A WALK IN TIME: REVISTED 2024
NOW INCLUDES THE 12 STREETS OF JERUSALEM ARTICLE
A WALK IN TIME: REVISTED 2024
NOW INCLUDES THE 12 STREETS OF JERUSALEM ARTICLE
Introduction by
© Baillieston Born 'n' Bred 2024
The following article was originally done in 2003 by Baillieston Born n Bred on the MSN Communities website after an interesting online account of a walk done by Dan McAleer in 1930 was discovered on a Glasgow East website. Dan was a local historian from Eastmuir in Shettleston and his article "A Sketch of Shettleston" was put online by his family around 2000 to 2003.
Dan was born in Auchenshuggle in 1858 and his family moved to Shettleston's Eastmuir when he was an infant. He was a bit of a local celebrity in Shettleston and he knew a great deal about the history of that East End of Glasgow and wrote many local historic articles about it which are now only on the original hard copies in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. Dan passed away in Jan 23rd. 1933 after a years illness and this walk was maybe his last to Daldowie / Broomhouse. But why did he walk there so many times ?
Dan's walk mentions Baillieston House and Daldowie and what was interesting about it was that it was well out of his normal haunts. He wrote this article, perhaps his last, in 1930's, a year or so before he fell seriously ill, Dan's account of his walk, which he must have done frequently, was strangely named "A Sketch of Shettleston". There were several Glasgow East websites that had links to Dan's historical articles however these links connected to the old NTL website listed below which change hands in 2006 and the links were gone. Despite extensive searches, even using the Way-Back Machine, electronic versions on his writings cannot be found online. Luckily some paragraphs from his article was copied by BBnB back then, however unfortunately not the full article. These bits are in this "A Walk in Time" article for reference.
At some point, with it now being well out of copyright (since 2003), this site will hopefully obtain a copy of Dan's writings and publish his full articles as it deserves to be out in the public domain again rather than on a shelf in the Mitchell Library. What is surprising is that the Mitchell the NLS have not digitised it as it is part of Glasgow's history.
For info some old defunct links are listed below.
www.ntl.glasgoweast. com/ A Sketch of Shettleston - October, 1930. By Dan McAleer - Memoirs *
http://www.glasgowhistory.co.uk/ShettlestonSketch.htm
The original articles are in the Mitchell Library Glasgow, yet not in Shettleston Library?
Dan frequently walked this 8 mile round route, and although he did not actually say what his reasons were, he must have had one, and perhaps "A WALK IN TIME" will give us some clue why he did it.
For anyone interested in Dan here is a link to a really nice obituary on Dan done by his family: Daniel McAleer Sr. (1858-1933) - Find a Grave Memorial
Below is the original "A WALK IN TIME" Article:
A WALK IN TIME
by Dan McAleer 1930 and Tom Hamilton 2003 ©BBnB
Foreword:
I came across Dan McAleer's article "A SKETCH OF SHETTLESTON" while doing research on the Baillieston Born and Bred MS Communities c2003. A Google search on Baillieston found the article and I was curious why the name Baillieston was in an article about Shettleston so I read through it just out of general interest, but it became about more than because it was excellent local history that could not be found anywhere else and what was also strange was the walk well out side of Shettleston.
In brief the route of Dan's walk was from Shettleston Sheddings (Westmuir) - Main Street - Eastmuir - Crownhall - Sandyhills - Mount Vernon - Barrachnie - Burntbroom - Boghall - Broomhouse - and Daldowie at Calder Bridge. At his destination he makes a point of mentioning a special ornamental woodland named "The Twelve Streets of Jerusalem" at the confluence where North Calder meets the Clyde at Daldowie and Maryville that he had visited previously. This intrigued me as I lived in Broomhouse for 13 years 1972 to 1985 and took the dogs and my 2 boys down there most weekends and I had never heard of it.
Dan does not really mention the reason he took this walk so frequently spanning about 50 years, could it have been that he simply enjoyed the walk, or was it more than that to him? He wrote of this unusual wood as if it was something really special to him, and the name "The Twelve Streets of Jerusalem" certainly is no ordinary name, but why was it called that?
Before we set off I must mention that there are several strange factors regarding the Start and Destination of Dan's walk and that is the similarity in place and road names
1) The Junctions.
At Shettleston: "SHETTLESTON SHEDDINGS" on old maps. Locally called just "THE SHEDDINGS"
At Broomhouse: "THE SHEDDINGS"
2) The Roads.
At Shettleston: Westmuir Street, Shettleston Road, Old Shettleston Road, Old Edinburgh Road.
At Broomhouse: Hamilton Road, Old Edinburgh Road, Old Glasgow Road
Dan's walk started at Westmuir in Shettleston, at a place known to him as "SHETTLESTON SHEDDINGS" locally called "THE SHEDDINGS" It is listed on 1855 to 1910 as "SHETTLESTON SHEDDINGS" which I only realised when I looked it up on the NLS old maps website.
=======================
Below are the old maps of The Start and Destination:
The red underlined names that drew my attention, as walking from places with the same place names and road names was definitely not a coincidence. One name perhaps, but two!
The Destination - East Daldowie at a known Roman Roadmeetings - The Sheddings
The only thing that remains since Dan's walk in Shettleston would be some of the refurbished red sandstone tenements, mind you they would have been black with soot in the 1930's. The triangular tram depot and inspectors office buildings rails and trolley wires are long since gone. All the Factories are long too gone and back then the biggest employer in the area in Dan's day was Beardmores Parkhead Forge which was wound down in the late 70's and demolished in the 1980's. I remember the traffic being stopped regularly as the shunting locomotives moved steel between the East and West sheds on Duke Street. It took years to clear and clean the site and it lay barren for several years before The Forge shopping centre was built under The GEAR (Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal) Scheme and opened in 1988. THE SHEDDENS INN would have been there as searches suggest it was there since around 1920. Why it was called "Sheddens Inn" and not "Sheddings Inn" I have no idea.
As we travel east on SHETTLESTON ROAD some old maps name it as MAIN STREET and past Shettleston Cross which was the Junction of SHETTLESTON ROAD / WELLSHOT ROAD / DARLIETH STREET (formerly FIRPARK STREET after an old wooded area of Fir Trees) we enter the area Dan refers to as Middlequarter which is an old term for sections of farmland which are subsections of larger areas called Quarterlands and even larger Treens.
We then pass two strangely named streets Vesalius Street, Chester Street. I will go into these two strange names later as they suggest links with Dan's walk.
Before I leave the Middlequarter it is difficult for us to imagine what Dan was trying to describe to us when he spoke of the old coalmines, some of which were more or less between OLD SHETTELSTON ROAD and SHETTLESTON ROAD, what was called Shettleston Main Street. There were 2 actually coalmines in the Middlequarter.
As we pass the junction of Shettleston Road and Church Road / Killin Street we enter Eastmuir where Dan lived. Although this area has changed considerably, but there would still be enough here for Dan to recognise, The Kirkhouse, The Railway Tavern the Miners Rows, the old graveyard and the tenements "THE STATE" picture house was not built at this time, that was opened in 1937. The Eastmuir Masonic Hall that Dan mentions is still there, and further up passing Gartocher on the opposite side of the road the Old St. Paul's Chapel which I believe is used as a function hall now. Before THE GARTOCHER we know there was a pub there called was BARROWMANS, but the original building was pulled down in 1937 to widen SHETTLESTON ROAD and the GARTOCHER BAR was built.
Dan briefly mentions York Terrace, and the red sandstone building still stands there today.
Beyond this was an area Dan referred to as CROWNHALL and a new private estate has a street that bears that old name. The name probably originates from a stretch of common land which were call Haugh's or Anglicised Hall, and Crown being Common Land owned by the Crown. These Common Haughs were use for crazing of cattle by drovers going to the markets in Glasgow.
The North British Railway (NBR) branched off the main Coatbridge -Airdrie Line just north of Crownhall and this section was named as the Crownhall Line on old railway maps. It ran down to Mount Vernon North station where Dan worked as a signalman. The NBR railway line that ran through Sandyhills and Mount Vernon was dismantled back in the very early 1960's, as part of the Beecham rationalisation of British Railways. By coincidence I use to work Saturday mornings with Ian Watson lifting the old railway sleepers up on this line which we trucked back to his yard behind the Log Cabin in Crosshill where he and I cut them up for logs through the week and that was hard work for £1 a day. That was in 1966.
We are now now on Baillieston Road at Sandyhills and at the junction of Sandyhills Road there would again be much that Dan would recognise. Dan mentions the blue and white Glasgow City Boundary sign, and just beyond it was the first bus stop you could alight from an S.M.T. green bus Glasgow outbound, and on the opposite side of the road was the last stop you could board the S.M.T. bus Glasgow inbound. There was the Sherwood Garage and Car sales lot, which I remember as in the 1950's and 60's as a garage and filling station, I actually bough a Cortina from there in 1985. There is still the miners row at Sandyhills across from the Texaco filling station. The old Sandyhills sandstone church is gone and was replace by a modern build in the 1980's. I also remember the Smithy shop Dan mentions behind the Sparrow Castle now The Gables Public House.
Glasgow websites do not give the origin of the name Sandyhills, they only mention it was the name of an old estate, however the soils in that area were indeed sand and gravel and all the way through to Mount Vernon to the now closed Wester Daldowie / Greenoakhill quarry to the Clyde. The sand and gravel was probably deposited by Ice Age glaciers advancing then retreating between 30,00 to 20,000 years ago and indeed in the main Daldowie Estate just west of the Crematorium stands Chuckie Hill and North of that the alluvial despots of Calderpark which were cause by the the last major glacial period as mentioned in the Calderpark Zoo article. It was called the Late Devensian Glaciation and peaked in the UK around 22,000 years ago and ended roughly 12,000 years ago.
Further along The "Earlybraes" field is what might seem a strange name, I believe the name originates from the south facing slope where it got the early sun in the morning. Fields sloping south in other areas are sometimes given the name "Sunnyside". It actually is a term that dates back to Runrigs where south facing Rigs were called Sunnyside. Dan mentions potatoes planted in these fields, I remember them being there too when I used to walk back to Baillieston from the matinee at the Odeon or State pictures when I spend my tram or bus fare on sweets. There is a housing estate there now, built in the mid 70's, and just beyond that they have returned the field beyond the Earlybraes field back to a Birchwood thicket with the Tollcross Burn (which has also been called the Glenduffhill Burn or Glen-D and the Barrachnie Burn) winding through it. Old maps show that beyond the burn at the bend there was a well. Dan spoke of the Barrachnie Woods and houses being built in it, this must have been the early stages of the building of the the Mount Vernon private housing estate, however old maps show that the woods more or less covered the ground now occupied by Barrachnie Park.
Dan then speaks of Mount Vernon and he mentions that it was once called "Windyedge" and that its name was changed by George Buchanan after his friend George Washington's estate in Virginia. Another website refutes that claim saying that around the mid 1700's it was named in honour of Admiral Vernon whom a Mr Boyd may or may not have known. A third suggestion is that it was named after a Mont Vernon in France, and strangely another estate owned by the Buchanan's was named Drumpellier, which in French is the same as Mont Pellier. And to really cap it all we had our very own "The Baux" which is yet another area in France "Les Baux". Could all of this just be pure coincidence? It could be that the French Cistercian Monks who once farmed these lands "The Monklands", named these areas. A strange comment the Headmaster Peter Boa of Baillieston JS School said in history lessons was that he found it strange why several places in the Baillieston area are name after areas in France. Mont Pellier, Mont Vernon, Baux, Breval, Caledonia, la Provanderie (Provand Hall). Could it all just be coincidence?
Dan does not mention anything about Barrachnie Cross, he only mentions that he turned right along the old Mount Vernon Avenue, and it still follows the same line until a point just before the top of the rise of the hill and just beyond the old entrance to the Mount Vernon Estate. Back then it veered east and ran about 300 yards to the Burntbroom Road junction where it split, with Mount Vernon Avenue turning right and heading back to where it runs now. Burntbroom Road swung left, and then turned right passed Burntbroom farm under the NBR Hamilton and Bothwell line and then under the Coatbridge (Caledonian) railway bridges and joined Hamilton Road. I remember this straightened section of Mount Vernon Avenue being built in the early 1960's. There are still traces of the old avenue remaining, you can still see where the kerb stones differ to the right side where the original road turned and headed over to the old three way junction at Burntbroom farm. There are still trees there at this old junction, I remember watching cars driving along the old road when I was a boy in the 1950's sitting on top of the big Garrowhill Brickwork shale bing just east of Burntbroom Farm.
When Dan reached the old Mount Vernon / Burntbroom junction he commented on the two fine mansion houses in this area, Mount Vernon House would have been to his right, and further over beyond Barrachnie Pit spoil bings, and the trees that surrounded Baillieston House Estate and he mentions "The Major", the Major being one of the Maxwell's who owned the lands of Baillieston, Barrachnie East (called Ladyhill on old Census and Valuation Rolls) and Garrowhill, The term "The Major" he uses is a bit of a puzzle as the only Major Maxwell would have been Major James Maxwell who died in 1833 around 97 years before Dan's last walk! And some 26 years before Dan was even born which suggests it was a walk his father or even grandfather had taken him as a boy as there is simply no other way he would have known that a Major James Maxwell once lived in Baillieston House. The owners after the Major were John Maxwell who was a business man an investor who had investments in mining in the UK (coal and iron) and abroad (gold). He was also a renowned Entomologist, but was not a military man. Then JM Scott-Maxwell JP BSc the owner during Dan's walk who reached the level of Captain in the Royal Engineers in WWI.
--------------------------------
Next I have added Dan's section on the mansion we knew as The Golden Gates
But the original name of Mount Vernon was called "Windyedge", but in 1758 when it was bought by George Buchanan, one of the Virginia Merchants, builder of the famous Virginia Mansion in town. An ancestor of the Buchannan's of Drumpellier, he built his Country House here, and gave it the name of the estate of his friend, George Washington, which adjoined his own in Virginia, hence Mount Vernon House. But to continue your walk down Mount Vernon Avenue, and two or three hundred yards to your left of the road you see one of the oldest farms in the district owned by the Bairds of Burnt Broom. At the foot of the avenue, the London Road that begins at the Glasgow Cross end at the foot of Mount Vernon Avenue, where the Corporation car runs to Uddingston and Glasgow only separates them, there is a beautiful Mansion, the last house at the foot of the Avenue and about thirty years ago it was christened the "Golden Gates". It has a history. Fifty years ago Mr. Christie, Colonel Buchanan's Land Estate Factor, lived in it. When he left, Mr. Roxburgh, the Proprietor of the Britannia Theatre, Glasgow, bought the house and spent a large amount of money in renovating the whole of the estate with the interior and exterior of the whole surroundings, a beautiful new dyke and costly panels and large gates all which were painted gold, hence it was called the Golden gates. When the Corporation was widening the roads, etc. the dykes, panels, gates etc. were all taken down and replaced many yards back.
------------------------------
We are down on Hamilton Road now and what a different sight this is now compared to what it was even like in the 1950's, never mind the 1930's. I remember a walk my father used to take me in the 1950's which took us from Muirside Road in Baillieston down the Old Wood Road. We then skirted around the south side of the Maxwell Baillieston House Estate and over to Garrowhill Brickwork, and the site of the old Barrachnie Pit. From here we followed a track down through the brickwork stock yard, then swung right passed the large shale bing from the pit, and then on to Burntbroom Road to the junction where it emerged at Hamilton Road. I remember vividly that this was my first feeling of complete disorientation as we emerged from the Burntbroom Farm Road and in front of me was something I did not expect to see, tramlines, the only tramlines in my world were on Glasgow Road Baillieston, I though we had gone in a circle, yet even as a wee 5 or 6 year or boy knew I had not.
The Hamlet of Boghall sat on the bend of Hamilton Road just at the junction of Daldowie Road. Broomhouse railway station was also here, however Dan makes no mention of it. I remember the NBR Railway Bridge crossing Daldowie Road and used to shelter under if I got off the bus on Hamilton Road and had to walk up passed the old Mt Vernon dog track under the Caledonian Railway and up the Old Wood Road. I also remember the derelict Boghall terraced houses from when I used to get the red bus Nos 240, 241, 56 over to Motherwell College in 1967. I seem to recall they were finally demolished in 1967.
Dan doesn't mention walking through Broomhouse ,or mention the very old Mailcoach Inn or on the opposite side of Hamilton Road Bonnie Annie's (re-named The Smugglers Inn around the mid 1960's). The Mailcoach still is one of the oldest Inns in Scotland.
--------------------------------------------
Dan has now reached his destination "THE SHEDDINGS" roadmeetings that sits between Broomhouse (West), Calderpark (North), Daldowie (South) and Roundknowe (East). What he would have seen here was, to his right the gates that was the entrance to the Calderpark Estate, directly across the A74 the gates to the Daldowie Estate and the striking Beech tree topped mound of Mount Lockhart which was an Alluvial Mound deposited from the last Ice Age some ~22,000 years ago. Chuckie Hill further into the Daldowie Estate was another Alluvial Mound. There was a small entrance on the South side of the ~50ft high Chuckie Hill, which some websites believe to have been the entrance to what was the Daldowie estate Ice House. I used to dog walk passed this feature in the early 70's and I recall a small plaque saying it was a small place of reflection, a chapel, however at one time in the past it may have been the entrance to an Ice House as it would have been an ideal site for it.
The term "SHEDDINGS" is quite a common term across the the UK including N. Ireland at old road meetings, however in these two locations Shettleston and Broomhouse which had a connecting roads called both named "OLD EDINBURGH ROAD" part of which ~1km became Roundknowe Road when the M73 was cut through the gap where Bredisholm House was in the North Calder Valley, but that original Roman Road ran through, or connected to, another Road where Hamilton Road is and on to Tollcross.
On this occasion Dan does not venture as far out as Calder Bridge but he feels he must mention a feature in the Easter Daldowie estate which he viewed from the old Calder Bridge in previous times.
Dan wrote:
Further eastwards comes the beautiful wooded parklands of Daldowie and the scenery on both sides of the Calder where it runs into the Clyde at that particular place is well worth a visit even looking at it from the New Calder Bridge on the main road through Broomhouse. At that spot there is a wood called the "Twelve Streets of Jerusalem" but many of the trees have been cut down and is barer now but about forty years ago I looked through the wood hundreds of times and could always find a straight street with beautiful tall trees on each side, and from any angle you find the same.
Below from old Maps circa 1850s I have circled what I believe was the "12 Streets" Dan's ornamental wooded area. It is approximately 70 x 50metres.
This must have been what Dan McAleer refers to as the 12 Streets of Jerusalem and it is the only feature that could be fit Dan's description at the confluence of the North Calder and Clyde and is on the Bothwell side of the Calder not the Daldowie side.
I know the Daldowie estate well as previously mentioned and an ornamental wood on the Daldowie side would not have been possible as it rises steeply up from that point where the North Calder meets the Clyde where the Crematorium Chapels and carparks are now.
This area East of Daldowie around 1890 acquired the name MARYVILLE and there is no reason why. It could have been named after someone who inherited the estate which stretched from Clydeside up to Birkenshaw. However my research suggests that Mary Queen of Scots must have travelled through this estate and the main road south crossed the North Calder at this very point. There was a well here also at the point and I have read that the name could have derived from Marys Well. We can only speculate.
------------------------
Now used to house Roman Catholic priests who hold masses in Greyfriars Chapel and who also minister further afield. Originally called Clydeside, James Cross of Clydeside is listed in the 1840 Statistical Accounts as one of the 45 heritor's in Bothwell Parish, owning 105 Scots acres. The property passed by marriage from the Cross family to the Barrs. Margaret, the last member of the Barr family, died there on 13th May 1948 (her ghost is reputedly still there) and Clydeside was then taken over by Franciscan monks in 1949. The chapel to the rear was formed by converting the old stable block.
Historically: The "12 Streets of Jerusalem" refers to a symbolic concept, not a literal set of streets within the Old City of Jerusalem. It's related to the New Jerusalem described in the Book of Revelation, which is said to have 12 gates, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. These gates and the 12 tribes symbolize the completeness and fulfillment of God's plan.
My view:
It is difficult to see how 12 gates would fit into this ornamental wood which looks as if it is inside a sort of walled garden. It is approx 70 metres x 50 metres, so it is neither small or large. I considered 2 gates at each corner 8 and 4 on the cross giving us 12. I also noticed six trees to both the left and right sides of the square.
There is no doubt that this is the 12 Streets of Jerusalem that Dan is talking about:
The date of this map puts it at a time when it would have been perfect with no missing trees
It has sides as he mentions
It has straight lines of trees, or streets as he calls them
It is right at the confluence of the North Calder and the Clyde.
There is no other ornamental wooded area on this 1850 and 1870 maps
Historical extract form Wikipedia
The roads into Jerusalem, specifically the stepped street connecting the Temple Mount to the southern gates, were likely built under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, around 30AD
I am going to mention a comment Stewart Jackson wrote in his book on Baillieston "My Ain Folk" that tells us that information was hidden from the public, and that comment was:
"The gentry of this area imparted nothing or very little to the past history of the village"
I can understand why the "Gentry" done this, it could have hindered any developments they had for their lands and I can see councillors and town planners doing likewise
Dan walked back to Shettleston along Tollcross Road to Killin Street and Eastmuir.
(The words are not mine and was information held by the Zoo's last director Richard O'Grady and his predecessors)
The road which led past and partly through Calderpark was thus the work of the Antoninus - as Antoninus Pius and his troops were called - during the period 138 - 161 AD Remains of a Roman station at Bothwellhaugh, at the junction of South Calder with the Clyde, was discovered in 1937.
Bothwellhaugh is approximately the centre point on the road, frequently mentioned as Watling Street, which leads from Castledykes (Lanark) to Balmuidy and Castlehill on the Antonine Wall.
Going in a north-westerly direction from Bothwellhaugh, the road passes Birkenshaw and must have been an ideal foundation for the Old Edinburgh Road; then it goes in a generally westerly direction along a slope lined by a row of trees, just alongside Calderpark.
The North Calder Water was then forded at a shallow point near the zoo and, from there the road went straight to Tollcross, again probably right through the southern borders of Calderpark.
It is assumed that from Tollcross, Glasgow would have been entered on the route, which is now the Great Eastern Road, i.e. Drygate, Port Dundas, Possilpark to the fort of Balmuidy on the Antonine Wall. Thus, Balmuidy and Castlecary on the Antonine Wall became the northern terminals on the communication line from Castledykes at the southern end of Watling Street.
1780 map of East Baillieston estates
1800 William Forrest Baillieston map
2024 map of same location
This link below describes what estate Landowners / Lairds all over Scotland done with regards to the lack of trees where once forests were, especially Oak trees which the Henry VIII basically stripped Scotland of to build the English fleet.
King James I of England VI of Scotland on a tour of Scotland commented with sadness on bare landscapes were forests once were . Although he didn't order tree planting the Lairds went on a planting frenzy.
This article explains what happened: Full Width Content Layout >> Mai Lifestyle Pro Theme Demo
One point I must touch on here is the Romans, and in this particular this part of Shettleston, and from what I saw from my research in Baillieston, Shettleston has these indicators, clues regarding their presence in this area. Dan mentions nothing of the Romans, yet Chester Street, South Chester Street built just before WWI circa 1910 should have interested Dan as that name is only used where there were Roman Forts and Roman Roads. Then Vesalius St. appears post WWI circa1920, Vesalius was the surgeon to the Holy Roman Emperor. I suspect their were some sort of Roman finds in this area that prompted the use of those names as was the case where ever Roman finds were made. Worth note also was that Roman coins were found in Springboig less than a mile away. And within the area of these streets A police Station and Clinic were built. Just what did the builders find there? And make no mistake, these names relate to something.
Chester Street - Suggesting a fort and road running south probably to Watling Street which was where Tollcross Road is perhaps even Baillieston and Shettleston Road were too, especially when it changes to Old Edinburgh Road at The Sheddings.
Vesalius Street - Andreas Vesalius was was surgeon who became a physician to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Glasgow history and websites state that they are mystified as to why this name was used for a street in Shettleston.
Old Shettleston Road - "Old" is a prefix commonly used by old town planners as a Roman indicator.