BACK in its early days, this long-gone building, the Corn Exchange at 81 Hope Street, Glasgow, opened in the 1840s, was home to men of “considerable substance.” Some 250 grain merchants, flour millers, and importers operated within. The importers bought mostly from Canada, but also from Australia and Argentina.

“They met in the market hall, beside their own stalls, each displaying samples of the available grain on little tables in front of the stalls. Especially on country holidays, when the farmers crowded into the markets, dealing usually spilled into Hope Street (there were no tram cars in those days) and on to the steps of the exchange.

“Cables showing foreign prices and cargoes were posted in the hall each market day. Dealers were still seen in Hope Street after the First World War.”

The words come from the Glasgow Herald of May 20, 1959, on the occasion of the final weekly grain market being held in the Exchange. At that time, a mere 30 merchants and importers were using the place, partly because of the amalgamation of importers, millers and bakeries into large combines. The market now shifted to nearby Bothwell Street.

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Herald Diary

Little remained of the elegant original building, either. It was built for the old Corn Exchange Co, which in 1935 leased it to the Glasgow Corn Trade Association. In 1946 it was bought by the Royal Bank of Scotland, who continued to lease the building to the association.

Initially, the hall was two storeys high but later the upper half was made into a separate floor, and the hall moved upstairs. Later still, two more storeys were added, and the original facade was altered to the version seen here.

The building itself was later demolished.