Bishopbriggs - a town that has been claimed by Glasgow, Lanarkshire, and East Dunbartonshire throughout it’s long and storied history - today we wanted to take a closer look at the heritage of the town through some old photographs.
Historically a part of Lanarkshire, the area was also once a part of Cadder, a smaller village that would eventually be absorbed by the town. The town takes it’s name from the Bishop of Glasgow, who was granted the lands by King William the Lion in 1180 - the brigs part refers to the bridges. In the 18th century the town was even referred to as ‘Bishopbridges’.
The history of the town stretches even farther back than that though, as Cadder was a Roman fort along the Antonine Wall - the earliest reference we have to the town of Bishopbriggs itself however can be found in 1568, when reference was made to a path north of Glasgow as the ‘common passage to Bishopis Briggis’.
When the industrial revolution came, Bishopbriggs was initially a little slow on the uptake - leading to fears that the town would be absorbed by the rapidly expanding Glasgow. While this never happened as Bishy adapted to manufacturing, publishing, and other industries, 2000 acres of land around Cadder were absorbed by Glasgow in 1926, which would become Milton from the late-1940’s onwards.
Here’s the story of life in Bishopbriggs in the 20th century, the era in which the town came into its own - evolving from a small rural village into a thriving urban town.
These pictures were supplied via the East Dunbartonshire Council archives and collections - to find more old pictures and stories from your local history, check out their online catalogue of historic images.
1. Class photo (Circa. 1900)
A class photo at Bishopbriggs School at the turn of the century - we wouldn’t have wanted to get the bad side of this teacher.
2. Baby in a pram (date unknown)
A bonnie baby in a bonnet, judging from the style of pram, with the large overlapping Victorian wheels, we could date this around image around the early 20th century.
3. Mining men (Circa. 1915)
A group of miners at the ‘Pug Gates’ beside the Forth & Clyde Canal at Jellyhill, around 1915.
4. Motor cycling (date unknown)
An early motorbike with a sidecar passenger looking very pleased with himself. Given the motorbike we can place this in the early 20th century, although the exact date is unknown as the East Dunbartonshire archives were given the image from a glass negative found in a house in Bishopbriggs.