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Photograph
kindly supplied by Mrs M McNair, Glasgow |
| During the Empire Exhibition in 1938, a new type
of tram car designed for the Coronation of King George VIth (and
named Coronation Trams) was used on routes passing Bellahouston
Park. During the 1920's and 1930's work was in short supply, so people found hobbies that were interesting but did not cost much money. Co-operatives, Churches and other organisations formed bands, choirs, drama classes etc. Schools also encouraged these skills. Festivals for these artistic groups were held at St Andrew's Hall during the summer season and very high standards were set. During the Empire Exhibition, the building of the Palace of Arts became the venue for the Glasgow Festival. Groups from all over Scotland met in competition. Among the choirs was the Albion Motors, Male Voice Choir. This was a unique choir. All of the members worked on nightshift (as they were all on production, they had to produce the same quantities as their dayshift mates) The choir joined together to sing during their meal breaks between the hours of 2:00 and 3:00 A.M.!!! Some of the pageant type of shows were held at Ibrox Park. The Scouts and Rovers of Glasgow provided one of these shows. The finale being some 200 Rovers dancing the "Dashing White Sergeant" on the grass pitch (Pipe Band providing the music). The people in the stand were most impressed. In the closing days of the exhibition, during
the twilight, people marched around the perimeter of Bellahouston
Park carrying torches attached to long poles - a spectacular
sight in the gloaming. I was a schoolboy of 12 years living in New
Cumnock, South Ayrshire at the The Palace of Engineering
is still in use at BAE SYSTEMS Prestwick , having been acquired
by then Scottish Aviation , and is still refered to, by all
and sundry, as The Palace. It may also interest you to know
that another pavilion found its way to Ayrshire, Africa House
ended up in ICI's Ardeer works, and to the best of my knowledge
still stands, although now dissused. At age 6, I remember going with my Garnetbank
School class, and teacher Miss Dallas, to sing "Cuckoo,
Cuckoo, Wherever You Are" in one of the concert halls.
It was great fun until I got to the rides and was horrified
to find that you had to pay - and I had not a farthing! As a young resident of Govan in 1938 I watched
with great interest for a long time, many of the preparations
for the Empire Exhibition. Many times we, the boys on Crossloan
Rd., walked up Helen St. or Craigton Rd. to see what was happening
in the park where we used to roll our Easter eggs. The big new
fancy Cunarder tram cars started running past our street and
up to the top of Craigton Rd. and then onto the new track laid
on Jura St. right to the very gates of Bellahousten Park, from
where could be seen most of the bright new pavilions, including
the two superb Scottish ones. The second city of the Empire
was a hive of industry, had done a great job, and had much to
be proud of. The forthcoming summer promised to be an exciting
one, and if you had a 12/6 (twelve 'n a tanner) season pass,
you were set for a whole summer's entertainment; if you didn't...
well, there was always the railing. I lived in Netherlee at that time and was aged
13. My father worked in Hillington in G&G Pontons (Calendars
and Cards). I well remember the day after the opening when my
father,mother,three sisters and two brothers went to Bellahouston
Park. It was unbelievable to us youngsters and we enjoyed a
great day out. The new trams were lovely and sleek and we rode
on one. I am now 73 years old, live in Melbourne Australia,
but my memories of the exhibition have never dimmed. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Julianne
Ryan and I have a linen tablecloth, about five feet square,
from the Empire Exhibition of 1938. It is somewhat the worse
for wear, but I dearly treasure this memento. Howdy from Texas ! I am the proud owner of a
Commemorative Plate from the 1938 Exhibition in Glasgow. It's
made of aluminum, ( I think--could be pewter) measures about
10 inches wide, has scalloped edges, and is engraved Empire
Exhibition 1938 Scotland. On the back it's marked Reg.No 780517
Made in England. Also in the bottom of the dish (bowl/plate?!?!)
it has engraved thistles and three pictures of a very tall spired
building like the picture on your web Hi, my name is Jim McIntosh from Uddingston. I still have a photo taken in a booth and delivered in a wee metal frame. I was just into Uddingston Grammar and there I am in my school cap. Also remember the Giraffe Necked women from Burma. My Dad thought it might have been useful to watch the fitba from the terraces!. I was very young when the Exhibition opened
up, but as I recall it was King George V and Queen Mary who
opened it or The uncrowned King Edward. The Empire Exhibition, Scotland, 1938 was actually opened by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (now the Queen Mother). Contributors seem to be confusing the 1938 Exhibition with the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley 1924/25 (George V & Queen Mary). Stanley K Hunter (The Scottish Exhibitions Study Group) My grandfather was a strongman at the
1938 Exhibition at what I believe was some sort of pavilion
of physical culture. His name was William Campbell and apparently
he could support eight people. I have a little metal puzzle or souvenir
of the Empire Exhibition 1938 which came to me from my Scottish
grandmother (long deceased) and looked on the web to find out
something about the exhibition. I was extremely pleased to find
your page with all the memories, thank you so much, I am really
delighted to read about it all. My grandmother lived in Glasgow
and migrated to Australia as a young bride. I remember bring able to see the tower
at night, floodlit in many colours, from where we lived at the
time, on the other side of the river in Knightswood. Wheras I was born in 1939, I don't recollect
anything about the exhibition, but I do have two season tickets
to it which were purchased by my mother and father. I note that
they cost L1.5.0..and wonder what the 12/6 tickets were about...perhaps
they were for children. After the war, my father returned from
the merchant navy and was employed by the Clyde Navigation Trust
or as it was then known " the Heilin' Mans Navy" and
was the engineer on the Meadowside ferry for some years prior
to emigrating to Canda in 1951. What fun! I remember going to the Empire
Exhibition with my teacher, Mr. John Smith, and his girlfriend,
Miss Weir. They took our whole class from Newlands Elementary
School in Parkhead. It was a wonderful experience.At one point,
they needed a break and left us all in a "creche"
for children. We had a grand time there too. My name is Mildred Campbell (ne: Pratt
4/10/28 ). My memories of the Empire Exhibition are extra special
because my knitting and sewing ( teacosy and lapbag) were exhibited
there and I was all of 10 years old. At that time I was a pupil
at Garnetbank School and well I remember Ms Dallas, the teacher.
My sewing teacher was actually Ms Rankin and it was Ms Rankin
who entered my work into the exhibition. The excitement I felt
going along to the exhibition that day was great. My mother,
aunts and sisters came along and we were all very proud of the
fact that I had this item of work in the exhibition. On the
night of the closing ceremony we stood in the pouring rain for
the closure. It was wonderful. I have a cigarette case from the Exhibition,
it is 83mmX 75mm, silvered with a brushed pillar design (like
lengths of rope). A crest is mounted in the centre of the hinged
cover, it is of a stylized red lion facing left, rampant encircled
by . EMPIRE. EXHIBITION. above and .SCOTLAND.1938. below in
silver on a blue background (the lion is on a silver background). My grandfather took me to the "ex.." well remember
seeing a short film I remember being taken by my parents and sisters, to the exhibition,on
the brand new red, white and blue,Coronation tramcar, then going
for rides at the carnival, and dallying behind from the family
, facinated by the laughing policeman, who was perched in a
two storey window, and as a result of my dallying , i got lost,
and yelled at the top of my lungs, i was taken to the local
police building where my mother was waiting for me. In 1960,
my brother John , 4 years my junior settled in Cleveland, Ohio,
Usa, July 12, 1968, was the day our eldest sister Sarah and
Husband Eddie Marr left for Chicago, Illinois, Usa, 3 days later,
july 15th(Fair Monday) i left Scotland forever for Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada, where i had a job waiting for me as a bus
driver, then after 5 years transferred to the city police as
a civilian dispatcher, my Glasgow twang gave the boys in blue
many a laugh at first, but they soon learned that i knew my
job and had their wellbeing first and foremost on my mind, when
i retired in 1988 i was given a send off, and a police artist
caricature of me dispatching at a bus stop, with a little mouse
looking up my kilt, my sister Margaret left Scotland forever
in August 1968 for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, we have all had
full lives in this hemisphere, and all except John have retired,I
was a tram and bus driver for years in Glasgow, and have put
together a web page...http://members.xoom.com/glasgowtrams Hello, I was six when we travelled from Edinburgh to Glasgow in my
father's Austin 7 van one evening. My first sight of Glasgow
was of two policemen supporting a gentleman who appeared to
have bendy rubber legs. Betty Verrill, North Yorkshire. Thanks for your site. great to meet all those folks who went to see the exhibition. I was a wee Bothwell lass of nine. My embroidered lapbag(! new word for the young ones) won a first place (Red Ticket)It was worth 2 shillings and sixpence. A fortune and my dad said he'd take me to Bellahouston to see the Tower. Well! It was brilliant and clear in my memory today. I admired the , Maori from NZ, Canadian Mounties, the rosiest of apples from the far flung reaches of the empire. Didn't know then that I'd spend twenty plus years in beautiful NZ. and another twenty in Australia where I am now. Love it but the longing for hame never leaves. Dear Scotia Orra' best to you all. Helen, Canberra As a four-year-old living in Dennistoun, I was taken by my
parents to the exhibition in Bellahouston Park and deposited
in the "creche". (Today it would be called "the
babysitters"). There, much to my delight, I was given a
Dinky toy car to play with while my mother and father went exploring
the exhibits. When they came back to get me, I had to give the
toy back! I was very annoyed. I have been delighted to read the memories of all those who attended the 1938 Exhibition in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. They have brought alive for me a book I often enjoyed browsing through as a child. It's called "A Souvenir of the Empire Exhibition 1938" and is full of pictures of exhibits, pavilions, exhibitors and guests, royal and otherwise, who enjoyed the wonders of the Exhibition. I was always intrigued by the picture of the Tree Top Restaurant and the explanation that the restaurant was built up high, among the trees without disturbing them. I don't know how the book came into my family's possession as we live in New Zealand. I have been browsing the book again (and marvelling at how careful I must have been as it's in quite good condition) and finding the exhibits etc referred to in the reminiscences on your site. Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane! Lynne Butler |
