Quoit pitching ground

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Quoit pitching ground

Postby jock78 » Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:23 am

Does anyone know what happened to the Quoit pitching ground which was located just below the Monkland Canal embankment and on the West side of Millburn Street?

Quoits were like discusses but with a hole in the middle for a hand grip, made of cast -iron and thrown over a 25 yard pitch to land nearest to an iron pin set into puddle clay; they must have weighed about 10 pounds.

I suppose the game had its origin in pitching horse shoes but do not know how long its was there, how popular this game was, or whether it was quite unique to this location. Obviously the site would have been cleared post 1960 as the works for the M8 progressed but it may have been relocated?

John
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Re: Quoit pitching ground

Postby jock78 » Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:18 pm

quoit.docx


This could not be more 'Hidden Glasgow'
I lived on the canal bank (house to the west of the site) and now realize that you could only see the quoit ground from the canal bank looking down on it from the retaining wall above it.
My girlfriend, now my wife worked at Millburn motors and never new the quoit ground existed!

I understand the ancient Greeks played it then the Romans.
In 19 century Glasgow it was noted as played by hard drinking hard working men.

I would like to think that it relocated but suspect it just died out?

John
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Re: Quoit pitching ground

Postby purplepantman » Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:07 pm

It's there in the 40's as this aerial pic shows but it's not on any of the two earliest OS maps.
Not sure of the date on your map.
ImageQuoit Ground by Purplepantman, on Flickr

I'm sure there must be a few "hard drinking hard working" quoiters around here who can help you in your quest.
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Re: Quoit pitching ground

Postby jock78 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:56 am

Hi there,
thanks for the reply.
The OS map that I used was from 1913. I have a number of these maps 1/1250 covering most of NE Glasgow
if there are any sites of interest to you let me know.
Best regards,
John
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Re: Quoit pitching ground

Postby purplepantman » Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:16 pm

Thanks John. I mainly use The National Library of Scotland's map resource.
It has many useful features (overlaying maps on Google Earth images) and hundreds of old (and rare) maps available.
http://maps.nls.uk/

Some info on quoits from The Little Book of Glasgow...
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jwA7 ... ow&f=false
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Re: Quoit pitching ground

Postby moonbeam » Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:04 pm

I remember being taken by an uncle to see Scotland play Wales at Quoits at Hardgate, Clydebank. It was in the summer of 1955, I think.The "ground" was at the back of where the post office was at the round a bout. The ground seemed to be very busy. A lot of men and very few women if I recall. Strange but this sport seems to have virtually died out. We seemed to pay an entry fee. The men threw horseshoe type rings at metal stakes which were set in sort of small mud heaps. I cant recall
how the scoring was done but there would be five or six "rinks" going at the same time. The nearest to land in the mud pile next the stake won the throw. The "mud" was more a sort of clay material. Wonder if it was some sort of special clay? How many throws made up a "game" -was it 21? Or first to 21?
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Re: Quoit pitching ground

Postby jock78 » Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:46 am

Hi purplepantsman and moonbeam,

Looking at earlier maps, I can see that the quoit pitch was an isolated part of the former Townmill Road.
It had been truncated when Alexandra Parade was built and Millburn Street raised to cross the Canal.
Townmill Road actually was still there to the west of Millburn Road but incorporated into the corporation yard below the canal.

I lived on a house on the Canal bank accessed via a stair through the 16 foot retaining wall- one of its addresses was 101 Townmill Road, also 169 Alexandra Parade ( the corporation yard) and 144 Castle street ( the access to the Canal route behind the old Carlton cinema).

Incidentally I am looking for pictures of any of the houses on the canal, many of which were occupied by relatives who all worked for the then British Railways.

John
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