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Post by pwm437 on Mar 25, 2008 21:52:51 GMT 1
Reading the recent thread on the Nitshill Mining Disaster, I felt propted to acknowledge some dark days from Glasgow's history, and hope some lessons have been learned. I apologise in advance to anyone with a personal connection to the following, my intention is not do upset anybody ;
2nd January 1972 The Ibrox Disaster, where 66 lives were lost at stairway 13 following an Old Firm match. The subsequent enquiry was pivotal in stadiums converting to being all seated.
4th May 1949 13 women lose their lives in a fire at Graftons store on Argyle Street
28th March 1960 14 firemen die whilst tackling a blaze at a whisky bond in Cheapside Street.
25th August 1972 Seven firemen die whilst tackling a blaze at the premises of Sher Bros.
16th April 1984 6 members of the Doyle family die in a fire at the family home at Ruchazie. It was to be the beginning of what became known as the 'Ice Cream Wars'.
16th March 1953 Four workers die in a fire at the South Wellington Cabinet Works on Ballater Street, premises of Leon & Co., cabinetmakers.
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 25, 2008 21:54:50 GMT 1
Ist November 1884 Fourteen patrons die at the Queen's Theatre in Watson Street. They were trampled to death following a bogus call of 'fire'.
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Post by lundie on Mar 25, 2008 22:09:54 GMT 1
pwm437, could you look this up for me? it was a fire in 208 Westmuir street 7th or 8th January 1983, I lived top flat and me and a lot of other families were trapped and had to be rescued by the fire services.
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 28, 2008 9:53:23 GMT 1
3rd August 1913 Twenty two miners lose their lives at Cadder No. 15 Pit in the north of the city. The pit was owned by the Carron Company of Falkirk, and during the fire, three miners managed to escape by using a different passage. One of the three surfaced 21 hours after the original fire broke out.
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Post by Waverley on Mar 28, 2008 10:40:32 GMT 1
Saturday, 28 May 1887.
73 miners died in a firedamp explosion at Udston Colliery, Hamilton. Caused, it is thought, by unauthorised shot firing the explosion is said to be Scotland's second worst mining disaster.
Keir Hardie, then Secretary of the Scottish Miners' Federation, denounced the deaths as murder a few days later.
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Post by Waverley on Mar 28, 2008 10:48:32 GMT 1
October 22, 1877, in Blantyre,
The Blantyre Pit Disaster was Scotland’s worst mining disaster. Blantyre Colliery, William Dixons pit numbers 1 and 2 both blasted killing 207 miners of which the youngest victim was a boy of 11. It was known that fire damp was present in the pit and it is likely that this was ignited by a naked flame. The accident left 92 widows and 250 fatherless children. At this time rescue arrangements were inadequate and Alexander Macdonald, president of the Miners' National Association and a former miner prevented the surviving employees from attempting a rescue on safety grounds. Although complaints about the working conditions at High Blantyre had been made repeatedly, they were ignored. In fact, a year before, the Blantyre miners had been so fearful for their safety in the mines that, when Dixons refused them a wage rise to compensate, they went on strike and were immediately sacked. Up until 1799 miners were literally slaves to the local pit owner from the 'cradle to the grave' who had an obligation to provide them with a coffin for a decent burial as part of their employment benefits. There was another explosion, this time at Dixons pit number 1, on July 2, 1879, with the loss of 28 lives. Soon after the explosions William Dixon Ltd. erected a large granite monument to mark both disasters. The dedication reads: "William Dixon Ltd. in memory of 240 of their workmen who were killed by explosions in Blantyre Colliery on 22nd October, 1877 and 2nd July 1879 and many of whom are buried here". Six months after the accident, Dixons raised summonses against 34 widows whose husbands had been killed and who had not left their tied cottages which they rented from the mining company. They were evicted two weeks later.
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Post by lundie on Mar 28, 2008 11:30:18 GMT 1
My grandfather was a miner, and worked in various pits from the age of 12yrs, his father was also a miner as was his three brothers, he worked in Cardowan pit when he lived in Bridgeton and had to walk home after doing his shift as at that time miners were not allowed on public transport, due to the fact they were so dirty!
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 28, 2008 11:39:28 GMT 1
27th July 1903 Sixteen people died and 27 were injured when a train struck the buffers at St. Enoch's Station.
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Post by flim on Mar 28, 2008 15:59:30 GMT 1
Hi pmw437 Was there not 5 Salvage Crew who died with the firemen,what about the employees who died when their premises had iron bars on the windows therefore condemning them to die ,i cant remember if it was James Watt St or Cheapside St Cheers Flim
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 28, 2008 20:06:19 GMT 1
Hi Flim,
Thanks for reminding me ;
18th November 1968 Twenty two people perished in a fire at the premises of B.Stern Ltd. Many of them were upholstery workers, and unable to escape due to iron bars being fitted across the windows.
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 28, 2008 20:09:15 GMT 1
Post #9 was at James Watt Street.
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 28, 2008 20:26:22 GMT 1
30th October 1848 Fourteen people died when a fire destroyed a sugar-house at Alston Street in Grahamston, which was a village that lay to the west of Glasgow. It was demolished to make way for the construction of Central Station.
9th July 1872 An explosion at the Tradeston Flour Mills killed fourteen people and injured many others. The grinding of flour can produce an air bound dust which is highly explosive. It is believed this was the cause of the accident.
3rd July 1883. The vessel Daphne was being launched from Stephens shipyard at Linthouse on this day. Many workers were still on board completing work, as the ship went down the slipways into the river. As it reached the water it capsized with the loss of 146 souls. It took almost three weeks to recover all the bodies, as the Daphne lay on its side in the Clyde.
1st January 1881 Five people were killed and nine seriously injured following a gas explosion in Henderson Street.
6th April 1861. A ferry travelling between Govan and Partick overturned, due to overcrowding on the vessel, resulting in seven lives being lost.
30th November 1864 Nineteen people, mainly workmen returning home, drowned on the Clyde Street ferry, when it capsized. It is believed to have been caused by the swell of another passing vessel the 'Inveraray Castle'. This disaster led to the introduction of steam ferries.
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 28, 2008 20:35:49 GMT 1
11th May 2004 Nine people died following an explosion at the Stockline Plastics premises at 125 Grovepark Street.
1st November 1889 Twenty nine mill girls were killed and twenty two injured when a wall collapsed on top of weaving sheds at Templetons at Glasgow Green.
7th January 1898 Four firemen died whilst tackling a blaze at a chemical warehouse in Renfield Street. They were the first firefighters to die in the city dealing with a fire.
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Post by pwm437 on Mar 28, 2008 21:11:46 GMT 1
18th September 1994 Five people were killed when a bus struck a bridge in West Street, slicing the top deck off. An advert by Walkers Crisps depicting such an incident, has caused controversy this week. The families of those affected have lodged complaints to Walkers.
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Post by pwm437 on Apr 2, 2008 18:46:53 GMT 1
11th October 1895 Three women lost their lives in a blaze at the calico printing works of Higginbotham & Co., at McNeil Street in the Gorbals. The mill had a workforce of around 800, most of whom were women. Cloth in a drying box was touched by the naked flame of a gas pendant and the whole place was soon alight. All three are buried in the Southern Necropolis on Caledonia Road.
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Post by flim on Apr 3, 2008 14:41:36 GMT 1
Hi Pwm37 .I remember 3/4 people drowning in the canal at Maryhilll at least 2/3 of them children and a Grandfather who drowned trying to recue them in the iced over canal, I also believe that others put their lifes at risk trying to save them Cheer Flim
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Post by pwm437 on Apr 4, 2008 17:39:32 GMT 1
Any idea when that was flim ?
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Post by pwm437 on Apr 4, 2008 17:42:24 GMT 1
6th March 1955 Five men die as the result of an explosion at White's chemical works at Shawfield.
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Post by peggy on Apr 5, 2008 0:39:49 GMT 1
Pwn437, I remember when the Cadonna hotel in the town went on fire any info on it cheers .
P
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Post by pwm437 on Apr 6, 2008 10:37:18 GMT 1
Peggy,
Do you mean the Ca'Doro Ballroom in Union Street ?
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Post by pwm437 on Apr 6, 2008 12:17:09 GMT 1
15th January 1968 Hurrican Low Q strikes Glasgow causing widespread damage. At its peak, the hurricane force winds reached over 120mph, resulting in nine people losing their lives in the city. The west end of the city was particularly badly hit, with four people being killed whan a chimney crashed through a tenement at 555 Dumbarton Road.
For years afterwards many tenement roofs were covered in green tarpaulins awaiting repair.
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Post by justjoe on Apr 14, 2008 16:43:35 GMT 1
Stockline Memorial, Maryhill Took these today while I was out on my bike, wasn't sure where to put them, so the "Bad Day " title seemed to fit.
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Post by pwm437 on Apr 14, 2008 19:27:15 GMT 1
Thanks Justjoe, yes this is the very board for them.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2009 5:30:33 GMT 1
Hi Flim, Thanks for reminding me ; 18th November 1968 Twenty two people perished in a fire at the premises of B.Stern Ltd. Many of them were upholstery workers, and unable to escape due to iron bars being fitted across the windows. As a fairly 'newbie' to the forum, I just came across this post while browsing. I worked for this firm for a while soon after leaving school in 1959. The premises were in the old church which stood at the corner of Bain street and London road. back then it was cheaper to have your suite re-upholstered than buy a new one. There was two or three of us young lads whose job was to go out in the van with Julius or Benny (stern) to collect a suite and bring it back to the factory(church) and set about stripping off the old covering and various stuffings leaving just the bare skeleton for the upholsterers to work on. The upholsterers, both male and female were very skilled and worked at a very fast pace. One of our perks as strippers was the occassional 'luckies' found down the backs or sides of the old furniture (farthings, halfpennies etc even half crowns if we were lucky) we were allowed to keep those, but any valuable jewellery such as gold rings etc were handed in and returned to the gratefull owners (sometimes we got a wee reward from them). Being the type of business it was, there was always a lot of highly flammable material lying about, and to be fair, even back then, the place was swept very often throughout the working day and it was normal to smoke in the workplace. Nae health and safety at work back then. I was serving in the army in Germany when I heard the news of the James Watt street fire, and when I heard the name of the company a shiver ran down my spine, as people I once worked with more than likely lost their lives. Who knows? if I had stayed with the company, and went on to become an upholsterer, I may well have been one of those unfortunate souls. Ronnie
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Post by thecaltondefender on Sept 22, 2009 13:11:47 GMT 1
The1902 Ibrox Disaster.. 25 supporters where killed when the wooden stand collapsed during the international match between Scotland v England..
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Post by Waverley on Sept 22, 2009 13:45:07 GMT 1
The1902 Ibrox Disaster.. 25 supporters where killed when the wooden stand collapsed during the international match between Scotland v England.. Andy I forgot to mention that one of the victims is buried just in behind the Cross of Sacrifice in Janefield Cemetery.
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Post by arty123 on Sept 23, 2009 12:37:57 GMT 1
pwm437, Was there a crash in Duke St. involving a tram which caught fire and some passengers lost their lives,1950's,? arty
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Post by dogsitter on Sept 23, 2009 14:12:05 GMT 1
Arty123, I recalled seeing something on HiddenGlasgow about tram crashes. I had a look and can't see anything about trams going on fire, but here is a link to the page with the information. Look for Glasgowken's post about one third of the way down the page.. www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2944&start=825
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Post by Waverley on Sept 23, 2009 16:12:04 GMT 1
I think what you guys are referring to was the crash in Old Shettleston Road on Wednesday 28th January 1959. A tramcar crashed into a lorry and was set a light within seconds from a 600 volts surge of lightning from the overhead cable. Three people were burned to death which included the tramcar driver and two female passengers. The tramcar driver was to be married on Friday the 30th of January.
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Post by arty123 on Sept 24, 2009 12:49:48 GMT 1
Charlie, you are correct about the crash,but i am certain it happened in Shettleston Rd. as trams didn't run along Old Shettleston Rd.
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