Blackhill, Glasgow
Encyclopedia : B : BL : BLA : Blackhill, Glasgow
Blackhill is an area of north east Glasgow. It was developed as a council housing estate in the 1930s. Most of it was designated "Rehousing" - the lowest grade of council housing intended for those cleared from Glasgow's 19th century slums. The buildings were three-storey, slate-roofed tenements built of reconstituted stone. The western side of Blackhill was designated "Intermediate", a grade up from "Rehousing", with "garden city" type 4-in-a-block flats, front and rear gardens and a measure of landscaping in the streets. Rehousing areas cost £250 per house to build, while Intermediate areas cost £1000.
Blackhill was built on a golf course, near the Monkland Canal and many early residents report summers of country rambles and a strong sense of neighbourliness, partly encouraged by the enclosed nature of the site - industry, railways and main roads cutting it off from other districts. It was, however, built close to a gasworks and a distillery, which did not add to the health of the area and it gained a reputation for being "difficult to let". Nearby is a prison, HMP Barlinnie , which may also have encouraged negative evaluations of the area, which are not often supported by the direct testimony of residents.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.