Our Stories of Home is a series of works by writers from the NHS Restart Project Writing Group in Bridgeton, Glasgow. As part of Arkbound’s Bridging Divides During the Cost of Living Crisis project in early 2025, one of our authors, John McGlade joined the NHS Restart Project’s long-running Writing Group for two sessions to work with the group on developing a piece of writing on a theme of their choosing. Together, they decided to focus on stories of home and produced some beautiful, personal pieces about places they call home.
Here is Katrina’s piece about Bellshill:
The Case of the Bellshill Space Hopper
When I was young, from about three to eight, I lived in Orbiston, Bellshill. (I just recently found out the scheme was called Orbiston!) My Dad still lives in that house.
The wallpaper has changed in the living room, but the carpet is the same: it’s brown, and in quite good condition. The brown ceiling has also gone. I loved that ceiling. The colour went with the orange and brown wallpaper.
It was an up-and-downstairs house. I used to play on the stairs, but one time I fell and broke my collar bone. I also remember running down the cul-de-sac to the swing park, to be in the middle of thunder and lightning, and getting soaked in the rain, laughing, running around. You could smell the damp grass, and the temperature dropped.
In the back garden I had my own swing. I used to go on it for hours and hours., singing songs to myself, enjoying the summer weather. I felt safe and contented.
My wee friend stayed across the road. We used to play in the street. She had this thing like a rugby ball on two lengths of thin rope, with handles on each end. You would stand opposite each other opening and closing them, making the ball move back and forward along the ropes. We did that for hours and hours. (Thinking about it now it seems like a bit of a waste of time!)
A couple of my friends had huts and greenhouses. We used to play at sweet shop, it was great fun.
I had a space-hopper, which I got from my cousin. I remember the rough rubber and crazy face, and the handles that looked a bit like the horns of a strange animal. One time I was playing in the park, a dog started barking at me, and chasing me! It seemed to be angry with the space hopper! I climbed up the climbing frame to get away from the dog, but it wouldn’t go away. It was scary. I was hoping someone passing would come and rescue me, but no-one did. It went on for ages.
Eventually I let go of the space-hopper, and it fell to the ground. But the dog went wild. It ripped the cherished space-hopper to shreds. I don’t think I ever got over that.
My other friend stayed along the road, and we used to visit her gran, who would give us rhubarb fresh out the garden, and a corner of a paper bag filled with sugar.
The TV was great as well. I loved Starsky and Hutch, The Magic Roundabout, The Clangers, and Dr Who.
My Dad still lives in the same house. He’s 80 now. I go through to visit every so often.
Where has 45 years gone!? The scheme hasn’t changed much— but now the swing park is a basketball court. I lost contact with my friends because my parents broke up, and I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone.
But I’m glad I still have my happy memories of the times before that.