Paisley Rain tower as it was called was hard to find on line. Any way it lasted 8 years cost £180000 and was demolished in 2008. There seems to be one picture on line. There must be other similar examples in Scotland to go with the fashionable shin brusers and pile enhansing concrete obelisks that now frequent our town centre streets.

[@EdExploresScotland]

I agree with what you were saying in the past few comments. Many towns that have seen their industry decline and the resultant increase in unemployment appear to think that the introduction of street sculpture will solve everything. In Kilmarnock they have surreal heads bobbing up from the pavement, and in Dumbarton they have some seriously fine sculpture while the town itself is falling apart at the seams.

[@Saint_Dan132]

not far from me, yes i know what you mean i love going to these places and just looking up, maybe one architect will lead the way for more to follow in regards to renovation one can only hope

[@williamsafari6437]

i was born and bred in the gorbals { 1954 ] what the GCC have allowed to happen in glasgow is criminal.it's been a long time since that was the gorbals and not for the better

[@kensharonyoga]

Wonder who is paying for the demolition? The taxpayer? Just like the former Grey Dunns factory? The building across the road in Eglinton Street from the India Building, the white building which was recently used to house refugees then abandoned by the Mears group, was supposedly built in 1745. Please correct me if I'm wrong. That'll be the next to go although the building in Norfolk Street (the tall glass tower with the roof terraces you can see in the video, owned and used as a storehouse by the shopkeepers next door to the entrance on Norfolk Street) will be going soon as well. It's a wonder the panes of glass aren't falling on pedestrians.

[@Colin32269]

I was gonnae visit from Canada in June,thanks for the warnings,Ill avoid Glasgow now.

[@alekbeloff]

I suppose you planned your trip to see those three derelict buildings specificly

[@lindabroadfoot2963]

Much of Glasgow is still beautiful and it’s a culturally vibrant city. You would miss out if you don’t visit. This is just one view-much of Glasgow has been regenerated

[@smallfeet4581]

😂 It's no that bad , jeez , still a city worth visiting , although I haven't been there in a while

[@ErnieCG]

Good what you were talking about.

[@lawrencew]

The owners should be held to account.

[@davidtaylor9198]

The building is owned by an absent landlord who hasnt maintained it in years. His premise is to wait and make profit when the land value rises. Council shouldve found a way to take it off his hands. But hey ho, im guessing theyll replace it with some more monotone student flats. Might as well level Glasgow these days and replace with student housing.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Hard to imagine that we have enough students to fill all the student flat developments that exist.

[@Dhoggy]

It is a sadness to see the buildings boarded up, as you say unused towards derelict, but they are soft stone and a huge waste of space and expense. Edinburgh used the granite Glasgow is on sandstone.

[@EdExploresScotland]

Cheers Bill. I don't know anything about stone, but I suspect some sandstone is more apt to revert to sand.

[@triodehexode]

Ed you should do a series on daft sculpture. Bellahouston parks concrete Tank traps and rusty Bus shelter would make a good start. Pity you missed the concrete shower in Paisley that was wet when it was Dry and Dry vwhen it rained I bet the Councilers had a lovely Cheese, wine and nibbles party after that was erected. Sady it only lasted a few years outside the old Post office which is now a Spoons.

[@dannygmtg]

Concrete? Naw. I recall it being stone. Also that fountain was lovely when working

[@triodehexode]

@@dannygmtg It was plagued with problems it was an ugly grey stone hexagon table thing. It was slightly less ugly than the shopping complex that replaced the nice stone jail that looked like a castle.

[@dannygmtg]

@@triodehexode I never said it wasn’t plagued with issues but it wasn’t concrete

[@EdExploresScotland]

A bit like the coloured steam that used to emerge from the ground by the Riverside Museum but doesn't do it any more. We've run out of steam.

[@triodehexode]

@@EdExploresScotland Can't remember the steam at the warehouse designed by an important international architect. To be fair it looks less like a warehouse when viewed from Govan. Cars on shelves doesn't work are they still there? Further up the river the science centre leaked tar from it's stainless steel slates and had to be cleaned.

[@lisalaine4478]

Glasgow, supposedly "Miles Better" and a city that is proud of its heritage - just witness the number of 'Old Glasgow' videos - has no vision for the future. Where old buildings have been maintained, as in the west end for example, there is hope, but elsewhere much is a dystopian mess. Ed, your outrage is palpable, but I fear lost to regional and government mandarins consumed with diktats far removed from the wishes of the people.

[@stephenbrown3835]

Good video Ed ! 1876 was the India Buildings birth ~~~ Custer got obliterated by the Indians that year ! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@EdExploresScotland]

A very interesting fact. Kinda puts a lot of things into perspective.

[@MrMaharg65]

As I’ve said before Ed, Springburn has to be the prime example of a once thriving working class part of the city that built trains & gave us the likes of Tom Weir & his sister Molly. The entire area was flattened and replaced by a road & nothing else. Heart & Soul torn out. Now a handful of old buildings, including the Library, lie boarded up waiting for the next “fire” to burn it down. It’s virtually a slum now with only Facebook groups keeping it’s history alive. Criminal. Sorry about the rant ! 🫡

[@EdExploresScotland]

Thanks Graham. You're absolutely right. I'd struggle to do a Springburn video because, as you say, there is essentially nothing left. Heart and sole of a community thrown to the wind.

[@magimac9979]

Folks, it’s worthwhile looking up the WEF plans & ‘their’ sustainable goals/plans for the world (alongside the UK100 councils incorporating 15/20 minute cities, ulez, ltn’s, 5g etc of which the people have NEVER been consulted). Might explain things. Shocking stuff & too few are aware. Best wishes.

[@Ricky-oi3wv]

Been coming to Glasgow since I was a wee boy to watch the Rangers. Awful to see the cities early modern heritage being left to rot. Hard not to be a wee bit tinfoil hat about it.

[@forbesmeek6304]

Sad business, painting sandstone, another problem, not a good idea.

[@EdExploresScotland]

It's a good point. Do we have breathable paint?

[@dougie6886]

It's the way of the world I'm afraid

[@EdExploresScotland]

Sadly, you're absolutely right. But that doesn't mean we can't change things.

[@wullieg7269]

Strathleven House 80,s

[@CoraPringle]

Well says m8

[@colinmacfarlane6838]

Good report next read THE REAL GORBALS STORY (AMAZON) 😂

[@EdExploresScotland]

A must-read. Thank you Colin.

[@colinmcnicol2854]

Have you Done any pictures of the old shipyard berths etc I just wonder what those areas are like now?

[@EdExploresScotland]

A little bit about the shipyards here, Colin: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2Kbq2innbNjncU

[@colinmcnicol2854]

Ed. Let’s see more of the fabric of buildings, less of your face on centre ,why do you do that ? .

[@EdExploresScotland]

There was a storm, Colin. Only way you could hear my dulcet tones and not wind was for me to be real close to the camera. Are you saying you don't like my pretty face?