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 Chris’s piece about Glasgow:
Swimming in the Cart
I was born in Duke Street Hospital in Dennistoun, in 1963.
When I was two years old, we moved to Govan, where we stayed for several years. I have vivid memories of staying in Govan, and remember going to the pictures to see a movie called The Aristocats. It was a cartoon film, and I still recall that movie even after all these years. (I’m sure we didn’t pay in to see it— my sister might have used ginger bottles to get us in!)
In 1970, we moved from Govan to Priesthill, where I have stayed most of my life. I recall the 1970s and vividly remember the long hot summers we had back then, when the school holidays were six or eight weeks long.
I remember going swimming in the River Cart, within Pollok Estate, where the Burrell Collection is situated. Me and my friends spent most of the summer going swimming in the Cart.
I also remember going bird nesting all over the place— collecting birds’ eggs for my collection that I had in my bedroom in a box with lots of sawdust.
I came from a large family— there were eleven of us, including my parents, and we stayed in a five-apartment with only four bedrooms— and a living room, toilet and kitchen as well.
But most of all I remember the really special Christmases I shared with my family, and recall going up to the Barrowlands before Christmas to buy presents for my brothers and sisters. And I remember the winters of the 70s when there was three feet of snow outside, and I built snowmen and had snowball fights with my family and friends.
I will cherish these long-ago memories of childhood for the rest of my life. The only sad thing about my memories of long ago is the fact that my parents are now dead, as are two of my sisters, and most of my friends who I grew up with are dead due to drug misuse.
I still have some friends alive from back then, that era of a lifetime ago, and I still see some of them from time to time.