The main gates to Victoria Park were originally at the end of Park Street (now Victoria Park Street). Construction of the Clydeside Expressway resulted in the main gates being moved to their current location on Victoria Park Drive North at the foot of Airthrey AvenueVictoria Park Street is part of the Gordon Park Estate, now a conservation area within Whiteinch

Victoria Park original entrance

Whiteinch Heritage Trail - loop from Library to Whiteinch Centre

Whiteinch Library

Built in 1877 (average attendance 340 pupils), the original Whiteinch Public School rapidly expanded mostly due to the burgeoning shipbuilding industry in the area. By 1885 the school was bursting with 696 pupils, and so an additional building was opened on the same land (now the current Whiteinch primary school). The respite was short lived however and by 1899 the two buildings had 1,336 pupils necessitating the building of a separate annexeThe original Whiteinch Public School on Glendore Street is currently home to Whiteinch Nursery

In 1915 this building was opened as an extension to the original Whiteinch Public School. No longer in use as a regular school, this building is called Ladywell School and is used as a temporary location for Glasgow schools undergoing modernisation or similar work

Whiteinch Public School additional building (now Ladywell School)

Here you see the current school buildingBuilt in 19xx

Whiteinch Primary School

Balshagray Estate is first mentioned in 1509 when it formed part of the Great See of GlasgowIn 1641 Balshagray House was built by John Stewart, the last member of that family to be associated with the estate. William Crawford of Jordanhill found the house in poor condition but repaired it and added offices and a garden

William Crawford created Balsahgray Avenue, the main thoroughfare from Dumbarton Road to the north. The start of this magnificent avenue was taken away to form the approach road to the Clyde Tunnel, Balsahgray Avenue now starts at the northerly corner of Victoria Park and runs up to Crow Road. From the hump backed bridge you can see the 4 lanes of traffic going up what was once a peaceful avenueBalshagray had many large houses including Oswald Villa (built for the minister of Whiteinch Free Church) and Northfield Villa (manse for Partick High Free Church)

Balshagray Avenue

The Avenue Cinema was opened in 1913 on the site of an old music hall. The Avenue belonged to Scotstoun Pictures &amp; Varieties Ltd and had 700 seats. Shortly after in 1919 the company sold it and the new owners reopened it in 1930 as the Victoria. A further change of ownership and name took palce in 1945 when is was sold to Associated GP Cinemas and became the Victory Theatre. It was rebuilt again in 1949 and bought by the Loray Cinema circuit in 1956, finally closing its doors in 1964It was used as a warehouse for a number of years before being demolished in 1981. Gem Carpets now site on this siteAs well as the Commodore and Avenue, Whiteinch also boasted a third cinema, the Premier, which was converted for cinema use from the Victoria Billiard Hall in Dumbarton Road. It was short-lived, opening in 1922 and closing in 1930

Avenue Cinema/Victory Theatre

Whiteinch Lesser Burgh Hall

Whiteinch Police Station was attached to Whiteinch Lesser Burgh Hall on Oswald Street (now Inchlee Street). Starting out with only two policemen, it quickly became necessary to increase the number to cope with the growing population of Whiteinch.In 1906 the Chief Inspector for Partick increased the number to include one inspector but by 1908 he had added a third constable and a second inspector. Additional cells were added in 1906The burgh used an old ambulance wagon for picking up inebriates and for conveying prisoners from Whiteinch to Partick. The cost of whipping juveniles in 1906 was £1, 4s, 6d per quarter (this equates to about £410/annum at today's rate of inflation)

Whiteinch Police Station

Sited on the corner of Oswald/George Street (now Inchlee/Medwyn Street)  the fire station sat beside the Whiteinch Police Station and Whiteinch Lesser Burgh Hall.No mention of a fire station at that location is found on maps from 1915 onwardsA contemporary account suggests there were three firemen available for duty .....Whiteinch had " a small fire brigade which consisted of James Hardie, the plumber, Sandy MacArthur the carpenter and Mic Cochrane, the joiner, with a handbarrow containing the hose and ladder etc."

Whiteinch Fire Station

The Whiteinch Public Baths and Wash-house were built next to the public halls and the building contained <ul><li>a large pool 75 feet by 35 feet 6 inches</li><li>a small pool of 40 feet by 20 feet</li><li>sixteen slipper baths for ladies and thirty-one for men</li><li>forty-three wash stalls</li><li>sixteen washing machines</li><li>a Turkish bath with room for twenty people (from 1926)</li><li>sun lamps were installed in the 1930s.</li></ul>

Whiteinch Baths was built in 1889 situated on Medwyn Street (formerly George Street until Whiteinch became part of Glasgow)Whiteinch Public Baths and Wash-house was constructed between 1923 and 1926 by the Office of Public Works and opened on 28 October 1926https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB32278Whiteinch Public Baths was constructed between 1923 and 1926 by the Office of Public Works and opened on 28 October 1926. It was once a much larger complex that had two swimming pools, including additional baths for women and men, and a Turkish bath. The retained central pavilion of the baths makes a good contribution to the streetscape, and is rare as a building type as not many early 20th century baths now survive. The unusual brick and Edwardian Baroque style represents a well-detailed example of civic architecture, and it continues to makes an important contribution to an area of the city which has been largely redeveloped. The baths closed in the 1990s and were vacant until redeveloped into housing in 2008.

Whiteinch Baths and Wash-house

The first house in Clydeview was built in 1838 at the corner of Dumbarton Road and Balshagray Avenue. While the roof was being put on it, the builders were allowed special leave to go to the Glasgow Green celebrations for the coronation of Queen VictoriaDuring the nineteenth century the prestigious Clydeview on the north side of Dumbarton Rd houses had uninterrupted views across the River Clyde and many of the houses were owned by the wealthy business owners of the time. Tenements were later built on the south side of the road to house the incoming workers; ironic that these tenements blocked the views of the earlier houses

The area of Clydeview stretched all the way from Haldane Street to Thornwood roundabout. Terraces of high class houses were demolished to make way for the Clyde Tunnel and its approach roads. Modern housing was later erected on the land unclaimed by the TunnelClydeview House occupied a prestigious spot at Thornwood roundabout but was replaced by Balshagray School in 1902. The building went on to become the Balshagray campus for Anniesland College. Around 2017-18 it was converted into luxury flats and penthouses; the swimming pool block and janitor's house were demolished and replaced by a newer building

Clydeview (demolished area)

Gordon Oswald of Scotstoun Estate donated the site at the corner of Victoria Park Street and Dumbarton Road for a permanent church, also giving £500 to the building fund. Such was the size of its congregation that in 1900 the church opened a Mission Hall in Fore Street (Scotstoun) to meet the needs of people moving into that district. In 1924 the 214th Glasgow Boys Brigade Company was formed in association with the church, and the company's pipe band was world champion on a number of occasionsAfter the union between the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland in 1929 a proposal was put forward to rename the building Whiteinch West Church of Scotland, but the congregation decided that Gordon Park Church was more fitting, as that name included a tribute to the man who had been such a generous benefactor to it.Gordon Park Church closed in 1980 when its congregation amalgamated with that of Jordanvale Parish Church; the building was subsequently taken over by a furniture shop followed by Nova Bathrooms and is now Victoria Park Kindergarten

Whiteinch United Free Church was completed in 1877, its halls were completed slightly earlier in 1874. Oswald Villa at the top of Balshagray Avenue was its first manseWhiteinch United Free Church originated in 1873 in Jenkin's Cooking Depot at the corner of Squire Street and South Street. Only 4 short years later they were able to move into this magnificent building

Gordon Park Church (formerly Whiteinch United Free Church)

The Gordon Park area of Whiteinch consists of Victoria Park Street, Elm Street, Lime Street and Bowling Green Road and is bordered by Dumbarton Road, Victoria Park Drive South and Westland Drive.The Oswald family owned the Scotstoun Estate until the last decade of the 19th century when James Gordon Oswald died in 1897. It was he who initiated the development of this area for housing for estate workers in 1885. The area became known later as Gordon Park.His idea was to provide good quality housing with a church and recreation hall for his estate workers. He also donated part of the estate to the Burgh of Partick for the creation of Victoria Park in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.During the war, on March 13 1941, 10 properties at 19 to 27 Lime Street, 24 and 26 Westland Drive and 53 to 56 Victoria Park Drive South were badly damaged by a German bombing raid. The houses were in a direct line of the likely target, the Barclay Curle Shipyard

Gordon Park Estate

At the end of the green open space of the nature trail and with Victoria Park Lane North on the left it is a short distance to the junction of Westland Drive and the busy Clydeside Expressway. The pavement to the left is your route up Westland Drive.  

Westland Drive starts in Whiteinch at Dumbarton road with Victoria Park Bowling Green on your left. It then crosses the Clydeside Expressway continuing past Victoria Park to the double roundabouts at the end of Danes Drive, and slowly climbs up past St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Jordanhill before levelling out again at the top of the nature trail

Westland Drive

Established in 1903 Victoria Park Bowling Club sits on the corner of Westland Drive and Dumbarton Road surrounded by hedging. Two entrance gates allow access, a secluded one at the approach to the Clydeside Expressway underpass and a more prominent one at the T junction, both have the name and year of opening on the the metal gates Follow the signposted pathway towards the Clydeside Expressway underpass to reach the southern end of Victoria Park Nature Walk.

Victoria Park Bowling Club

Situated on Dumbarton Road, now occupied by St Paul's primary school janny

Scotstoun Villa

Site now occupied by an Esso petrol station with a Tesco ExpressBack in the 1960s there was a BP petrol station alongside an Esso petrol station

Burnbank House

The original Granny Gibb’s was situated where the Thornwood roundabout sits. The old cottage was built by Mr Gibb in 1790s, when he passed away his wife Elizabeth and her daughter ran this old howff for many years. She was very strict and never permitted travellers to drink or leave the premises on a Sunday.

Granny Gibbs is the only pub in the Whiteinch areaA pub called Victoria Park was built in 1991 on this site, a very spartan building which looked more like a petrol station than a public house

Granny Gibbs

formed in 1906. Stone church built 1930

Whiteinch Baptist Church

Later the Odeon, Built on the site of a roller skating rink called the Palladium.This site originally occupied by the Whiteinch Roller Skating Rink became a cinema called the Palladium in 1910, opened by Scotstoun palladium Ltd with a capacity of 480. In 1924 the Palladium closed and in 1933 Singleton Cinemas opened the Commodore; the suggested name of Broadway was rejected. Holding 2,000 people the Commodore had a very clear link to the shipping theme in Whiteinch. The cinema was sold to the Odeon chain in 1936 and it closed in 1967 following a downturn in cinema attendances. It was used as a bingo hall for short while before being demolished in 1976There was an adjacent cafe called the Commodore Cafe, part of the tenements.The flats now occupying the land are aptly named Palladium Place

Commodore Cinema

The original Whiteinch Bowling Cub was on Edzell Street tucked in behind the modern Whiteinch Medical Practise on Dumbarton RoadBy 1926 the club had moved to premises behind the villas in Clydeview, alongside Broomhill Bowling Club. Clydeview in it's entirety was demolished to make way for the Clydeside ExpresswayWhiteinch now has no outdoor bowling facilities; Whiteinch Indoor Bowling Club is on 30 Ferryden Street

Whiteinch Bowling Club

This building is one of only two remaining buildings from the 1800s, the other is Inchview which is tucked in behind Gem Carpets on Dumbarton Road close to the Clyde Tunnel entrance

Jordanvale House (now St Paul's Chapel House)

Without doubt the most appealing part of this building is the massive expanse of stained glass behind the High Alter depicting the missionary life of Saint PaulTwo more stained glass windows are to be found at the Lady Chapel (to the right of the High Alter) and in the Baptismal Chamber to the right of the church entrance doors - the glass is set in the domed ceiling directly above the baptismal fontThe creator of the beautiful windows was Gabriel Lore who passed Away on the 25th of December 1996

The Parish of St Paul's started out in 1903 when Mass was celebrated in a building shared with the original St Paul's primary school (lower floor). The church occupied the upper floorWhen the school relocated to Primrose Street the current church building was erected on the site in 1960

St Paul's Parish

St Paul's school was opened in 1905 with 180 pupils but by 1907 it had grown to over 400. The ground floor of the building was used as a primary school and the upper floor served as a church until the new church on Dumbarton Road was constructed between 1957 and 1960. In 1974 the school moved to new premises on Primrose StreetThe Whiteinch Neighbourhood Centre was later built on this site to be replaced by the Whiteinch Centre which provides services and activities to the community, it also houses Whiteinch &amp; Scotstoun Housing Association

Whiteinch Heritage Trail - loop from Library to Whiteinch Centre

Victoria Park original entrance

Introduction

Backstory and Context