Glasgow is wet. The Gulf Stream pumps warm moist air up along
the west coast of Scotland, westerlies blow this air up onto the
isle, cool northern air condenses the air. It rained 223 days
last year (The Electronic Herald, April 23, 1996). Its name
literally means "Hallowed Green Place." The area is marked by a
number of drumlins, rolling hills left by glaciers, covered with
the fauna and flora that gave the eventual city its name.
The once lazy, shallow Clyde gently flowed past two sleepy
fishing villages centuries ago. Glasgow first received input for
increased urbanization during the sixth century, when it became
an ecclesiastical center. However, the population grew slowly.
Glasgow's second input for urbanization came after the turn of
the millennium, when the town was designated a burgh.
Most cities in Scotland were burghs at one point. Under
feudalism, property belonged to landowners who allowed farmers to
work and live on the land in exchange for a feu. The system was
very hierarchical, each landowner in turn had to pay a feu to the
royalty for military protection. Due to this system, there was
no open free space for markets. The yet to be invented merchant
class had no place to set up shop and exchange goods. King
David, one of the most influential kings in Scottish history,
recognized this problem and created burghs, essentially
free-trade zones. People could trade in this zone if they were
either a burgess (a citizen of the burgh) or if they paid a toll
at the tollbooth. Glasgow, like most burghs, had a simple street
plan. The "High Street", where trading took place, ran from the
cathedral down through the Market Cross to the tollbooth. At the
tollbooth was the Tron, a giant weigh station to determine the
toll to be paid on goods. This street pattern is very noticeable
in Edinburgh along the popular Royal Mile on High Street.
Glasgow's High Street is now just east of the central business
district. Trongate, a street, runs from the old market cross
west to what is now known as The Merchant City. As a burgh,
Glasgow was much smaller than Edinburgh, which profited from
trade with Europe. For these reasons, Edinburgh seems like an
older city, even though both cities were established at roughly
the same time. Glasgow faced the west, waiting for its America.
The Empire opened up trade routes for Glaswegian merchants around
the world during the 17th Century. Ships hailed from Spain, the
Canaries, Azores, Madeira, the English Caribbean, Virginia,
Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts. Glasgow traded
linens from new factories for tobacco, sugar, ginger and timber.
Much of this trade had been intended for merchants in London, but
Glasgow's superior location (as being closer to America than
London is) and shrewd merchants stole trade from their southern
foes. Growth of these light industries attracted crofters from
rural areas to the city. In reaction to this influx, the new
upper class started their trek west to get away from their
employees. The University moved out to the western exurbs before
1650, followed by several mansion builders. Roads were privately
owned. To this day, the rich continue to move away from Glasgow
to the western suburbs. The west side is generally middle to
upper-middle class, although the area around the University has
become a fashionable student ghetto. The East Area of Glasgow is
poorer and generally more Catholic than elsewhere. The
Protestant and historically anti-Catholic Rangers Football Club
plays at Ibrox, located on the south west side of the city. The
working class Catholic (although historically less
anti-Protestant) Celtic play east of the city center.
During this era of westward suburbanization, Glasgow grew from a
typical Merchant City to an outstanding Industrial City from the
eighteenth until the beginning of the twentieth century. One
developer decided that what the Tobacco Lords really wanted was
to live south of the city, across the Clyde, in an exclusive
neighborhood by themselves. Gorbal's was established, the
streets given lofty names (like King's Street) to attract the
upper class. The Tobacco Lords never moved in. The area was a
prime location for industrial activity. Nearby coal fields, the
accessibility to the river, and the flat land gave birth to one
of the mightiest industrial centers of its era. Until
immediately after the Second World War, Gorbal's residential area
was a working class slum. Health conditions were horrendous,
overcrowding was the norm, and there were few public sewage and
water facilities. It was here that Glasgow's tenement buildings
gained their unsavory reputation.
Workers from Gorbals, who mainly immigrated from the Highlands of
Scotland as well as Ireland and Eastern Europe, created the
greatest workshop of the world. Engineers such as James Cook
perfected the steam engine -- which with cheap coal started
modern industrialization as we know it. At first, Glasgow was
limited to cotton milling. However, when the Clyde was deepened
and cleared, Glasgow became the place to build large ships. In
1879, Glasgow produced 18,000 tonnes. . . this number jumped to
326,000 tonnes ten years later. By 1903, one half of all the
sea-going tonnage in the world had been built in Glasgow.
Besides ships, Glasgow built locomotives. As the British Empire
expanded, large trains were needed to haul out exploited goods
from colonies. For example, by 1909 over half of the trains in
India had been built in Glasgow. Locomotive construction peaked
in 1905, although the weapons industry soon took its place. Over
a million shell forgings, sea mines, torpedoes, tanks, airplanes
and machine tools contributed to the dismemberment of Europe's
finest during the First World War.
The heavy industry had its effect on Glasgow's physical and
social landscape. Besides the creation of huge working class
slums with dismal health conditions, air pollution covered
the ornate red, grey and tan sandstone by which much of the
Merchant City had been constructed. The city had a charred,
black exterior. The river's natural ecosystem was forever
destroyed. Like the Mississippi River in Minnesota, the Clyde
was once a shallow river full of sand bars that a person could
easily wade across. By narrowing the width to increase stream
flow, the river became deeper for large ships. Socially, Glasgow
has since been forced to deal with an apparently under-class
pitted against a permanent upper-class. Housing is a critical
issue for the city, as will be covered later in this paper.
These were also the glory days for Glasgow. Ships, trains and
tools made in Glasgow were stamped with the logo "Clyde-built", a
stamp assuring quality guaranteed by the pride of those who made
it. Secondly, despite the social polarization between worker and
factory owner, each group lived relatively close to one another.
Many people that could not find jobs in the ship yards could find
employment as servants or maids. Protests, such as the Rent
Strike of 1915, against the government or upper classwere
listened to and taken into consideration. Glasgow developed a
working relationship between the working and upper classes:
everyone involved shared one fate -- the Clyde.