Bearsden & Westerton
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The Bearsden Shark
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330,000,000 BC
This is a plaster cast – the original fossil is housed in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow University. The conditions in the shallow tropical seas of the Carboniferous period left Scotland with a wealth of well-preserved shark fossils. The fossil, ‘Akmonistion zangerli’ (affectionately known as ‘The Bearsden Shark’), is a complete skeleton of a 330 million year old shark, a species previously unknown to science. It was discovered by Stan Wood in the shale beds of the Manse Burn in Bearsden in 1981. The detail of the fossil reveals blood vessels and remnants of muscles, even the remains of the shark’s last meal can be seen inside its stomach. Edwin Morgan wrote a poem celebrating its discovery.
Location of Origin: Bearsden
Location Now: Lillie Art Gallery
Date: 330,000,000 BC
Size/Dimensions: 42.5cm X 78.5cm (Framed)
Locations:
Nail and three hazel nuts from the Bearsden Roman Dig
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c 150
The Antonine Wall in East Dunbartonshire has been excavated on numerous occasions. The Glasgow Archaeological Society undertook the earliest scientific investigation of the visible remains in 1890 – 93.
Excavations and archaeological work, in the vicinity of Peel Park, for example, was carried out in 1899, 1906, 1914, 1952 - 1961, 1975, 1978 - 1979, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2002 and 2006.
A series of excavations began in Bearsden in 1973 and by 1982 a fairly comprehensive plan of the fort was possible. The stonework of the bathhouse discovered in 1973, constitutes the most impressive single building to be seen along the Antonine Wall.
Analysis of sewage deposits to the east of the bathhouse indicated that the soldiers’ diet included raspberries and figs. Coriander and poppy seeds, also found, were probably used in flavouring wholemeal bread. Hunting was a popular off-duty activity among Roman soldiers. The presence of animal bones indicates that some meat was consumed, although it is thought that the diet was primarily vegetarian with amounts of cereal products.
From the late 18th century onwards, objects from the Antonine Wall began to be discovered as a result of industrial development including the construction of roads, the Forth and Clyde canal, the growth of towns and villages and the intensification of farming. Many of the objects went to the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow which was the only public museum in existence at that time in Scotland.
Maker/Manufacturer: The Romans
Location of Origin: Roman Road, Bearsden
Location Now: Auld Kirk Museum
Date: c 150
Materials: Iron
Locations:
Buchanan Retreat, Bearsden
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c 1900
Postcard of the Buchanan Retreat, Bearsden, built by the Buchanan sisters of Bellfield, Ayrshire in 1890 as a home for those with the surname Buchanan who had fallen on hard times. The surname restriction was later lifted and it became a home for elderly men. Renamed Boclair House, it was acquired by Bearsden Burgh Council and was officially opened as council offices by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowden in 1962. It continued to be used by subsequent local councils, most recently by East Dunbartonshire Council until 2012. It is now a boutique hotel and wedding venue.
Location of Origin: Bearsden
Location Now: East Dunbartonshire Local Studies Collection
Date: c 1900
Size/Dimensions: 10 x 8 ins
Materials: Photographic print (copy of original)
Archive Reference Number: P31062
Locations:
Bearsden school building plan
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1909-1910
This is a section of a larger building plan showing the new public school to be built at Bearsden Cross. The school was originally called New Kilpatrick Public School but was later known as Bearsden Academy. The building now houses Bearsden Primary School.
Location of Origin: Bearsden
Location Now: East Dunbartonshire Archives, Brookwood Library, Bearsden G61 3RJ
Date: 1909-1910
Archive Reference Number: SC12/3/1
Locations:
Westerton Garden Suburb new houses
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1913
This photograph shows visitors being given a tour of the newly constructed houses at Westerton as part of the Glasgow Garden Suburb scheme. Westerton was the first garden suburb in Scotland.
Maker/Manufacturer: A Blackadder, 13 West Nile Street, Glasgow
Location of Origin: Westerton
Date: 1913
Locations:
Architect's drawing, Westerton
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c 1913
In 1910 a lecture given by a Manchester Councillor, T R Marr, inspired a group of prominent Glasgow business men to build a garden suburb for Glasgow. A public meeting was held in early 1911 and local interest in the plan was strong, so in 1912 the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd was officially registered. This was to be the first garden suburb built in Scotland. The Committee of Management included Sir John Stirling Maxwell, and other influential Glasgow men, such as Sir Samuel Chisholm, and Mr M Boyd Auld. The suburb was to be a co-partnership; each tenant purchased five shares at a value of £10 each - paid in instalments if they could not afford to pay the £50 at once - for which they would receive a small dividend, held by the company on their behalf. They would also pay a small rent, and rent and dividends would pay for repairs. When the tenant left the suburb they could either retain the investment, or take the capital.
The Committee of Management considered three possible locations for the suburb: Cathcart, Giffnock and Garscube. The proposals for Cathcart fell through, Giffnock did not have a satisfactory train service, and so the Committee settled on Garscube after negotiations with the North British Railway Company, who agreed to construct a station at the site. The suburb was built largely on what was South Westerton Farm, and for twenty years the suburb stood very much on its own, surrounded by open countryside.
The houses were designed by the Glasgow based architect, John A W Grant in an English Suburban style which originated out of the Arts and Crafts movement. The first 45 houses to be built were in Stirling Avenue and Maxwell Avenue (named after Sir John Maxwell Stirling). The opening ceremony and laying of the foundation stone took place on 19 April 1913, and the houses were ready for occupancy by May. Building continued on a further 15 houses, which were completed by early 1914, and by 1915 a total of 84 houses had been built - the suburb now consisting of 3 streets: Stirling and Maxwell Avenues, and North View. By this time, however, the First World War made further expansion impossible and so the suburb was completed at two thirds of its originally intended size.
By the 1980s the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd was in financial difficulties; rents remained too low to cover the cost of repairs which increased as the properties got older. In 1988 the company was wound up and the tenants became owners of their houses. Westerton Garden Suburb Residents Association now maintains the remaining land once owned by the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd.
Maker/Manufacturer: John A W Grant, 136 Wellington Street, Glasgow
Location of Origin: Westerton
Location Now: East Dunbartonshire Archives, Brookwood Library, Bearsden G61 3RJ
Date: c 1913
Archive Reference Number: GD315/5/2/6
Locations:
Schaw Convalescent Home
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1914-1918
Wounded servicemen on the steps of Schaw Convalescent Home during the First World War with Matron Scott and Nurses Scrivener (on the left) and Rae.
Location of Origin: Bearsden
Location Now: East Dunbartonshire Local Studies Collection
Date: 1914-1918
Size/Dimensions: 10 x 8 ins
Materials: Photographic print (copy of original)
Archive Reference Number: A378668
Locations:
Bus at Bearsden Cross
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c 1930
A Rankin Bros Albion bus on the Glasgow-Drymen route at Bearsden Cross. The war memorial to the left of the photo was erected in 1924. The format of the number plate on the bus - two letters and four numbers - was used for vehicles registered between 1903 and the mid 1930s.
Location of Origin: Bearsden
Location Now: East Dunbartonshire Local Studies Collection
Date: c 1930
Size/Dimensions: 10 x 8 ins
Materials: Photographic print (copy of original)
Archive Reference Number: P31009
Locations:
Milngavie & Bearsden Herald
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1953
The newspaper was founded in 1901 and is still in print today. This edition is from 1 August 1953 and the front page includes the Bearsden Rio cinema listings (Appointment in London starring Dirk Bogarde was showing), and an advert for dancing at the Bearsden Public Halls to the 'Merry Mac Septet'. A full set of back issues of the newspaper is available at Brookwood Library in Bearsden.
Maker/Manufacturer: Milngavie & Bearsden Herald (now Johnston Press)
Location of Origin: Bearsden
Location Now: East Dunbartonshire Local Studies
Date: 1953
Locations:
Westerton rail ticket
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1959
This is an Edmondson type, British Rail, 2nd Class weekly season railway ticket for the journey from Westerton into Glasgow. These pre-printed cards were named after their inventor, Thomas Edmondson, and were widely used from the 1840s until the 1980s when they were superceded by computerised systems.
Maker/Manufacturer: British Transport Commission
Location of Origin: Westerton
Location Now: Auld Kirk Museum
Date: 1959
Accession Number: KITAK: 2016.5
Locations:
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