Moorepark, Glasgow

Until the late 1920s, it was open land which had been a rural estate around Moore Park mansion.[1][2] The Glasgow Corporation then bought the land and used it to build a housing estate of three-storey tenement apartments, one of many such developments to alleviate housing problems in the city.[3]

A majority of the new residents were from outwith the Govan area, which itself had pressing issues with overcrowding and poor quality tenements; some disgruntled locals focused on problems of anti-social behaviour in the estate, which acquired the nickname "Wine Alley".[4][5] Along with being physically hemmed in by factories and a railway branch line, and issues which were shared by other 'rehousing' developments of the time - namely low-quality building materials, few amenities and socio-economic difficulties associated with the demise of local industries (particularly shipbuilding in the case of Govan) - this label gave Moorepark a stigma as one of the city's most notorious 'schemes'.[6][7]

Following decades of decline, with existing residents experiencing prejudice and only those with little other choice willing to move to the area – leading to the outside impression of desperation and dereliction moving closer to reality[7][8] – the housing was razed and converted into an industrial estate in the 1990s, along with a nearby contemporary development at Teucharhill which had a similar tough reputation.[9][10]

The area was associated with Junior football team St Anthony's who had two grounds in the area. The first, Moorepark Grounds, was situated to the north of the mansion from the early 1900s and made way for the housing development;[11] the second (New Moore Park, opened in 1929) was to the south-west of the neighbourhood off Edmiston Drive[11] and had fallen into some disrepair before being replaced by a business park at the turn of the 21st century, with the club moving to new facilities at Shieldhall after some years of uncertainty.[12][13]

The Moorepark area is served by Ibrox subway station on the Glasgow Subway system,[14] which is located on the corner of Copland Road and Woodville Street.

• Housing in Glasgow