Glasgow Garden Festival: Your pictures and memories

26 April 2018

Doug KennedyBBC Scotland news

News image — This shot is taken from the top of the Clydesdale Bank Tower. Stewart Kerr says his main memory of the festival is of the huge variety of colour and displays.

Stewart Kerr Glasgow Garden Festival — This shot is taken from the top of the Clydesdale Bank Tower. Stewart Kerr says his main memory of the festival is of the huge variety of colour and displays.

The Glasgow Garden Festival was 30 years ago but still remains close to the heart of the 'Dear Green Place'.

A section of the the south bank of the River Clyde was transformed from declining dockyard into green space, theme park and adventure playground.

Jim Watt Glasgow Garden Festival — Jim Watt, from Largs, took this pic of his son Jamie enjoying some of the festival attractions. Jim says: "I have wonderful memories of the Garden Festival, what an amazing event and what wonderful weather. Glasgow should look back with pride."

Over five months from 26 April 1988 it attracted an amazing 4.3 million visitors and was credited with helping the process of reinventing Glasgow's image.

We asked for some of your memories of the festival and received loads of shots covering the opening ceremony, the giant flowers and a lot of original rollercoaster tickets.

Anne Peters Glasgow Garden Festival — Just what is holding up that tap? Anne Peters, her husband Ray and daughter Angela made two trips to the Garden Festival. She says the festival was an unforgettable experience.

David Murray Glasgow Garden Festival — David Murray, from Hamilton, sent us some great shots of the surprises amongst the garden displays around the site.

Tony Sharp Glasgow Garden Festival — All aboard! Trams were a familiar site for festival-goers. Tony Sharp took this picture and says what he remembers most was the complete transformation of the site, the happy atmosphere throughout and the excellent weather.

Ailie Duncan Glasgow Garden Festival — Ailie Duncan and husband Michael had season tickets and went weekly throughout the event. Here she is taking some time out with Para Handy.

Catherine Craig Glasgow Garden Festival — The festival had flowers, big flowers and gigantic flowers. It was a magical place to visit, says Catherine Craig, who made a number of trips to be able to see more and more of the site.

Suzanne Gill Glasgow Garden Festival — This is Suzanne Gill, in a yellow raincoat aged 3, with her dad Thomas Gill. Suzanne wasn't so lucky with the weather and her mum says this was the only time she smiled the whole day.

Alan Cameron Glasgow Garden Festival — Alan Cameron remembers that there were boat trips on the Clyde from below the Tower. The Coca Cola rollercoaster, trams and fancy glass houses also stick in his mind.

Michael Nicoll Glasgow Garden Festival — This striking and slightly moody shot of the sheer scale of the festival site was captured by Michael Nicoll.

Clark Whyte Glasgow Garden Festival — Jings! Clark Whyte says that the festival was a fabulous advert for Glasgow and he got to meet a lifelong pal whom he still sees every Sunday - Oor Wullie.

Lynda Chisholm Glasgow Garden Festival — Hello, is it me your looking for? Lynda Chisholm says BT had this giant phone at the festival, where they offered free phone calls to anyone, anywhere. This is Lynda phoning her mum in Victoria BC, Canada.

BBC Glasgow Garden Festival — It's amazing how many tickets and mementos people have kept. Here we have a day ticket belonging to Stewart Kerr. Meanwhile, Beth Davies says this Garden Festival van is currently in use by her own children. And Julie Donaldson is still using her granny's key ring and says she managed to convince the rollercoaster operator she was tall enough to get on.

Pat Ruxton Glasgow Garden Festival — And what a draw the rollercoaster was. It dominated the site along with the Tower and brought a little bit of Disneyland to the Clyde. Pat Ruxton said her son loved the Coca Cola ride much more than his mother and father.

David Ross Glasgow Garden Festival — David Ross still remembers the thrill of getting on the front of the rollercoaster and the anticipation as it cranked its way up to the release point.

Malcolm Kerr Glasgow Garden Festival — Malcolm Kerr captured this cheeky shot. He says it was simply a case of standing in the right place and waiting until the tower gondola got to the top. His overwhelming memories are of the "amazing creativity everywhere you looked" and everyone had a smile on their face.

Gerry Hill Glasgow Garden Festival — Gerry Hill sent us this picture of the late Radio Clyde DJ "Mr Superbad" - aka Freddie Mack - entertaining the kids at the festival. The wee boy looking back is his son Gordon.

David Lorimer Glasgow Garden Festival — Another season ticket holder was David Lorimer, who kept coming back with his family of four. This nice shot shows a bit of blethering "hanging out the windows".

Sylvia Beaumont Glasgow Garden Festival — The official opening day of the festival was attended by Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Sylvia Beaumont, who sent this in, went every week - including the opening and the closing days.

Leonard Low Glasgow Garden Festival — When you've got giant flowers, some giant gardening tools are always handy. Leonard Low snapped these near the South Rotunda.

Allan Comrie Glasgow Garden Festival — Allan Comrie sent us this shot taken by his late father Allan M Comire, looking across the Clyde to Yorkhill. Allan says his parents made good use of their season tickets, even "bizarrely taking a trip on the Coca Cola Roller when, at their ages, they really should have known better".

Janey Godley Glasgow Garden Festival — And finally here we have Ashley Storrie, Scottish comedian, aged 2, interrupting the live band with a mouth organ at the Garden Festival. This was kindly sent in by her mum, Janey Godley, also Scottish comedian.

All images copyrighted. Apologies to the many people who sent in pictures we haven't had space to use.