On Sunday 29 April I attended an event called “Enoch was a Woman: a river walk”, led by artist Lucy Livingstone, as part of the Glasgow International Festival, designed to reinstate the reputation of a Glasgow figure now only represented in a temple of shopping.

It was a truly magical, atmospheric walk, that saw us trace the path of the Molendinar, Glasgow’s hidden river, which gradually seemed to merge with St Thenew herself. We began at the Bridge of Sighs, closing our eyes to imagine the river below, then slowly wound our way down over the course of two hours to the Clyde, through backroads and building sites, across new builds, carparks and railway tracks, along the approximate path of the hidden river, as Lucy gradually revealed the story of St Thenew, Scotland’s first rape victim and the mother of Glasgow.

The river emerged above ground only once during the walk, behind bars and choked with waste, and we tied some clooties (clothes) to its railings. Down at the Clyde, it was strangely absent – an empty drain opened onto the river, and three puzzled seagulls perched on the sidings stared back. Lucy told us that perhaps the river was finding other ways out, through the foundations of buildings.

We ended at the site of the vanished St Thenew’s well, a small overgrown and unacknowledged garden by the Clyde, just down from St Enoch’s Square. Lucy told us the gate was magically unlocked the day before when she trialled the walk. By this time the sun was starting to dip. We tied some more clooties to railings and a small stunted tree.

The walk was very moving: lots of space to think, not too much information , and a very creative approach to telling Thenew’s tale – as a girl behind me said, it’s so lovely just being led round the city like this – it did indeed feel like we were giving ourselves up to something as we walked, and I like to think it was the river, drawing us along beneath the concrete.

For 6 weeks, the Coatbridge women visited the school every Tuesday morning. St Andrews students gave the ladies a tour of the school and told them about the work the XL group had been doing, including creating an animated film and raising funds for charity. Over the next few weeks the students and teachers introduced the women to iPads, smartboards, e-mail, Facebook and mobile phone texting. The XL group also arranged a trip for everyone to the pantomime at Christmas, which was great fun.

XL group and the Lanarkshire Inquisitors at Kirkshaws community centre

In the New Year, the women invited St Andrews staff and students down to Kirkshaws Community Centre and gave a presentation about some great women from North Lanarkshire’s past, including Coatbridge poetess Joanna Ballie, labour MP Jean Mann and the artist Jessie McGeehan.

Everyone involved in the project learned a lot from one another. The group said about their experience:

“I enjoyed very much being back at school..the students and teachers were very helpful and showed us that modern technology has a lot to offer – I’ve now bought an iPad and am enjoying experimenting with it!”

“The project with the XL group was an eye opener into what they can do and what we as older ladies can learn from them.”

Portrait of Helen Denny

Mavis researched local woman Helen Denny.

To read about Helen Denny, download the file below

Download: Helen Denny

Sketch of Katherine Drain

Mary researched local poet Katherine Drain

To read about Katherne Drain, download the file below

Download: Renton Poet Katherine Drain

Photograph of Lady Overtoun

Margaret researched Lady Overtoun

To read about Lady Overtoun, download the file below

Download: Lady Overtoun

Perhaps you know of another woman the group could research or would like to find out about another aspect of women’s history in Dumbarton? The course runs on Friday mornings, 10am-12noon at Dumbarton Library (9th March – 11May 2012), is free of charge and is open to women resident in West Dunbartonshire. If you would like to come along, get in touch for more information.

We’re pleased to announce that the Mapping Memorials to Women Scotland project has received a message of support from First Minister Alex Salmond. The project, developed by Glasgow Women’s Library and Women’s History Scotland, aims to record memorials to women across Scotland at womenofscotland.org.uk.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:

“Throughout the centuries, Scots have paid tribute to the remarkable achievements of women in both small and grand ways. From plaques and cairns to statues and buildings, all commemorate the contribution that women have made to Scottish life, from the most humble to the most generous. It is a rich and fascinating story. This project is a very fitting one to be launched at the time of International Women’s Day and I would urge all those interested in the achievements of Scottish women both at home and abroad to help with some detective work and build the Women of Scotland website into a very useful database and resource we are all proud of.”

The site already contains over 75 records but the aim is to build on this base to create a comprehensive national database.

This memorial stone dedicated to the folk heroine Lilias of Ancrum is just one of many already recorded on the Women of Scotland site.

From Shetland to the Borders, the Western Isles to Fife, women have made a huge contribution to national life in all fields and many are commemorated in various ways in towns and cities and in small communities. A number are featured in The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women (Edinburgh University Press, 2005).

Examples found so far range from plaques and cairns to statues, streets, named buildings and stained glass windows. All commemorate the contribution that women have made to Scottish life. It is a rich and fascinating story.

Over the past year Girlguiding Scotland has helped to seek out memorials to add to the site, but now more help is needed. The website is relaunching on 10th March, and we are calling on people across Scotland to go out and find memorials in their local area, and record them on the Women of Scotland website.

Visit womenofscotland.org.uk for more information about how to get involved.

You can also follow the project on Facebook and Twitter, or share your images of memorials with our Flickr group.

The conference is on Saturday 10th March 2012 at Elgin Museum. For more information go to www.elginmuseum.org.uk

We are now proud to feature the latest exciting development – a podcast of the walk, available to download for free. The group were keen to make the walk as accessible to as many people as possible, so decided a podcast would be the next step. The podcast was written and recorded by the walk group and other local community members with the help of funding awarded from the Galloway Association.

Kriss Nichol from Wigtown women’s walk group has written a blog post about the experience.

Wigtown walk group members and local residents at the walk's launch in March 2010

Download: Wigtown Women’s Heritage Walk Podcast

Download: Wigtown Women’s Walk Leaflet (PDF)

Inverness GWL/Women at Work conference oral history workshop

My great grandmother the runaway bride

Dundee Bring and Tell oral history session

Sheila Campbell talks about her mother working in the Jute Mills and other memories

Oral history workshop at Women's Work in the Highlands

In December 2009, we held a conference in partnership with WEA women@work, Women’s Work in the Highlands. Women from all over the Highlands gathered for a wonderful day which included introductory oral history workshops. This recording and the transcription below is an example of some of the fascinating stories and memories that were recorded.

Runaway Bride

P2: [...] And upholding the name of the family. My great grandmother, that’s my mothers grandmother, was a fascinating women. She was a Rowntree, she was part of the original Rowntree family in Yorkshire. But she did the unforgivable, and she ran off with the Irish groom.

P1: Oh no.

P2: And married him. And had 14 children. And she was totally excommunicated by the Rowntree family. As far as I know, anyway. And it wasn’t talked about. My mother mentioned it to me, but as a child I used to want to more because I liked Rowntree chocolate. That’s probably why I inherited this state. And she just wouldn’t. No, no, no. And nobody would speak to her about it either. Her mother never mentioned it her grandmother never mentioned it. And the Irish groom, I mean I have got photographs of them both, but I would loved to have met him. But he drank. So my great grandmother had a business head on her, and she had number of different businesses. One was a jointing car business. Taxi cab service. And as fast as she made the money, he drank it. And then in his mid 40s, apparently, when he was in the pub, or the bar, with the men, the Salvation Army came in and he didn’t touch a drop after that. He just never ever drank after that. And it’s absolutely amazing. And I see these two photos and I think, I wish I could have met you. But my mother could tell me nothing about them. Apart from the stories that she had of her childhood with him. Because he was an old reprobate – I’d loved to have met him. But I mean, it’s just not talked about. And I remember as a child asking my great aunts – my spinster great aunts – in Ireland about great grandma, it was ‘Sshhhh. Don’t talk about that.’ That was me well and truly told off. I think all of our, all our families have secrets they do not talk about. You know.

Transcription of Sheila and other participants at Dundee Herstory workshop

Sheila with a picture of her mother in the Dundee jute mills

M: How long did you mum work in the jute mills for?

P2: Not long. She had to leave because of the noise. She hated the noise and because she hated the dust. And then she wouldn’t do any work when we were there. Well, so she tells me. She was a full-time mum and when the war came. She went into munitions. A lot of women went to work in munitions. And she hated that as well because of the noise. And as you were saying, she was a devoted mum, we are all devoted mums. But I remember my granny, my adopted granny said to my mum. My mums name is Christina, which is a nice name. But she was actually called Tin, which is not very nice. And my adopted granny said to my mum, my mum always looked nice, did as much as she could do. But my granny said, ‘I thought you were buying yourself a new coat Tin’, and she said, ‘I’d rather put it on the bairns’. You know because the money was short. It was war time. And then we used to have the Anderson Shelter, do you remember them? You won’t remember them, nobody here will remember them. Under the ground. And I was only a wee girl then, I remember I had a wee pink suit, I must have been only 3 or 4. And I had my wee suit at night and my mum and dad would go down to the shelter. And my dad would carry me on the, you know, the lights, I can’t remember what you call them. Search lights. If they put them on, my dad would always carry me on his shoulders. Another thing I just remembered about the jute mills. At lunch time there was a bummer, you know a bummer, Clarkson sort of style. *Bssssshhhhd*. And then it was time to go for your lunch.

M: So they did half a day at school and half a day at the jute mills?

P2: Half a day at school and half a day at the jute mills.

M: So how many hours would they work there? 4 to 5 hours?

P2: Yeah, 4 to 5 hours, I suppose so.

P3: And did they get the worst jobs or?

P2: Well my mum would, she was a spinner. I don’t know if you saw that, did you see that picture? That’s the spinning. That’s my mum there. And there were spinners and weavers. The weavers were more like a trade. And the spinners, this is what they did. And they worked, sort of, we would call it bonus.

N: Well it must have been quite dangerous.

P2: Yeah, dangerous. The machines were all going, you know, and you had to pull things down – what I’ve seen on the films.

M: The noise must have been unbelievable with all the machines going.

P2: And then on a Saturday when you went into town it must have been such a laugh. Because going down the Wellgate which is nothing like the Wellgate is now. All the streets were there. And the women with their hair and all the colours, they always said the jute was hanging, you could smell the jute out of their hair. And they used roller thinners or curlers or whatever. For Saturday night.

P3: Did they get paid? Did the children get paid, is that why they did it?

P2: Very little. That was in the 1930s, when was the depression. 1929 I think.

This group promotes healthy living and the chance to explore your own area as never before with your very own Personal History Tour. As individual as you are! A great opportunity for you to reflect and also to encourage physical activity.

We all want to feel better in our lives and improve both our physical and mental wellbeing.

When I was growing up, they used to say this abandoned building was haunted! I would be so scared when walking by it…

Here you will tell us your story through your eyes. This is your area, your home. As well as your memories, we want your own account of what life has been like for you in Pollokshields and Govanhill.

Some of the best times during my childhood was with my cousins and friends in Maxwell Park…

There will be a series of 10 walks where not only will you share your experiences but we will also capture and record the places that mean something to you. Interested?

For more information or to take part, please contact Tabassum at the Pollokshields Health Shop on 0141 420 3415

This project is Supported by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.