Barrowfield

Barrowfield Scots: Barraefield
Modern housing on Stamford Street
Barrowfield Barrowfield shown within Glasgow
OS grid reference	NS616643
Council area	Glasgow City Council
Lieutenancy area	Glasgow
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G31 / G40
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scottish
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Glasgow East
Scottish Parliament	Glasgow Shettleston

Barrowfield is a neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic F.C., which lies immediately to the east. It is bounded by the A89 road (Gallowgate) to the north and the A74 (London Road) to the south.

History

Being an area of working class housing enclosed by main roads and railway lines, Barrowfield consequently developed a distinctive character. The original 1930s council housing scheme flats (built to accommodate those cleared from Glasgow's 19th century slums in nearby areas such as Camlachie) became increasingly hard to let and were demolished in the 1990s to make way for more appealing houses.^[1]

In the 1950s the area changed from a normal working class suburb like most other areas of the city to being a place renowned for its gangs, namely "The Torch" and "The Spur".^[2][3] Each terrorised the other's patch, and the area was so violent that the fighting stopped only in the 1980s, because the gang leaders realised that dealing in drugs was more profitable.^[4] Unfortunately for the community, this meant the scheme had hundreds of drug abusers from all over Glasgow coming to the area to buy their "gear". Barrowfield therefore has a high mortality rate amongst the youth, largely due to drug abuse and suicide. More recently, the area has undergone a massive revamp, but the drug problem still exists in high proportions and crime is still high.^[5]

Footballer James McArthur^[6] and actor Paul Brannigan^[7] grew up in Barrowfield in the 1990s.

Sport

A historic football stadium, Barrowfield Park, was the home ground of Clyde F.C. between 1877 and 1898 prior to their move to Shawfield Stadium, and also hosted matches for Eastern F.C. and Albatross. However the ground was actually located in the Dalmarnock district of the city, taking its name from the historic Barrowfield estate which once occupied much of the surrounding area.^[8][9][10]

Modern housing in Barrowfield, with Celtic Park and Commonwealth Arena beyond (2013)

For many years, Celtic F.C. conducted most of their training routines at a facility named Barrowfield,^[11] but its site to the east of Celtic Park is also not within the boundaries of the present-day Barrowfield residential area which lies to the west of the stadium. The source of the double naming stems from Junior club Bridgeton Waverley who played at a ground on the western site (contiguous with their home Bridgeton district)^[12][13] until the 1930s, when that land was bought over for construction of the Barrowfield housing scheme; the Nelson Recreation Ground a few blocks away was also demolished in the redevelopment.

Waverley moved to the eastern site (part of Westthorn Park) and named their new ground 'New Barrowfield'.^[14][15] Celtic later took over the site as their training ground and it became well known by the Barrowfield name.^[16] Today there are still football pitches on the land as well as a large Celtic social club, although the professional team moved out to modern facilities outside the city in Lennoxtown in 2007.^[17]

After the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held in Glasgow, Barrowfield now has international-class sporting facilities within walking distance: the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome are located in nearby Dalmarnock. The Crownpoint Sports Complex, a modern outdoor athletics track, is also nearby adjacent to St Mungo's Academy.^[18]

References