Share your tales of days gone by in Dennistoun

DID you grow up in Dennistoun? Did you dance at the Palais, or stroll down Duke Street?

Maybe your grandparents recall living in the old tenements or walking through local parks?

The Evening Times is back on the road with its series of drop-in events called Thanks for the Memories, which will run in libraries across the city over the next few months.

Kicking off at Dennistoun Library on Craigpark tomorrow, we will be visiting communities everywhere to hear your stories of the past.

Dennistoun has a rich history, stretching all the way back to its origins, when it was planned as a wellheeled suburb in the east.

Since we launched our search for Dennistoun memories, readers have been getting in touch.

Mary Johnstone, who recalls visiting her grandmother in Dennistoun as a child, said: “The East End of Glasgow is a fantastic place. It always was. The community spirit is still there. I remember neighbours looking out for each other and my granny having visitors all the time, people popping in for a chat.

“There were kids everywhere too, playing on the streets, skipping and hopscotch, and I made lots of friends there.”

Councillor David McDonald, depute leader of Glasgow City Council and chairman of Glasgow Life, said: “Glasgow has an enviable community spirit that celebrates diversity, progress and cohesion.

“I can think of no better way to celebrate that spirit than by inviting our residents to come together and share their stories and memories in our city’s libraries, the buildings at the very heart of our communities.”

He added: “More than 600,000 people call Glasgow home and I know that the people of Glasgow are rightly passionate about their own local areas of this city.

“Thousands of us will have memories of our communities throughout the years and through the Evening Times Thanks for the Memories events in our libraries.

“I hope that many people will come together and share their stories of what makes Glasgow the city it is today.

“I, for one, will be very much looking forward to hearing them.”

If you remember Dennistoun’s old shops and parks and picture halls, if you grew up in the area or remember listening to family members describing the area to you, we would love to see you at our drop-in event at Dennistoun Library tomorrow from 10.30am until 12.30pm.

If you have photographs or letters, souvenirs or memorabilia from Dennistoun’s past, please share them with us.

If you can’t make it along and would like to share your stories and photographs, please e-mail ann.fotheringham@heraldandtimes.co.uk