by JBC » Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:20 pm
Walking along the London Road to work in the mornings, and back home in the evenings, I've seen for some time now that site development work is being carried out on the site of the old ironworkers' rows, across the road from Fullarton Filling Station, at Auchenshuggle. I think the site is going to become a small industrial estate.
The workers' houses which used to be down there went by a few names. Sometimes they were referred to as Clyde Ironworks Village, or even just Clyde Ironworks, but most often they were referred to as Clyde Rows, even though Clyde Row itself was only one of the rows. There was Rail Row, too, and Dandy Row, and the poetically-named Brick Kiln Row. (Nearby, on the other side of Fullarton Road, there was Mud Row - who thought up these names? - and there was also a row at the foot of Causewayside Street, but those were not part of Clyde Rows, though the workers they housed also worked at Clyde Ironworks.)
Clyde Rows were demolished around 1930, and the people were re-housed in nearby Tollcross and in Carmyle. I believe the other rows went around the same time.
The site of Clyde Rows lay empty and unused until now. I took a stroll down there a few years ago, but the only trace of what was once there was a large stone floor which I believe must have been the floor of the Fireclay Works - or brick kiln - which was once down there. It won't be there for much longer, if it hasn't already gone.
I'm very interested in Clyde Rows because my people came from there. It's been nothing but an empty site for 75 years, so I suppose it's about time something was done with it, but, now that I see it being dug up by contractors, I almost feel that they're desecrating a sacred site. Silly, but there we are.
Is there anyone else out there who has an interest in the old rows - including Mud Row and Causewayside Street - and their people? And does anyone have a map of the rows, with the names of them on it? I've never been able to find one. I've got maps showing the location of the buildings, but no names, so I don't know which row was which.