Dennistoun

It is situated north of the River Clyde and one mile east of Glasgow's principal square, George Square, and is in the city's east end. Dennistoun is made up of a number of smaller neighbourhoods - Milnbank to the north, 'The Drives' in the centre of the area and Bellgrove south of Duke Street.

Unable to attract the middle-class residents intended by its original developers, it established itself as a respectable working class area for families. After the Second World War, the area's Victorian tenements were refurbished and extended rather than replaced with high-rise modernist blocks as in other working-class districts such as neighbouring Calton and Parkhead, and this, coupled with proximity to the city centre and Caledonian and Strathclyde universities, has contributed to its gentrification in recent years; many of its residents are now students and young professionals.

Although predominantly consisting of tenements, the Victorian villas and terraces to the west (towards the city centre) illustrate part of Alexander Dennistoun's original plan for the whole area.

The district is served by Alexandra Parade, Duke Street and Bellgrove railway stations (all on the North Clyde Line) as well as numerous bus routes, offering commuter services to the city centre and on toward the western suburbs.

There are three main primary schools in the greater Dennistoun area (excluding Haghill): Golfhill Primary, originally located on Circus Drive but now housed within the main building of Whitehill Secondary School (the original school building still stands, however remains derelict due to health and safety reasons. The school was built upon the site of a filled quarry and this has led to significant structural problems), Alexandra Parade Primary School located on Armadale Street and St Denis' RC Primary School on Meadowpark Street.

The only secondary school in the area is Whitehill Secondary School which is majority fed by pupils from Golfhill Primary, Alexandra Parade Primary and Haghill Primary. As it is a non-denominational school, most of the pupils from St Denis' go to St Mungo's Academy located on Crownpoint Road, Gallowgate.

Dennistoun also has one of Glasgow's original Carnegie libraries, deftly designed in the Edwardian Baroque style by James Robert Rhind.

Dennistoun benefits from a large Victorian park, Alexandra Park, which is bounded predominately by the M8/M80, Cumbernauld Rd & Provan Road. The Park takes its name from Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the wife of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who officially opened the Park in 1870. The park was established in 1866 when the City Improvement Trustees purchased Alexandra Park from Mr Walter Stewart of Haghill under special powers conferred upon them by legislation. Mr Alexander Dennistoun, the proprietor of the adjoining estate of Golfhill, gave 5 acres (20,000 m²) of land to the City Improvement Trustees. This ground was situated near the south-west corner adjacent to Alexandra Parade, which now forms the principal pedestrian entrance.

The park is home to a 40-foot (12 m) cast-iron Walter MacFarlane Saracen Fountain which was given to the City after the 1901 International Exhibition and remained in Kelvingrove Park for 12 years after the exhibition. In 1914 Glasgow Corporation took the decision to re-site this magnificent piece of industrial architecture to its present location. The fountain was restored to its former glory in 2000.

Whitehill Pool was opened in 1978 and is shared with the neighbouring school It provides a 25m pool, small teaching pool, fitness suite, health suite and spectator gallery with over 200 seats and is situated on Onslow Drive

Duke Street running through Dennistoun area, flanked by red sandstone tenements with shops (2008)

Market Gallery, an artist-run contemporary art gallery, is located on Duke Street and spread over three shop units. WASPS artists' studios, a charity providing affordable studio space to support up to 750 artists, is located on Hanson Street.

The community is well served by two shopping areas on Duke Street and Alexandra Parade. There are also two supermarkets and two long-established Italian delicatessens. Although the fortunes of local businesses have varied over the years, more recently a clear upturn in the number of independent retail and leisure premises has been apparent.[1]

In a 2004 census the area had a population of roughly 10,530.

The area has a proliferation of churches, including the Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic (including Our Lady of Good Counsel, designed by noted Modern architects Gillespie, Kidd & Coia), Baptist, Salvation Army, independent Evangelical churches, Plymouth Brethren, Charismatic, one Scottish Episcopal Church and a Christadelphian presence.[2]

In 2007 it was decided that the two Church of Scotland congregations, Dennistoun Blackfriars and Dennistoun Central churches, would unite to form Dennistoun New Parish Church. This followed long vacancies dating from 2000 (Dennistoun Blackfriars) and 2004 (Dennistoun Central).

Alexander Dennistoun

• James Livingstone Begg, geologist
• Hugh Brown, Labour Party M.P who earned the 'Red Clydesider' title
• Jon Campbell, producer (The Time Frequency)
• Stuart Cosgrove, broadcaster
• Rikki Fulton, entertainer
• Jack House, journalist and author
• Ford Kiernan, comedian
• Lulu, singer grew up in a top floor flat of 29 Garfield Street [3]
• Charles Rennie Mackintosh, architect, designer and artist
• Jimmy Mason, footballer
• William Miller, poet (author of Wee Willie Winkie)
• Dorothy Paul, entertainer
• Willie Sharp, footballer

Media related to Dennistoun at Wikimedia Commons

• Dennistoun Online - Local community forum and news pages
• Dennistoun Community Council - group responsible for ascertaining, coordinating and expressing the views of the wider community
• Dennistoun Conservation Society - Local conservation society
• Dennistoun profile at Understanding Glasgow
• Milnpark Housing Association
• Reidvale Housing Association