Cherish treasures we have left

I ENTIRELY agree with Gordon Casely’s comments about Pollokshaws in general and the Sir John Maxwell School in particular (Letters, June 17). My husband and my grandfather were both born in Pollokshaws, and my husband was a pupil at Sir John

Maxwell’s in the 1950s. While there is no doubt that some of Pollokshaws’s tenement housing was unfit for occupation and had to go, the area could have been sympathetically developed; instead, most of it was razed to the ground, its unique character completely obliterated. George Rountree’s books, Old Pollokshaws and Bygone Pollokshaws, are faithful illustrations of Pollokshaws before the demolishers arrived.

Past administrations in

Glasgow have lost us many beautiful buildings and not only in Pollokshaws: the gothic splendour of the Christian Institute/ymca in Bothwell Street, Renfield Street church and, perhaps the worst loss of all, St Enoch’s station, all spring to mind. What we have lost can never be replaced, but they should stand as reminders to cherish all we have left. Schools are particularly poignant, their walls enclosing memories of generations of children, and it is to be fervently hoped that Sir John Maxwell’s handsome school will eventually be saved as a tribute to past generations and given the opportunity to serve future generations of the historic community of Pollokshaws.

Ruth Marr, Stirling.

HOW surreal it was to see your “Look out, men at work” image in Thursday’s Remember when ... feature (The Herald, June 17). The year was 1946 and 17 years earlier – March 30, 1929 – a catastrophic fire had sadly, spelled doom for Victoria UF Church, on the bungalow site opposite the camera. Alas, not even the tall steeple was saved, in memory. The church had graced the gushet here, from around 1865; the Rev Alexander Cumming travelling from his home at Elmbank Crescent. A little bit of the West End, here, at this southside junction; and yet another perspective on Eglinton Toll.

Brian D Henderson, Glasgow.