Glasgow friends for 65 years share memories of city

Glasgow Times

5 days ago

Long-time members Kristine Walsh and Liz McCallum have popped out for a moment to share their delight at having been part of the much-loved library's 100th birthday party earlier in the year.
'It was a wonderful celebration,' says Liz, smiling. Kristine agrees: 'Children from the local primary sang old songs, there was cake - it was lovely.'
Library staff with Glasgow Life chief executive Susan Deighan (Image: Robert Perry/Newsquest)
Both women are 77 – 'I think people expect wee old ladies, when they come to the local history group, but my only concession to old age is that I put a vest on today because it was a bit cold,' says Kristine, dryly – and are full of stories about the library and the local community.
'There are still air raid shelters on Wellshot Road,' says Kristine.
'There's also the 'honeymoon building' – it's actually the Honeyman building because it was designed by architect John Honeyman, who worked with Charles Rennie Mackintosh – but my mum told me it got its name because only young, married couples with no kids could afford to live there,' says Liz, smiling.
'There even used to be a 'play street' in Shettleston, where traffic wasn't allowed so children could play safely.'
Liz and Kristine met, aged 12, at Eastbank Academy, when they sat next to each other in German class and 65 years later, they are still friends.
'I grew up in Shettleston, Kristine lived in the prefabs in Sandyhills and we just hit it off,' says Liz. 'And we both loved the library. Our mums brought us, until we were old enough to come by ourselves.
'My parents didn't have a lot of money, so this was a way for me to access all these books I would never have read otherwise.
'I felt like I belonged here.'
Kristine adds: 'We read Enid Blyton, the Chalet School girls' books, WE Johns and Biggles, Anne of Green Gable … everything we could find.
"I used to come on a Friday night with my mum and she'd get cowboy books for my dad."
(Image: Robert Perry/Newsquest)
Liz is a retired teacher, who moved away from Glasgow with her husband Donald when their children were young.
'Shettleston was always home, though,' she says. 'I used to bring my grandson, Aaron, here, when he was younger – he's 19 now.'
Sadly, Donald died seven years ago, says Liz, who now lives "through the wall" from Kristine and her husband Bill.
'Libraries are essential, and it's great that this one is still going strong,' says Liz, firmly. 'It's been an important part of our lives for so long."
Shettleston Library (Image: Robert Perry/Newsquest)
The striking red brick and blond sandstone library on Wellshot Road was commissioned together with Shettleston Public Halls and Parkview Day Hospital, but 100 years on, the library is the only one that remains in use.
It was officially opened by then Lord Provost Sir Matthew Walker Montgomery, on February 20, 1925.
It still has the Glasgow crest, featuring the bird, tree, fish and bell, carved above its wooden front door, and an old stained glass depiction of St Mungo, rescued from a skip during refurbishment, is proudly suspended over the reception desk.
(Image: Robert Perry/Newsquest)
'The layout has completely changed in 100 years,' says Kristine. 'There used to be beautiful curved steps at the front door, and a lovely hallway.'
Liz adds: 'I remember the reading room, where men would sit with their newspapers.' She pauses, adding with a grin: 'Women were allowed to go in, but it was only the men who had time to sit about reading.'
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Kristine recalls the children's library was in a separate section.
'The librarian was very strict, and you had to make sure your hands were clean before you were allowed in,' she says.
Liz agrees. 'Libraries were very different then – you'd never have had children in singing and making a noise in those days,' she says. 'You were practically whispering all the time.
'But what hasn't changed is how helpful and knowledgeable the librarians are. They are really fantastic.'
Norma Richmond has worked in the city's library service for 42 years, but she has a soft spot for Shettleston, where she has been based on and off for almost 30 years.
'I have a real connection with this place,' she says, smiling.
'I'm so proud we're still here, still serving the community. All libraries are worth their weight in gold, in my mind, so I hope we are still here, 100 years later.'