Neighbourhoods
Dalmuir and Mountblow
By Pat Malcolm
The lands of Dalmuir were held by the Spreull family for nearly 500 years and then had several owners before the mill owner William Dunn acquired them in 1828. In 1839 he also acquired the lands of Auchentoshan, which included Auchentoshan House. A distillery has stood on the lands of Auchentoshan since 1830.
Dunn acquired the adjoining lands of Mountblow in 1822 and he made Mountblow House his main residence. It was sold to Glasgow Corporation in 1877 and subsequently became an orphanage and then a children's convalescent home. It was destroyed during the Clydebank Blitz in 1941.
Early Times
One of the earliest industrial enterprises in Dalmuir was Richard Collins' paper mill, which opened on the banks of the Duntocher Burn in 1747. Logwood extraction and the bleaching of cloth were also carried out there until a fire destroyed these works c 1840. The paper mill closed in 1857 but a calico print works continued until the early 20th century. Richard Collins built Dalmuir House c 1818 and his son Edward sold it to William Dunn. Clydebank Town Council purchased the house in 1908 and it was demolished c 1929.
In the late 1700s there was a soda works in the then-neighbouring village of Dalmuir Shore, producing soda from soap makers' leys or waste. In 1859, after its closure, the Clyde Navigation Trust feued 8 acres of ground which included the site, and built workshops for the repair of river dredging plant there.
During this early period the old toll road between Yoker and Dumbarton provided the main route through the village. The Forth and Clyde Canal also passes through the area, but it was the advent of the railways from 1858 onwards which had the greatest impact on the local community, bringing Dalmuir within commuting range of Glasgow.
In 1904 Glasgow Corporation extended its tramway to the old wooden canal bridge at Park Road (later renamed Beardmore Street). From 1908, people wanting to travel further west could cross the bridge and board the Dumbarton Burgh & County tram on the other side. The bridge was replaced in 1915 allowing the Corporation terminus to be moved west to the foot of Mountblow Road.
Housing
Early settlements consisted mostly of scattered clusters of small cottages, many of which were whitewashed and thatched. However, new houses were required for workers at the Clyde Trust Works after 1859. In 1874 the Trust feued land on both sides of Dumbarton Road and built tenements, the first being in the Nairn and Buchanan Streets area. Another major builder was the Dalmuir Co-operative Society which built tenements around Gladstone Street and Dumbarton Road.
The arrival of new trades and businesses in the area, and the introduction of improved transport services, encouraged speculative builders to erect large villas and mansions in "upper" Dalmuir for the more well-to-do. The Crescent, a row of houses designed by renowned architect, Alexander "Greek" Thomson, was built just south of the railway between Swindon Street and Hillview (later Duntocher Road). It was another victim of German bombing in 1941.
Dalmuir was included within the new Burgh of Clydebank in 1886 and the boundary extension of 1906 included parts of Upper Dalmuir. In 1925 the boundary was extended again to include Dalmuir West and Mountblow, and by 1933 the first phase of the Council-built Mountblow scheme was complete. A further two phases were planned but were not completed until after the war.
The area was heavily bombed during the Clydebank Blitz. After the Second World War, in spite of shortages of materials, a major building programme was commenced to replace and repair housing stock and temporary pre-fabs were built for tenants while more permanent houses were constructed.
One of the first multi-storeys in Scotland was the eight-storey Mountblow House which opened in 1954. During the 1960s, six fifteen- and three sixteen-storey blocks of flats were also built. By the 1970s, much of Dalmuir's older housing stock was dilapidated and in need of refurbishment or renewal. Dalmuir Park Housing Association is the principal association in the area and it continues in the early 21st century to build and refurbishing houses.
Beardmore
The greatest expansion of Dalmuir took place in the early 1900s when William Beardmore & Co built the Naval Construction Yard. Beardmore went on to manufacture munitions and to build aircraft, locomotives and airships at Dalmuir.
With 6,000 employees at its peak, Beardmore was forced to begin building and purchasing houses to accommodate its workforce. The firm had built around fifty-nine tenements by 1907. In 1914 it formed its own house-building and management company, the Dalmuir & West of Scotland Estates Co, to manage a further fifty-one tenements. Twenty more tenements were completed after the First World War.
Despite having one of the most modern shipyards in the country, the Dalmuir Naval Construction Works did not prosper and the works were closed in the early 1930s. Since then, a variety of industries have occupied parts of the site including the Royal Ordnance Factory, the shipbreakers Arnott Young, Babcock & Wilcox and the controversial Turners Asbestos Cement Co, all of which have closed. In 1994 the privately-owned Health Care International Hospital was built on part of the site. It was acquired by the National Health Service in 2002 and renamed the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.
Churches
Several churches were established as the population grew. Dalmuir Parish Church was the first in 1894. Initially, the congregation met in the old Masonic Hall but subsequently moved to a 500-seat hall (the "iron church") before moving again in 1903 to a new building on the corner of Dumbarton Road and Roberts Street. The next was Dalmuir West United Free Church, (later named Ross Memorial Church), which was established in 1906 and became Church of Scotland in 1929. It opened in 1915 but was destroyed during the Clydebank Blitz. A replacement was built in Kimberley Street in Mountblow in the early 1950s and renamed Dalmuir Overtoun. It united with Dalmuir Parish Church in 1976 and the old Parish Church building was acquired for the Roman Catholic Our Lady of Loretto Church. Dalmuir Overtoun then united with the Old Kilpatrick Barclay in 1990 to become Dalmuir Barclay Church and a new church was built close to the site of the original Ross Memorial on Dumbarton Road.
The first Catholic church, St Stephen's, originated as a mission set up in 1907. St Stephen's School was opened in 1908 and was followed, a year later, by a new church building. It was destroyed during the Blitz but the congregation worshipped in the school hall until a temporary building was acquired around 1950. The present church was opened in 1958.
Schools
Dalmuir's first purpose-built school was opened in 1886 in Auld Street. It was replaced in 1907 by a new school on Duntocher Road, and an infant department and then a junior secondary school were added later. The primary department was destroyed by fire in 1962 and a replacement primary school opened the following year but was closed in 1993. The secondary school closed in 1971 and the building became the Community Education Centre.
A Catholic primary school, Our Lady of Loretto, opened in 1974 and a non-denominational primary, Clydemuir, in 1976. The run-down St Stephen's RC Primary School was replaced with a new building in 2001.
Leisure and Recreation
A public park was opened in 1906 on land bought with money gifted from Lord Overtoun. Several extensions took place over the years and a putting green, tennis courts, a golf course and a bowling green were added. Dalmuir Park quickly became a focal point in the burgh with regular concerts, events and political rallies. Of course, the highlight of the year from 1945 was the Illuminations; an annual event originally introduced as part of the victory celebrations at the end of the Second World War.
Apart from the attractions of the park, the inhabitants of Dalmuir could amuse themselves by curling, playing billiards, joining the privately run Dalmuir Bowling and Tennis Club, acting with the Clydebank Repertory Company or visiting two cinemas, the Dalmuir Picture House (which became the Regal) and the Napoleon Star (which became the Palladium).
The Future
At the beginning of the 21st century, the land in Dalmuir bordering the River Clyde is part of the planned multi-million pound regeneration site which stretches from Clydebank to Old Kilpatrick. Ambitious plans are afoot to turn the waterfront into an attractive, multi-purpose area and for the first time in over 100 years the inhabitants of the area should have direct access to the river which so shaped its history.