About us
Glasgow Story Collective (GSC) worked with professionals and volunteers to deliver an exciting heritage project that documents the oral history of Glasgow’s old tenements and later post-war housing programmes. This multi-faceted project has offered opportunities for former and current residents to record their memories of Glasgow’s older housing stock and their experiences of living in extensive housing schemes, high-rise tower blocks, new towns, and private housing. Using their testimony, together with empirical research by our wonderful volunteers, we have also explored how Glasgow’s rented housing changed and grew over time.
The project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Communities Past & Futures Society, with additional support from Oral History Research & Training Consultancy.
Introduction
Glasgow Story Collectie recruited local volunteers and respondents to work with the ‘Marmite Housing’ project. Those people formed the heart of the whole project, and we are immensely grateful to each and every one.
The project management team deserves a special mention. Rachel Kelly, an experienced heritage project coordinator and now a GSC board member, Rachel volunteered time to co-manage this project, with assistance from Kathy, the Project Coordinator, and both under guidance from Dr Sue Morrison, a professional oral historian and heritage consultant. They made quite a team!
Some volunteers learned interviewing skills, and to record, edit and summarise the resulting audio interviews. Others helped to research and/or write the history of Glasgow’s housing stock and living conditions, and how new housing programmes were introduced and received by residents. Some volunteers chose to create original artwork, poetry, or stories to interpret that history and situations from respondents’ testimonies. Our amazing respondents shared with us their memories of living in what was often termed ‘slum’ pre-war housing, and how that greatly differed to the shiny new housing schemes, tower blocks, and new towns. Some respondents had quite unique experiences of living in bedsits, caretaker accommodation, and one lived in a haunted church!
The project created a unique digital oral history archive of interviews that is presented as an open collection on this project website; trained volunteers will continue to add more recorded interviews to that collection over time.
Some older residents recall living in ‘wonderful tenements’, with high ceilings and gloriously tiled stairways, fantastic neighbours, and close-knit communities; others talk about slum dwellings no longer fit for habitation, which had poor sanitation, communal toilets, and outdoor plumbing. They all talk about being moved away from relatives and friends to new housing developments, including modern high-rise flats and schemes, though these appear to have been either loved or loathed by occupants, hence our project title, ‘Marmite Housing’. Whilst these ‘shiny’ new developments were modern and spacious compared to earlier working-class housing stock, they often lacked basic local amenities, such as shops, community spaces, and regular, affordable transport links. Many of those new ‘schemes’ later became notorious for having poor quality housing and dampness, high unemployment, crime, and notorious gang culture and violence. To their credit, residents and community organisations have since worked hard to regenerate and re-establish pride in their neighbourhoods. This project reveals and preserves all of those lived-experiences, good and bad, happy and sad, and much more.
We are deeply grateful to National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Lottery Players, Communities Past & Futures Society, and Oral History Research & Training Consultancy, for their generous support, and, in particular, we extend our deep gratitude to everyone who participated in this hugely successful project.
Notes:
Glasgow Story Collective (GSC) is a volunteer-led community interest group that trains and works with local volunteers, including disadvantaged and marginalised individuals and groups, the elderly, young people, and people who have a bit of spare time and want to get involved with local projects, and to provide them with opportunities to support local projects or gain work experience in community and heritage sectors to which they would not otherwise have access.
Glasgow Story Collective was established several years ago by a group of individuals who came together after being dismayed at the amount of ordinary people’s heritage that was being lost. Many of the group's members have experience of working with grass roots voluntary organisations, and all have experience of working with heritage projects. They are all deeply passionate about preserving our heritage by whatever means are possible, from supporting archaeologists and building preservation groups, to recording the past through memory, photography, creative arts, and digitisation.
GSC has egalitarian and inclusive values and is not affiliated to any political party.
Acknowledgements
Funders
National Lottery Heritage Fund: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/
Communities Past & Futures Society: cpandfs@outlook.com
Management Team
Rachel Kelly, (Volunteer) Project Officer
Dr Sue Morrison, Heritage Consultant: sue@suemorrison.co.uk
Volunteers, Respondents & Individual Contributors
Andrew Dougal (Respondent)
Andrew Graham Noble (Respondent)
Angie Strachan (Volunteer)
Anna Stuart (Respondent)
Anne McCulloch (Respondent)
Annette McGarill (Volunteer and Respondent)
Billy Ferrie (Volunteer and Respondent)
Brian Smith (Respondent)
Christine Smith (Images)
Colin White (Volunteer and Respondent)
Danny McCann (Respondent)
David A Allan (Respondent)
Dugald McCormack (Respondent)
Geraldine Baird (Respondent)
Hilary Hennessey (Volunteer and Respondent)
Ian Angus (Volunteer and Respondent)
Jack Dickson (Respondent)
Jack Millar (Respondent)
Jan Donald (Respondent)
Jane Wilson (Respondent)
Jean Atkinson (Respondent)
Jean Campbell (Respondent)
Jim Bradley (Respondent)
Jodie Anderson (Volunteer): JodieAndersonart - Facebook
John McCormick (Volunteer and Respondent)
Katie Wishart (Volunteer)
L Livingstone (Respondent)
Lani Heywood (Volunteer): https://glasgowtenantsarchive.com/
Lise Mitchell Noble (Volunteer)
Liz Watson (Respondent)
Lorna Shields (Respondent)
Louise Devlin (Volunteer): https://housing000.wordpress.com/about/
Maggie Wilson (Respondent)
Margaret Heraghty (Volunteer and Respondent)
Marian Cairns (Respondent)
Mary Pickering (Respondent)
Mike Kelly (Volunteer and Respondent)
Morven Mackenzie (Volunteer)
Muriel Baker (Volunteer and Respondent)
Murray Crosbie (Volunteer): @apo.lloartist
Noreen McLaughlin (Volunteer and Respondent)
Pat McVey (Images)
Raymond MacMillan (Respondent)
Robert G Tedford (Respondent)
Roisin Stewart, (Volunteer)
Rona Dougall (Volunteer and Respondent)
Sam Grove (Volunteer)
Sher Allan (Respondent)
Stella Sutherland (Volunteer)
Stuart Gray (Images)
Tricia McCartney (Respondent)
Supporting Organisations
Bluebell Arts & Heritage: bluebellhouse_helmsdale@outlook.com
Castlemilk Stables, Jodie Armour: cassiltoun.org.uk
Glasgow’s Southside+ Stories: glasgowssouthsidestories@outlook.com
Highland Heritage Collective: highlandheritagecollective@outlook.com
Lost Strathclyde Heritage Group: strathclydeheritage@outlook.com
Rainy Days Productions:
Smeddum Projects: smeddumprojects@outlook.com
Still Game, Corkerhill Community Hub: https://www.facebook.com/CorkerhillHub
Tea in the Pot, The Pearce Institute, Govan: teainthepot@yahoo.co.uk
The Marie Trust, Francis McKinlay: https://www.themarietrust.org/
Additional Commissioned Professionals
Oral History Research & Training Consultancy: www.oralhistoryresearchandtraining.uk
William George, Project Evaluator: wmgeoesq@outlook.com
Contact us
Email: GSCollective@outlook.com
