THE representatives of the National Trust for Scotland spoke with understandable enthusiasm when they previewed the delights of the upper flat at 145 Buccleuch Street, Garnethill, Glasgow, on April 19, 1983. “Have you seen the bunker?” one asked. “Look, we’ve got real coal in it.” A colleague drew attention to a certain jam in the kitchen. “Have you seen the jam? Yes, there it is, rhubarb, 1963. A good year for rhubarb, I think.” The kitchen, it was observed, still had its box bed, closed range and sink - the “jawbox.”
All of this took place a day before the formal opening, by the writer and broadcaster Cliff Hanley, of what became know n as The Tenement House at Number 145.
“An authentic time capsule of life in early 20th-century Glasgow,” says the NTS website. It adds that a shorthand typist, Miss Agnes Toward, lived in the flat between 1911 and 1965, and preserved her furniture and possessions with love and care. “She held on to all sorts of things that most people would have thrown away, and this extensive personal archive has become a valuable time capsule for visitors today.”
As the Glasgow Herald noted at the preview, the house had been “discovered” in 1975 by a Scottish actress, Anna Davidson, pictured right in the kitchen. It had been her home until 1982, when she sold the property to the National Trust in order to preserve it.
Among those attending the formal opening was the Marquis of Bute, chairman of the NTS. Alan Devereaux, chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board, said the restored tenement was an integral part of the city’s heritage.
The Tenement House draws xxx visitors every year.
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