__NOTOC__ Blackhill ( gd, Cnoc Dubh) is an area of north east

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is directly bordered by the

M80 motorway The M80 is a motorway in Scotland's central belt, running between Glasgow and Stirling via Cumbernauld and Denny and linking the M8, M73 and M9 motorways. Following completion in 2011, the motorway is long. Despite being only a two lane m ...

to the west and the M8 motorway to the south. The neighbourhood falls within the North East ward under Glasgow City Council.

History

Blackhill was developed as a council housing estate in the 1930s. Most of the new development was designated ''Rehousing'', the lowest grade of council housing intended for those cleared from Glasgow's 19th century

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...

s, particularly those in the

Garngad Royston/Roystonhill is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde. It was previously known as Garngad and is still known as such by residents with a familial link to the area. It is notable for its large ...

(now Royston) area. The new buildings were three-storey, slate-roofed

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

s built of reconstituted stone. The eastern side of Blackhill, nearer to

Provanmill Provanmill is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It lies to the north east of the city centre. In the mid-19th century it was a small hamlet with a grain mill, blacksmith's, cartwright's and hostelry. As Glasgow expanded, it became p ...

and

Riddrie Riddrie ( gd, An Ruadh Ruigh) is a north-eastern district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies on the A80 Cumbernauld Road. Location and amenities Riddrie is a residential area mainly consisting of 1920s semi-detached houses, originally built as counc ...

, was designated ''Intermediate'', a grade up from ''Rehousing'', and housing was of the

cottage flat Cottage flats, also known as four-in-a-block flats, are a style of housing common in Scotland, where there are single floor dwellings at ground level, and similar dwellings on the floor above. All have doors directly to the outside of the buil ...

-type with front and rear gardens and a measure of landscaping in the streets ("Rehousing" areas cost £250 per house to build, while "Intermediate" areas cost £1000). The area has been historically been an area of deprivation and violence, and became notorious for ruthless crime gangs and drug dealing - however the local st.Paul’s church started a youth forum which aimed to combat these issues and create better lives and opportunities for the young people of Blackhill. Since starting up St.Paul’s has been responsible for a 96% decrease in violence within the area since 2006. MonklandCanalBlackhillLocks1

Blackhill was built on a country golf course (see

Glasgow Golf Club Glasgow Golf Club, founded in May 1787, is the ninth oldest golf club in the world. It has changed location several times during its history, but has been based at Killermont in Bearsden since 21 May 1904. The Club is unusual in also having a li ...

), near the

Monkland Canal The Monkland Canal was a canal designed to bring coal from the mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. In the course of a long and difficult construction process, it was opened progressively as short sections were completed, from 177 ...

with its Blackhill Locks. Many early residents report summers of country rambles, often along the

Molendinar Burn The Molendinar Burn is a burn in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the site of the settlement, Mellingdenor, that grew to become the kernel of Glasgow, and where St Mungo founded his church in the 6th century. It was later used to power the growing town ...

– now the only place this historic burn is still visible on the surface – to the

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

Hogganfield Hogganfield is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, located to the north east of the city centre. Hogganfield is surrounded by the Glasgow districts of Blackhill, Craigend, Millerston, Provanmill, Riddrie, Robroyston, Ruchazie and Step ...

. There was (and is) a strong sense of neighbourliness, partly encouraged by the enclosed nature of the site, due to industry, railways and main roads cutting it off from other districts. It was, however, built close to a gasworks (

Provan Gas Works Provan Gas Works is an industrial gas holding plant in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The plant lies between the Blackhill, Glasgow, Blackhill, Blochairn, Germiston, Glasgow, Germiston and Provanmill areas of the city, and was built by Glasgow Cor ...

) and a distillery, which did not add to the health of the area and, perhaps for this reason, it gained a reputation for being "''difficult to let''". Nearby is a prison,

HM Prison Barlinnie HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, ...

, which may also have encouraged negative evaluations of the area. Much of the 1930s housing was demolished in the early 1990s due to the construction of the M80 motorway, with the rest of the area redeveloped in the early 21st century, with all of its remaining tenement stock demolished and replaced with modest semi-detached houses. A landscaped park was created around the Molendinar Burn. A 2007 community survey''Blackhill View'' April '07 edition
reported residents' concerns were similar to those in other urban areas:

"''In the last issue we reported the findings of a local survey that helped to pinpoint the top 10 priority issues for your neighbourhood – things like road safety, litter and vandalism, dog fouling, dumping and youth disorder all featured strongly.''"

Notable residents

* Paul Ferris, writer and former gangster * Ian "Blink" MacDonald, former gangster * Arthur Thompson, Gangster

References

* Damer, Seán. ''Last exit to Blackhill : the stigmatization of a Glasgow housing scheme''. University of Glasgow, Centre for Housing Research, 1992 * Sparks, Ian. ''Working with a community : the Blackhill Project 1972-77'' Barkingside/Dr Barnardo's, (1978) {{Authority control Housing estates in Glasgow Areas of Glasgow

History

Notable residents

See also

References