A new book about Cranhill will be published during the summer.
It offers a photographic peek at the early years of Cranhill. From the 1950’s brand new schemes, such as Cranhill, sprung up around the fringes of the city. Cranhill was among the first of those completed in the East End.
Many of the scheme’s first residents thought that, in comparison with the overcrowded and often unsanitary conditions of the city’s old industrial areas from which they had come, living in Cranhill was like living in the country. Despite the initial lack of amenities such as shops and schools, everything was brand new, crackling with hope and optimism. The photographs have been selected with the intention of conveying some sense of the spirit of those days.
The book’s title reflects the words of the ballad ‘Here I go again looking back on yesterday’ from Jim Diamond’s Sugarolly Days album. The author comments: ‘We did not know then that our playground, the so-called Sugarolly Mountains on the banks of the Monkland Canal, contained toxic hexavalent chromium. That apart I have yet to meet anyone of my vintage who does not look back nostalgically on a Cranhill long gone’.
The book is not targeted narrowly at Cranhillonians. Although it is about Cranhill, the same story can be told of any of Glasgow’s post-war schemes. If you have links with any of them you will readily identify with its account.
All profits will be used to support local community activities.
Watch this space.
It offers a photographic peek at the early years of Cranhill. From the 1950’s brand new schemes, such as Cranhill, sprung up around the fringes of the city. Cranhill was among the first of those completed in the East End.
Many of the scheme’s first residents thought that, in comparison with the overcrowded and often unsanitary conditions of the city’s old industrial areas from which they had come, living in Cranhill was like living in the country. Despite the initial lack of amenities such as shops and schools, everything was brand new, crackling with hope and optimism. The photographs have been selected with the intention of conveying some sense of the spirit of those days.
The book’s title reflects the words of the ballad ‘Here I go again looking back on yesterday’ from Jim Diamond’s Sugarolly Days album. The author comments: ‘We did not know then that our playground, the so-called Sugarolly Mountains on the banks of the Monkland Canal, contained toxic hexavalent chromium. That apart I have yet to meet anyone of my vintage who does not look back nostalgically on a Cranhill long gone’.
The book is not targeted narrowly at Cranhillonians. Although it is about Cranhill, the same story can be told of any of Glasgow’s post-war schemes. If you have links with any of them you will readily identify with its account.
All profits will be used to support local community activities.
Watch this space.