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Drumchapel
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 Drumchapel housing photographed from thetower blocks at Linkwood Crescent (2014) | |
  Drumchapel Location withinGlasgow | |
| Population | 12,976 |
| OS grid reference | NS525705 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GLASGOW |
| Postcode district | G15 |
| Dialling code | 0141 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 55°54′18″N4°21′39″W / 55.904937°N 4.360965°W /55.904937; -4.360965 | |
Drumchapel (Scottish Gaelic:Druim a' Chapaill), known locally as 'The Drum', is a district in the north-west of the city ofGlasgow,Scotland. It bordersBearsden (inEast Dunbartonshire) to the north-east andDrumry (part ofClydebank, inWest Dunbartonshire) to the south-west, as well asBlairdardie,Garscadden,Knightswood andYoker in Glasgow to the south; land to the north (including theGarscadden Woodlands) is undeveloped and includes the course of the Roman-eraAntonine Wall. The name derives from the Gaelic meaning 'the ridge of the horse'.
As part of theoverspill policy ofGlasgow Corporation, a huge housing estate was built here in the 1950s to house 34,000 people, the land having been annexed fromDunbartonshire in 1938 – it is this estate that is now most associated with Drumchapel, despite there already being a neighbourhood to the south ofDrumchapel railway station known by the same name, made up of affluent suburban villas; this is now known asOld Drumchapel.
Drumchapel is one of the 'Big Four' post-warsocial housing schemes in Glasgow, along withEasterhouse,Castlemilk and GreaterPollok. All are similar in terms of architecture and planning, and have tended to suffer from a similar range of enduring social problems, notablyanti-social behaviour and degeneration of often poorly constructed post-war housing. However, the area remains popular with many of its residents and more recently there has been substantial private investment including the construction of new housing developments in the north-west of the district.
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Drumchapel was part of theparish ofNew Kilpatrick, becoming devolved in the late 19th century and a church parish in its own right in 1923. The Old Church (originally serving both Drumchapel and Blairdardie) was built in 1901 for an increasing local population.[1] The parish boundary was redrawn to create the new parish ofSt Margarets in Knightswood.[2]
Civiladministration transferred from New Kilpatrick to Glasgow Corporation in 1938. As part of theoverspill policy ofGlasgow Corporation, a huge housing estate was built here in the 1950s.[3][4]
The area suffered a tragedy in 1994 when a double-decker bus carrying a group of localGirl Guides crashed into one of the low rail bridges in the city'sTradeston area (the driver was unfamiliar with the route and was being led by a guide leader in a car); two 10-year-old girls, an 11-year-old girl and two adult supervisors were killed in the incident and 15 other children injured, six of them seriously.[5][6][7][8][9]
The housing in the area is now 72% post-war tenement and 6% multi-storey flats, the remainder being other flats and houses. The current population was estimated in 2002 at 15,000, which was split across 6,000 households.[10] The population of Drumchapel fell by 22% between 1996 and 2012 to 13,000. The proportion of people in the area from ethnic minority groups increased over the same time to 5%, which remains well below average for Glasgow (12%). Life expectancy in the area is about five years less than the average for Glasgow (male 69 years, female 74 years).[11]
Socio-economically, the area is not affluent. In 2011/12, 48% of children were classed as living in poverty, and 57% of the population wereNRS social grade D or E. 56% of households were single-parent. 21% of young people were not in education, employment or training. Just 22% of the population own their own home, about half the average figure for Glasgow.[11]
The major employers for Drumchapel from the 1950s to the 1980s were the Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co (GB) Ltd, Beattie's Biscuit Factory, Singers Sewing Machines (Clydebank),The Edrington Group Whisky Bond and the various shipyards on the Clyde. Beattie's Biscuit factory closed in 1978 and the Goodyear and Singers factories both closed in February 1979.
The Edrington Group Whisky Bond has grown over the years and is still a major employer in the area, while the shipyards have all gone with the exception of the now BAE Systems yards at Scotstoun and Govan. Drumchapel is now going through its second regeneration, with promises of better schools, better homes and higher employment.[12]
Media related toDrumchapel at Wikimedia Commons