Milton, Glasgow
Coordinates: 55°53′49″N 4°15′12″W / 55.897069°N 4.253317°W
Milton is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow,[1] situated north of the River Clyde. The housing scheme is about 2.5 miles north of Glasgow City Centre.[2]
The construction of Milton started in the late 1940s as a part of a general post-war construction programme by Glasgow Corporation to deal with the housing shortages and slum clearances.[3] The district is bordered to the south and east by Ashgill Road. It is also bordered by Liddesdale Road, which had previously connected Colston to Balmore Road. The new streets were named after the Scottish islands: Berneray, Birsay, Castlebay, Cathay, Egilsay, Longay, Mingulay, Ornsay, Raasay, Ronaldsay, Scalpay, Scaraway, Shilay Skerray, Stornoway, Torogay, Vallay and Westray.
The area had only a few private homes (in Liddesdale Road/Birsay Road and Loskin Drive) prior to the new development. The scheme was completed in 1952, but further housing was added in later years, including high-rise flats in Castlebay Drive in the late 1960s. Housing styles varied from gray stone apartment houses with back and front doors, to brown or white clad pre-fabricated apartment housing, and 4 storey flats of 8 units each, some with open verandas. All housing was rented social housing.
Milton suffered from social problems such as gang fighting and drug abuse. The gang fighting caused urban decay by the end of the 1960s, and drug abuse made Milton one of the worst drug areas in Europe.[4]
In the late 1980s, many of the flats in the area were replaced with social housing units more suitable for urban living. The last of the original flats in Scaraway Street was demolished in 2006 and parts of the area stand desolate.
There were four shopping areas: Skerray Street, Scaraway Street, Westray Circus and Liddesdale Square. The area was served by Glasgow Corporation bus numbers 8, 28 and 47 (later 48) (although the latter confusingly showed High Possil on the destination board). Buses 8, 29/129, M3 and 75 serve the area now.
The scheme had four primary schools: Saint Augustine’s Primary in Liddesdale Road, Saint Ambrose in Mingulay Street, Miltonbank in Scalpay Street, and Chirnsyde Primary in Ashgill Road. The main secondary school in the area was Saint Augustine’s, which neighboured Saint Augustine’s Primary. Today, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine's schools have merged to become St. Monica's (Milton) Primary School. This holds Milton's Community Campus.
The Catholic and Methodist churches are located in nearby Liddesdale Square. The Methodist Church shares a Minister with the Methodist Church in Kilsyth and Colston Milton Church in Egilsay Crescent (Church of Scotland). The Church of Scotland Manse is located on Birsay Road.
The scheme suffered from poor social planning. There were no pubs, cinemas or community amenities. A community centre was built in Liddesdale Road in the early 1970s, but other entertainment venues were a bus journey away and there were no factories or industry in the area. The scheme was part of the Maryhill parliamentary constituency.
Saint Augustine’s Secondary School was demolished and its football field was left vacant. When the city council announced plans to build private housing on the site, there was an upsurge of community activity in opposition. Local community activists led a successful campaign, winning a public inquiry into the future use of the valued green space. The local campaign group drew up plans for a state-of-the-art sports complex. They are waiting for a final decision for when to begin construction. This field will be remodeled with new floodlighting, grass seed, a drainage system, and 11-a-side state of the art pitch. Meanwhile, there remains little provision for social activities in the area, no pubs, and no cinemas.
LoveMilton, a community development trust for the area, is working closely with residents in the area to improve the conditions of the community by providing training, activities and opportunities for local community development. LoveMilton holds planning permission for a multi-purpose, state-of-the-art community facility which will be built by the community for the community.
Famous people who lived in Milton include footballers Frank McAvennie (Celtic and West Ham), Dylan McGeouch (Celtic) and Kenny Dalglish (Celtic and Liverpool), whose first team played on the spare ground at Egilsay Street and was called "Milton Milan", and snooker player Stephen Maguire.
See also
References
- ↑ "Glasgow". scottish-places.info.
- ↑ "Overview of Milton". scottish-places.info.
- ↑ "Glasgow Corporation Housing Department (later Architectural & Planning Department, Glasgow Corporation)".
- ↑ "A Social History of Problematic Substance Use" (PDF). line feed character in
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External links
- Commonwealth Games pitches close
- Modern Times: 1950s to The Present Day
- Love Milton
- Streets of Glasgow