Baths, Wash houses and Pools - "The Steamie's"

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Postby HollowHorn » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:39 am

Audio Track:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/s ... type=audio

Townhead Public Baths in Collins St.
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Vandalised swimming baths at Castlemilk, Glasgow, 1978
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Whiteinch Public Baths was built between 1923 and 1926 by the Office of Public Works. Currently in 1999 it is Category B listed. It is situated in the north west of Glasgow close to the Clyde Tunnel and Expressway.
Second swimming pool in a separate room, looking towards deep end. Again in a room with arched ceiling and cubicles to either side. The doors of the cubicles are painted with cartoon characters.
This is a smaller, shallower pool for learners. It has a frieze on the rear wall depicting children at a beach. This room also has a blue and white colour scheme. This pool is not in such good condition as the larger one.
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Bobby McGregor was one of Britain's few world class swimmers in 1964 when he took silver in the 100m freestyle in the Olympic Games. He is pictured here coaching young swimmers at Whiteinch Baths in 1971
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Kay Street Swimming Baths and Public wash-house
Opened in the early 1890s. As well as a swimming pool, Kay Street provided bathing facilities for Springburn's tenement dwellers whose houses often had no separate bathroom and for whom a bath at home meant a zinc tub in front of the fire, the water often being used in succession by several members of the family.
Women who had inadequate laundry facilities at home, or who had missed their turn in the communal wash-house in the back court, or who simply preferred the social contact of the 'steamie', would bring their washing to Kay Street where they could hire tubs, washboards, wringers and drying machines.
However, the building fell into dilapidation and was demolished at the time of the construction of the new bypass, which runs right behind the site of the old baths. A new sports and leisure centre was opened in 1995 on approximately the same site, but this lacked a 'wet facility' or swimming pool until a few years later.
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D. M. Hoey's female staff at Kay Street Baths 1920
This picture shows Hoey's female staff in swimming gear at Kay Street Baths. They are participating in one of the many communal leisure time activities typically enjoyed by workers of the time, under somewhat paternalistic employers
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Postby germistonguy » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:59 pm

escotregen wrote:germistonguy I mean it's Glesga as opposed to Glasgow. Now Hidden Glasgow, that's Glasgow. Then there are other websites that have Glesga boards and Glasgow boards. But you're right, they are all about Glesga... or Glasgow... :wink:

::): Thank goodness for that. I wasn't sure if you meant Glasgow or Glesga, or even GLASGEE as the English seem to think we say. I nipped over to the said website and clicked what you meant - methinks I have lived in England too long and its 'gawn tae ma heid' as they say in 'Glesga' :)
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Postby germistonguy » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:19 am

Garngad Steamie.

I have vague memories of going here on a Saturday Morning, with my mother. Afraid I don't have any wonderful anecdotes - my memories of this place are of being typically restless, as most six year olds would have been, and wanting to be somewhere else. Of course I now wish I had taken it in at the time. Curious to know if anyone knows exactly when this building was pulled down. Did this 'steamie' at one time also have a swimming pool attached, as most others seem to.
I remember using Townhead baths for the swimming, which was in a wee street behind the Provands' Lordship. It looked very similar to the earlier picture, with the changing rooms at the side. Always remember some prick of an attendant thinking it would be funny to spray us with a really powerful hose - a joke is a joke, but when it goes on ALL THE WAY THROUGH the session - hope you are reading this "Mr Toonheid Swimming Attendant", so I can let you know what a total TWUNT you were being. Any way here are some pictures of Garngad steamie, pinched from the excellent 'The Good and the Bad - A History of Garngad'
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Postby McShad » Thu Oct 13, 2005 5:57 am

Is the whiteinch baths at the bottom, or just off Balshagry Avenue? I'm sure thats the swimming baths Hyndland Secondry school used until they opened the new scotstoun pool.
The picture shows a smaller, shallow pool which I don't remember, but I recognise the staircase on the 2nd picture of it.
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Postby HollowHorn » Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:06 am

Here is the Larger of the two pools; I imagine that the stairway you refer to leads up to the changing rooms, the pattern looks the same. The three colour photos are fairly recent: 1999. I remember attending the Whiteinch Baths fairly regularly around 20 years ago, we would start the evening with a swim, then move on to the "Turkish Bath" Occasionally we would book a muscle pounding massage from the Gestapo trained (male) masseuse

Internal photograph of the main swimming pool showing changing cubicles on two levels. The cubicles have swinging half doors. They are original. The changing cubicles run along the two long edges of the pool. The top is accessed by stairs at the deep end of the pool.

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Interior of swimming pool looking towards shallow end. The roof is concrete.The roof is a shallow arch with windows on the end gable wall. Large vents (painted blue) travel around the room at ceiling height and exit at the rear wall.
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Postby AlanM » Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:34 am

McShad wrote:Is the whiteinch baths at the bottom, or just off Balshagry Avenue? I'm sure thats the swimming baths Hyndland Secondry school used until they opened the new scotstoun pool.
The picture shows a smaller, shallow pool which I don't remember, but I recognise the staircase on the 2nd picture of it.


Hyndland used Balshagry Pool(just off Broomhill Drive) , part of the old Balshagry School which closed many years ago, the school was used by Anniesland College (not sure if it still is). Balshagry School was used by Hyndland during the rebuilding of the Airlie Building after it was gutted by fire in the 70's
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Postby McShad » Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:02 pm

I turned into the street where Balshagray pool is... it still has the Strahclyde council sign on it, but it looks like its closed for good.. the roof looks like hell and the windows and doors are boarded up. Looks like they wanted to brick the door because there is a neat pile of bricks infront of it :)
And its the Balshagray annex of Anniesland College
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Balshagray

Postby Dexter St. Clair » Fri Oct 14, 2005 6:46 pm

Anniesland College is shifting to the Jordanhill campus of Strathclyde University so probably won'rt require Balshagray as an annexe.


Then on the other hand Anniesland is going to build a new college on the site of its football piches whilst demolishing the old college.

But hold Anniesland College is amalgamating with Clydebank College on a joint campus on Clydeside.

One of these is true.
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Postby AlanM » Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:04 pm

There's a nice photo of the inside of Partick Steamie in 'Villages Of Glasgow' and the building that is currently on that site san be seen here.


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Postby McShad » Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:28 pm

There is that old swimming pool at the bottom of Byers Road.... looks like a stiff breeze would blow the roof off these days!
I'm sure it was still in use to maybe 10, 12 years ago
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Postby AlanM » Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:58 pm

Church st Pool is covered in another thread in here in quite some depth (excuse the pun).

>Church Street pool<

I think its about 12 years since the pool closed and the gym next door was used by a boxing club. I was last in that pool when I was about 15 and it closed a few of years after that. (it wasn't anything to do with me though)

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Postby LostSoul » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:48 pm

Interior of swimming pool looking towards shallow end. The roof is concrete.The roof is a shallow arch with windows on the end gable wall. Large vents (painted blue) travel around the room at ceiling height and exit at the rear wall.
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Nice to find photos of this pool on the site - i played the errmm, 'starring role' in a music promo which was shot in these baths about five years ago now. I do have one copy of the promo on VHS in storage which i've been meaning to convert but i also have some mad photos of it which i'll try and dig out if anyone is interested.
FIR F**K'S SAKE....S E A R C H
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Postby Mori » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:22 pm

Ma wee maw used to take me to the Summerton Rd baths... now demolished a few years ago she washed in the steamie while me and my little brother swam, i remeber the the big dryers and all the chit chat the women used to do wi their turban heid and lumpy roller scarfs on. :)

The Govan baths at Harhill st still stand today, due to be demolished to make way for new housing.

http://www.theglasgowstory.com/searchq. ... mie&iore=1

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A photograph of the machines in the "steamie" at Govan Public Baths and Wash-house in Harhill Street. These baths were opened by Glasgow Corporation on 17 April 1925, although the old Burgh of Govan had opened public baths with two swimming pools at Summertown Road in 1901.

The building contained a swimming pool of only 75 by 30 feet, but it had fifty-four private baths and 75 wash-stalls in the steamie, more than any other facility in the city.
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Postby Alex Glass » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:25 pm

[quote="HollowHorn"]Audio Track:

Townhead Public Baths in Collins St.
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Thanks for these photos HH

This was the first place that my dad took me swiming as a kid. I remember having to get changed in small cubicles next to the pool.
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Postby hazy » Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:48 pm

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This is my origanal bath house in the Garngad before we were decanted to Canada
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