Paisley
Paisley maps (1 available)
Map of Renfrewshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Renfrewshire
Paisley books (5 available)
Ayr - A History and Celebration
Hardback
Oban - A History and Celebration
Hardback
So You Think You Know? Ayr
Hardback
- 3 photos on Paisley appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Paisley
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Paisley and Renfrewshire
Paisley memories
Read and share memories of Paisley and Renfrewshire inspired by Frith photos
when I was growing up
I remember being very happy growing up as a child in Paisley. One of my happiest memories was being given a golliwog outfit from the Robertson's jam factory. A certain amount was given out every year at Halloween by the factory.
I used to enjoy the Library and Museum which I visited each week, and as I got older the visits became more frequent.
I remember thinking how vast Coat's Mill was and how lovely the river that ran past it looked - sadly the mill has now been renovated into flats.
Contributed by patricia chalmers
Renfrewshire memories
when I was growing up
I remember being very happy growing up as a child in Paisley. One of my happiest memories was being given a golliwog outfit from the Robertson's jam factory. A certain amount was given out every year at Halloween by the factory.
I used to enjoy the Library and Museum which I visited each week, and as I got older the visits became more frequent.
I remember thinking how vast Coat's Mill was and how lovely the river that ran past it looked - sadly the mill has now been renovated into flats.
A memory of Paisley contributed by patricia chalmers
Where I was born
Looking at the photo, the large building to the left was known as Moni's building when I was born there in 1957. My grandpa (Wullie Gray) lived just to the right of the Co-Op building shown at number 17/19 Paisley Road. He would have been 18 when this was taken. I believe the Co-Op is a Fumeral Parlour now but Moni's buiding is still there.
great photo
Regards Wullie Gray
A memory of Barrhead contributed by Wullie Gray
Childhood
I was born and brought up in Possilpark from 1937 until 1958 and do not remember this mural. I guess things have to change, and I must admit the mural is very colourful and well done. I remember the Blind Asylum, the Co-op, Saracen Cross, St. Theresa's Church, all on Saracen Street (if my memory serves me correctly). My little brother and I used to go into the Co-op and watch the men in their white coats measuring out the sugar into paper bags, cutting and weighing the butter from the big slabs - no prepackaging in those days during the WWII. I have many happy memories of Possilpark.
A memory of Glasgow contributed by Mary Dudgeon
Extracts From Paisley & Renfrewshire books
In 1906, Paisley was described as a ‘smoke-begrimed industrial town on the Cart with 79,355 inhabitants and large thread, shawl and corn-flour factories’. Coats & Clark manufactured thread, and Brown & Poulson corn-flour.
An extract from from"Scotland Photographic Memories".
Although spinning and weaving were Paisley’s main industries, there were also several shipyards along the banks of the River Cart. The longest lived was Fleming & Ferguson. There was also the Thistle shipyard, which closed in the 1930s but was reopened during the Second World War for the construction of landing craft. Note the different styles of street lights in this view. There are at least three on the right-hand side, and on the left the remains of gaslights are very much in evidence.
An extract from from"Scotland Photographic Memories".
Dunn Square is a haven of tranquil peace amidst the bustle of a busy town centre. The statues, including those of Queen Victoria, and of Robert Tannahill, the weaver and poet who was born in Paisley, still adorn this square, although the layout has been altered since this photograph was taken.
An extract from from"Scotland".
By 1900, Paisley was a smoky industrial town with a population of 80,000. Paisley was the last stronghold of the highly skilled craft of fine handloom weaving, and as late as 1834 there were few if any power looms in the town. The Paisley weavers were specialists, producing goods for a luxury market. The end came not so much from power looms, but from printed imitations. In one Glasgow mill they used a treadmill worked by a Newfoundland dog.
An extract from from"Scotland Photographic Memories".
Paisley has many historical connections. It is famous for the ‘Paisley pattern’ shawls which were the height of European fashion during most of the 19th Century. Paisley Abbey, a Cluniac monastery founded in 1163 and now a charge of the Church of Scotland, has much 14th- and 15th-century architecture and stained-glass windows. Although spinning and weaving were Paisley’s main industries, there were also several shipyards along the banks of the River Cart. Note the different styles of street lights in this view. There are at least three on the right-hand side, and on the left there are the remains of gaslights.
An extract from from"Scotland".