A new book will, for the first time, tell the secret story of one of Glasgow’s most beautiful quarters and the extraordinary characters who helped create some of the city’s best loved institutions.
Glasgow’s Blythswood, written by author and historian Graeme Smith, tells the stories of the developments of Blythswood Hill, Blythswood Square and the New Town of Blythswood and sheds light on an intriguing chapter in the city’s history.
The book charts the earliest days of the developments which transformed the area and created central Blythswood and Garnethill.
We learn a great deal about the area's prime developer, William Harley – the Great Improver. With his wife Jane Laird he laid out in splendid style central Blythswood and Garnethill, and crowned it with Blythswood Square. He set out pleasure gardens, built the first indoor public baths in Scotland and pioneered the first hygienic dairy in Europe.
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It goes on to explore the dramatic changes and turns in fortune that followed, involving developers such as James Scott, who formed Bothwell Street and ensured the creation of Kelvingrove Park and Queen’s Dock on the Clyde, which today stands as the Scottish Exhibition campus.
“It’s a story I have wanted to tell for some time,” said author Graeme Smith.
“The story of Blythswood has never been told before and is an incredibly interesting tale, one which tells of Glasgow’s wider history and its earliest days and of people who played central roles in making the city what it is today.”
The book was launched from property group HFD's 177 Bothwell Street. Overlooking Blythswood Square, the construction is set to be Glasgow’s largest single office building when it is completed later this year.
Mr Smith said the development marks a new chapter in the history of the area.
He added: "I am delighted that HFD Group agreed to host the launch at 177 Bothwell Street. It’s fitting that a building which is the cornerstone of a new chapter in the area’s history hosts this celebration of the past."
Glasgow’s Blythswood is available here.
