Drumchapel ( gd, Druim a' Chapaill), known locally as 'The Drum', is a district in the north-west of the city of
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 borders
Bearsden
Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...
(in
East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bear ...
) to the north-east and
Drumry
Drumry is a district in the Scottish town of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, split into North and South Drumry by its main thoroughfare, Drumry Road. Some of the housing, including five tower blocks, was refurbished in the early 2010s.
North Dr ...
(part of
Clydebank
Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
, in
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter town ...
) to the south-west, as well as
Blairdardie
Blairdardie is a neighbourhood in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde in the north-west of the city and is surrounded by other residential areas: High Knightswood, Knightswood, Old Drumchapel, Drumchapel and G ...
,
Garscadden
Garscadden ( Gaelic: ''Gart Sgadan'') is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde. It lies between Yoker to the west, Scotstoun to the east and Knightswood to the north. It has a train station close ...
,
Knightswood
Knightswood is a suburban district in Glasgow, containing three areas: Knightswood North or High Knightswood, Knightswood South or Low Knightswood, and Knightswood Park. It has a golf course and park, and good transport links with the rest of th ...
and
Yoker
Yoker ( gd, An Eochair) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, on the northern bank of the Clyde east of Clydebank, west of the city centre. From the fourteenth century, the Renfrew Ferry has linked Yoker with Renfrew on the south bank. Although ...
in Glasgow to the south; land to the north (including the
Garscadden Wood
Garscadden Wood lies to the north of Drumchapel on the outskirts of Glasgow, 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 borde ...
lands) is undeveloped and includes the course of the Roman-era
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as ''Vallum Antonini'', was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twe ...
. The name derives from the Gaelic meaning 'the ridge of the horse'.
As part of the
overspill policy of
Glasgow Corporation
The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.
Local government
As one of ...
, a huge housing estate was built here in the 1950s to house 34,000 people, the land having been annexed from
Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders P ...
in 1938 – it is this estate that is now most associated with Drumchapel, despite there already being a neighbourhood to the south of
Drumchapel railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = Train leaving Drumchapel Station 2014.JPG
, caption = Drumchapel railway station, with a train departing the westbound platform
, borough ...
known by the same name, made up of affluent suburban villas; this is now known as
Old Drumchapel
Old Drumchapel is a neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located around Drumchapel railway station and formed part of the Cowdenhill and Garscadden Estates. It is situated to the south of the larger and newer Drumchapel housing estate, and ...
.
Drumchapel is one of the 'Big Four' post-war
social housing schemes in Glasgow, along with
Easterhouse
Easterhouse is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, east of the city centre on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire as part of an expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. The area is on high ground north of the River Clyde and south ...
,
Castlemilk
Castlemilk ( gd, Caisteal Mheilc) is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the far south of the city centre, adjacent to the Croftfoot and Simshill residential areas within the city to the north-west, the town of Rutherglen - neighbourhoo ...
and Greater
Pollok
Pollok ( gd, Pollag, lit=a pool, sco, Powk) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,0 ...
. All are similar in terms of architecture and planning, and have tended to suffer from a similar range of enduring social problems, notably
anti-social behaviour
Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...
and degeneration of often poorly constructed post-war housing. However, the area remains popular with many of its residents and more recently there has been substantial private investment including the construction of new housing developments in the north-west of the district.
History
Drumchapel was part of the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
of
New Kilpatrick
New Kilpatrick, (also known as East Kilpatrick or Easter Kilpatrick) is an ecclesiastical Parish and former Civil Parish in Dunbartonshire. It was formed in 1649 from the eastern half of the parish of Kilpatrick (also known as Kirkpatrick), the w ...
, becoming devolved in the late 19th century and a church parish in its own right in 1923. The Old Church (originally serving both Drumchapel and Blairdardie) was built in 1901 for an increasing local population. The parish boundary was redrawn to create the new parish of
St Margarets in Knightswood.
Civil
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
transferred from New Kilpatrick to Glasgow Corporation in 1938. As part of the
overspill policy of
Glasgow Corporation
The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.
Local government
As one of ...
, a huge housing estate was built here in the 1950s.
The area suffered a tragedy in 1994 when a double-decker bus carrying a group of local
Girl Guides
Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...
crashed into one of the low rail bridges in the city's
Tradeston
Tradeston () is a small district in the Scottish city of Glasgow adjacent to the city centre on the south bank of the River Clyde.
Geography
Tradeston is bounded by the River Clyde to the north, the Glasgow to Paisley railway line to the so ...
area (the driver was unfamiliar with the route and was being led by a guide leader in a car); two 10-year-old girls, an 11-year-old girl and two adult supervisors were killed in the incident and 15 other children injured, six of them seriously.
Geography
The housing in the area is now 72% post-war tenement and 6% multi-storey flats, the remainder being other flats and houses. The current population was estimated in 2002 at 15,000, which was split across 6,000 households. The population of Drumchapel fell by 22% between 1996 and 2012 to 13,000. The proportion of people in the area from ethnic minority groups increased over the same time to 5%, which remains well below average for Glasgow (12%). Life expectancy in the area is about five years less than the average for Glasgow (male 69 years, female 74 years).
Socio-economically, the area is not affluent. In 2011/12, 48% of children were classed as living in poverty, and 57% of the population were
NRS social grade
The NRS social grades are a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. They were originally developed by the National Readership Survey (NRS) to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider appli ...
D or E. 56% of households were single-parent. 21% of young people were not in education, employment or training. Just 22% of the population own their own home, about half the average figure for Glasgow.
Economy
The major employers for Drumchapel from the 1950s to the 1980s were the Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co (GB) Ltd, Beattie's Biscuit Factory, Singers Sewing Machines (Clydebank), The Reo Stakis Organisation – Hills Hotel and Rigg Public Bar, The Golden Garter Night Club and The Butty Public Bar,
The Edrington Group
Edrington (legally The Edrington Group Ltd.) is a privately owned international spirits company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It produces Single malt Scotch, single malts The Macallan, Highland Park Single Malt, Highland Park, The Glenrothes dist ...
Whisky Bond and the various shipyards on the Clyde. Beattie's Biscuit factory closed in 1978 and the Goodyear and Singers factories both closed in February 1979. Reo Stakis's Hills Hotel and Rigg Public Bar along with The Golden Garter Night Club closed in June 1988.
The Butty Public Bar was sold to Scottish & Newcastle Breweries and is still going strong with Billy Bryson, the manager for over 30 years, now holding the lease. The Edrington Group Whisky Bond has grown over the years and is still a major employer in the area, while the shipyards have all gone with the exception of the now BAE Systems yards at Scotstoun and Govan. Drumchapel is now going through its second regeneration, with promises of better schools, better homes and higher employment.
Notable residents
*
Amal Azzudin
Amal Azzudin (born 1990) is a Somali-Scottish campaigner and activist who co-founded the Glasgow Girls, a group of seven young women who campaigned against the harsh treatment of asylum-seekers in response to the detention of one of their friend ...
, asylum activist
[The Glasgow Girls 15 years on: How seven inspirational schoolgirls sparked Glasgow's social conscience](_blank)
Glasgow Live, 8 August 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2022
*
Billy Connolly
Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
, comedian
*
Tommy Cunningham
Thomas Cunningham (born 22 June 1964, Drumchapel, Glasgow) is a Scottish musician, best known as the drummer for Wet Wet Wet.
Biography
Cunningham's father, Tom Sr., bought his son his first drum kit in 1977, "down the Social Club for £15 ...
, musician
*
Andy Gray, international footballer
*
James Kelman
James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His novel '' A Disaffection'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. Kelman won ...
, writer
*
George Kerevan
George Kerevan (born 28 September 1949) is a Scottish journalist, economist, and politician. He was the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for East Lothian from 2015, until he lost his seat at the snap 2017 general elec ...
, journalist and politician
*
John MacDonald, footballer
[A love affair bordering on an obsession](_blank)
The Herald, 17 August 1996. Retrieved 21 April 2022
*
Christina McAnea, trade union leader
*
James McAvoy
James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes ...
, actor
*
Danny McGrain
Daniel Fergus McGrain (born 1 May 1950) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played for Celtic, Hamilton Academical and the Scotland national team as a right back. McGrain is regarded as one of Scotland's greatest players and thr ...
, international footballer
*
Roza Salih
Roza Salih (born 1989) is a Kurdish-born, Scottish politician and human rights activist. In 2005, at the age of 15, she co-founded the Glasgow Girls with fellow pupils from Drumchapel High School. The Glasgow Girls campaigned to stop the UK Border ...
, asylum activist
*
George Seawright
George Seawright (1951 – 3 December 1987) was a Scotland, Scottish-born Unionists (Ireland), unionist politician in Northern Ireland and Ulster loyalism, loyalist paramilitary in the Ulster Volunteer Force. He was assassinated by the Irish Pe ...
, politician and paramilitary in Northern Ireland
*
Jim Sheridan
Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish playwright and filmmaker.
Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed two critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, ''My Left Foot'' and ''In the Name of the Father'', and later directed the film ...
, politician
*
Sharon Small
Sharon Small is a Scottish actress known for her work in film, radio, theatre, and television. Perhaps best known for her portrayal of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers in the BBC television adaptation of ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'' by ...
, actress
*
Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to:
In politics
*Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church
* Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician
* Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...
, footballer
*
Gregor Stevens, footballer
*
Brian Whittingham
Brian Whittingham (1950 – 19 January 2022) was a Scottish writer, editor and lecturer on creative writing.
Early life and career
Brian Whittingham was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1950. He lived in a council tenement in Drumchapel until the ...
, writer
*
Brian Wright, footballer
See also
*
Glasgow tower blocks
Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, has several distinct styles of residential buildings, and since its population began to grow rapidly the 18th century has been at the forefront of some large-scale projects to deal with its housing issues, ...
References
External links
*
Glasgow West Regeneration AreaOverspill Policy and the Glasgow Slum Clearance Project in the Twentieth Century: From One Nightmare to Another?article by Lauren Paice,
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...
, 2008
Drumchapel: The Frustration Game 1989 documentary on living conditions in the area
{{Areas of Glasgow
Housing estates in Glasgow
New Kilpatrick
Areas of Glasgow