Dalmarnock

Dalmarnock
Scottish Gaelic: Dail Mheàrnaig
Dalmarnock  Dalmarnock shown within Glasgow
OS grid reference	NS611630
Council area	Glasgow City Council
Lieutenancy area	Glasgow
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G40
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scottish
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Glasgow Central
Scottish Parliament	Glasgow Shettleston
List of places UK Scotland Glasgow

Dalmarnock (Scottish Gaelic: Dail Mheàrnaig) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde. It is bounded by the Clyde to the south and east, Parkhead to the north, and Bridgeton at Dunn Street to the north west. The area covers part of a loop in the River Clyde called the Cuningar Loop (known locally as 'The Vallies').

Bridges

Dalmarnock Bridge

There is a bridge over the River Clyde on Dalmarnock Road called Dalmarnock Bridge. The first bridge in the area was a wooden one erected in 1821 to connect Rutherglen and Dalmarnock. It was replaced by a new timber bridge in 1841 and in 1891 by the current Dalmarnock Bridge, designed by Glasgow consulting engineers, Crouch & Hogg.

Dalmarnock Railway Bridges

There has also been two railway bridges in Dalmarnock crossing the River Clyde. The first bridge was built in 1861, but was soon replaced in 1897 by a wider bridge to accommodate the Dalmarnock branch line. Both bridges were designed by George Graham.^[1]

History

The area was once heavily industrialised. Sir William Arrol & Co. had its extensive engineering works at Dunn Street and Baltic Street from 1873. From its beginnings in boiler making, the firm later became renowned for its achievements in the field of Structural engineering. Amongst the many bridges constructed throughout Britain were the Forth Railway Bridge and Forth Road Bridge, the Humber Bridge and London's Tower Bridge. The company was eventually taken over by Clarke Chapman in 1969 and the Dalmarnock Works closed in 1986. There was also a large coal-fired power station located near Dalmarnock Bridge. It was built by Glasgow Corporation in two stages, with phase one opening in 1920 and phase two in 1926. It was closed in 1977 by the South of Scotland Electricity Board.

Victorian sandstone tenements in Ardenlea Street, Dalmarnock that were originally renovated as part of the GEAR (Glasgow East Area Renewal) scheme in the late 1970s, have seen their residents systematically rehoused in recent years, thus being allowed to fall into a dilapidated state once more. They are now planned to be totally demolished as part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games athletes village masterplan by RMJM.

The east side of Summerfield Street was bombed during the Second World War. Most of the Victorian red-sandstone tenements on Dalmarnock Road and Springfield Road were demolished in the '60s and early '70s, although some were renovated. Springfield Road remains the centre of the community, with several retailers and small businesses. In the 1960s, a new housing scheme was built, consisting of four twenty-two storey tower blocks and 'H-block' maisionettes. Two of the towers, 40 & 50 Millerfield Road, were demolished on 3 February 2002. One other tower was demolished on 1 July 2007, and the final one on 9 September 2007.

Dalmarnock now, August 2011, has no housing on Ardenlea St / Sunnybank St side of the area, due to the construction in the area pertaining to the Commonwealth Games and City Legacy.

There are no retailers left at all in the area apart from a small shop, that was set up by the workers in the Community Centre. This has been a welcome sight for the area residents as the nearest shops are either Bridgeton, the Tesco on Dalmarnock Road or The Forge in Parkhead. There is still the petrol station on Dalmarnock Road and the Car Wash. There is also a lot of small business units in the Nuneaton Street area and Calder Millerfield which supplies meat based products to the fast food markets, which is also on Nuneaton Street.

Rail

Dalmarnock railway station, on the Argyle Line, serves the local area.

Dalmarnock Train Station will be getting an overhaul due to the Commonwealth Games.^[2]

Education

The area used to have four schools: Springfield Road Primary, Springfield Primary, Riverside Secondary and Our Lady of Fatima RC Primary School on Springfield Road have now closed. There is a Dalmarnock Primary School, however, it is situated, unlike the name suggests, in the Bridgeton area of the East End of Glasgow and should not be counted in the schools list for the area.

Commonwealth Games

Dalmarnock is the location for the athletes' village when Glasgow hosts the 2014 Commonwealth Games^[3] and proposed skyscraper East One.

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome is also in the area, at the section of Springfield Road where it intersects London Road.

Notable people

• Professional footballer Kenny Dalglish who played for Celtic F.C. and Liverpool was born in Dalmarnock.
• George Chisholm, trombonist, was born in Dalmarnock.
• Glasvegas

References