Until the mid-19th century, Washington Street did not exist. The land, owned by a Mister Mathew Reid from the late 18th century, sat on the eastern edge of old Anderston, later to be swallowed up by the expanding city of Glasgow.
But with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, a street was created on land that, on maps at least, was largely unbuilt on. And before long Washington Street was lined with mills and foundries and other industries. The new street played its part in a developing Glasgow that very swiftly became the Second City of the Great British Empire.
But is there anything of those industrial days left? Any small architectural remnants of a period of great industry and prosperity?
When the Kingston Bridge and the approaching network of roads and motorways was built in the 1960s, much of the old town of Anderston was destroyed. However, some of Washington Street managed to escape the fate of many streets just west of where it sat.
Today we're going for a small stroll down Washington Street, to pause awhile and search for any clues that this was once a veritable hive of industry. It was right here that once sat the Anderston Grain Mills, the Crown Flour Mills and the Washington Flour Mills. The whole street was line with every industry imaginable. Not one of those industries remains today.
Along the way, while doing our best to ignore the noise from the overhead M8 motorway, we will discover what Glasgow has lost, and what little actually remains of a heyday that really wasn't that long ago.
20 май 2024
