BACK in 1977, the people who lived near, or worked in, Glasgow’s Byres Road agreed that the road was changing, and not for the better. “There has, of course, always been some evidence of change,” writer Alison Downie conceded in these pages that June. Trams had been replaced by buses; old-established family businesses such as Horn’s Dairies and Miss Bell’s the stationery and toy shop had gone, but at least the general shopping balance had remained stable. In the last few years, however, new developments had taken place, leading to the loss of the late Miss Barclay’s restaurant, fondly remembered by the artists whose works she would display on her walls, free. Elsewhere on the road, some family firms had disappeared, to be replaced by banks and building societies. Supermarkets such as Presto and Finefare had set up, too. Increased rates meant difficulties for small businesses.
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And now, wrote Alison, the biggest change was about to take place: the demolition of all the properties from the south wall of The Curlers’ tavern (above) to the north wall of the Grosvenor cinema, to accommodate the new Hillhead subway station. “Eight shops will go,” she added, “and when the new station is complete, in 1979, only three very small shops will be available for rent within the station complex.” Some Byres Road traders were already lamenting the loss of the shops, she added.
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