Introduction

Glasgow Green, the cradle of sporting Glasgow, was shaped and moulded by the Clyde. Sitting on a flood plain of the river, it was fertile ground for many sports and has been home to the city’s rowing community for over 200 years.

This ebook tells the story of the West Boathouse—a category B Listed boathouse built on the banks of the Clyde for Clydesdale and Clyde Amateur Clubs in 1905. It is a miscellany - a guddle (to use a suitably riparian term) - of stories about rowing, sport, Glasgow and the River Clyde. The authors hope there are enough interesting snippets to hold the interest of both the committed sports historian and anyone interested in discovering how and why Glasgow rose to become one of the world's great sporting cities (spoiler alert - it was the river!).

A boathouse by a river and its reflection in the water. West Boathouse

Composite image of before and after photographs of the West Boathouse. Upper half by David Collie (post renovation, 2023); bottom half by Alasdair Woodburn (pre-renovation, 2016).

You can also download the book as a pdf.

→ Download A-Z

Research and text by Ingrid Shearer and Morag Cross, artwork by Kieron Redmond.

Click on a letter

Site of the ‘Wooden Bridge’, Hutchesontown footbridge, (1803–1829) and stone-built replacement (1829–1834)
West Boathouse (1905). Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club, Clyde Amateur Rowing Club and Strathclyde University Boat Club
Site of McWhirter’s Aquatic Saloon (1860s)
Glasgow Humane Society (founded 1790)
Site of Clyde & Clydesdale ARC’s pre-1905 boathouses
East Boathouse (1924). Glasgow Schools Rowing Club, Glasgow University Boat Club
Southern Necropolis. Burial place of shipbuilder Thomas Seath, George Geddes and family and James Banks McNeil
Glasgow Rowing Club Boathouse (1997) and site of City of Glasgow Regatta Club’s ‘Clutha’ Boathouse (1854–1880s)
Route of Roger’s proposed scheme to straighten the Clyde (1890s)
Site of Flesher’s Haugh Diving Boards (1830s–1877)
Site of Allan’s Pen (1796–c.1850)
Site of ancient logboat (discovered 1870s)
Site of Barrowfield Dyeworks and Monteith’s Bandana Works (1785–1860s)
Spaceman Graffiti (c.1990s)
Site of White’s Shawfield Chemical Works (1820–1967)
Site of Cranstonhill Water Works (1808) and Dalmarnock Sewage Works (1894)
Rutherglen Quay (Medieval–early 1920s)
Site of Thomas Seath’s Shipyard, later Chalmers & Co (1856–1923)
19 Site of Dalmarnock Power Station (1920–1981)
Site of Glasgow Water Works, filtration tanks and pumping station (1806–1860s)
Site of Harvie’s Dyke (1822–1823)

Thanks

Many people have contributed their time and memories to producing this book. However, special thanks are due to John Eadie, Owen McGhee and David Collie of Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club for sustained support and fact-checking. Allan Easson, formerly of Strathclyde University Boat Club, assisted in piecing together the club’s history. Project volunteer Tam McCann and local historian Peter Mortimer have helped keep us right on east-end history. Finally, a huge thank you to all our project volunteers and partner organisations, particularly the collections volunteers, who have spent the past two years diligently scanning and recording hundreds of photographs and items from club collections.

Key sources include the Clydesdale ARC minute books, historic newspapers, post office directories, and maps, many of which can be readily accessed via the British Newspaper Archive and National Library of Scotland. Works by sports historians Andy Mitchell and Ged O’Brien (Played in Glasgow, 2010), have proved invaluable sources; and many technical details have come from Christopher Dodd’s Story of World Rowing (1992). Royal West of Scotland

Amateur Boat Club’s Tom Mackay and St Andrew’s Boat Club History Group have produced histories of their own clubs that were a great aid in contextualising the story of rowing ‘up the watter’. Special thanks to Tom and Joe Hefferman of RWSABC for their help and for kindly donating copies to the project. Thanks also to Kashif Javaid of McTear’s Auctioneers for assistance in chasing down information on the 1829 King William IV rowing trophy, awarded at the first regatta on the Clyde, by Glasgow Green.

Images, unless otherwise stated, are culled from historic newspapers and maps, club and personal collections.