Old Glasgow

This is the entrance to a typical Glasgow common close often known as a "wally" close due to the tiled walls. Glasgow is full of them and this one is in St George's Road in the Charing Cross area.

In the past, tenement closes like this one were looked after by the residents living in them and there was a real pride in keeping the place "spick and span!"

My own granny lived in flats till she was 88 yrs old and she cleaned the common areas up until she was in her mid 80s. The other folk on her landing paid for bleach and other cleaning material and she spent hours each week cleaning the floor, walls and bin areas. Her view was that it was important to keep up appearances - and she was right.