u3a

Glasgow Southside

Local History

Status:Active, open to new members
Leader:
When: On Wednesdays
First Wednesday of the month 10:30 - varies depending on activity
Venue: Stag and Thistle

Explore the rich history in your local area and beyond with talks and walks. The group is interested in learning more about the history of the Southside and beyond via a combination of talks, discussions, walks and visits.

Some meetings will be field trips so watch for an email from your Group Leader

A map of the Cathcart heritage trail

2026 visits

Our May meeting will be a heritage walk in Pollokshields. We will start at Maxwell Park and finish at the Tramway, using the leaflet kindly provided by the Heritage Trust, for which we thank them. This group is open to new members, and anyone interested should contact Shona via the website.

We joined the Art Appreciation Group for a visit to the Double Villa on Mansion house Road, Langside, designed by Alexander “Greek” Thomson. Grateful thanks to the owner for hosting this.

In March we had a very interesting tour of Glasgow Central Station in March, just before the terrible fire in Union Street.

At our February meeting in the Stag and Thistle we were treated to an interesting talk by our own member Jean McDonald about the lives of the servants of Holmwood House.

Earlier visits

Fairfield Heritage Centre. This is still a viable yard (BAE) with a recent sizeable order from Norway under its belt. The tour of the Honeyman-Keppie designed building was augmented with short films and the centre filled with memorabilia.

Architectural Heritage Walk - A joint meeting with the Art Appreciation Group

After our successful visit to the Council Chambers, our next meeting was a very interesting joint event with Art Appreciation looking at the sculptures and architecture around Sauchiehall street. We may be meeting at the Tramway instead of the Bungo, still to be decided.
Our next meeting on 3rd September is a walk from Pollokshields Burgh Hall to Shawlands Cross via the Tramway . Members can do the whole walk ( 3 miles) or end at the Tramway .

Date: Thursday 7 August. Prompt start at 2.00pm.

A heritage walking tour in the centre of Glasgow focusing on the sculptural element of historic buildings in the Sauchiehall Street area. The buildings to be discussed encompass a range of different types including the frontage of the former St Andrews Halls (now part of the Mitchell Library), domestic dwellings such as Charing Cross Mansions, the former City of Glasgow Friendly Society building (just off Sauchiehall Street in Douglas Street) and ending at the site of a very significant building, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. This building, and two major department stores, were demolished in the early 1970s to make way for the red brick Sauchiehall Street Centre.

We had a fascinating visit to Crookston Castle in June . We were given an excellent guided tour by one of the Friends of Crookston Castle  . We learned so much of the importance of Crookston in the history of Scotland which we were surprised we didn’t know .

The group met at the Bungo Den for our April meeting. With a good turn out of ten, members had to bring along something of historical interest . Items varied from Mauchline ware to ancient banknotes and all had interesting facts to share about their items . Due to holidays there was no meeting in May but in June we hope to visit the city Chambers. 

In February we followed part of the Langside Heritage Trail. The weather wasn’t too kind so we ended our walk in the Glad Café .