About the Govan Reminiscence Group

The Govan Reminiscence Group's main function is to make audio recordings of our upbringing in Govan during the 20th Century. We also record our views on current affairs such as: Atomic Weapons, Scottish Parliament, Votes for women, and many other subjects.

Through the use of modern machines we are the first generation able to leave an accurate sound of our voices and accent to the future.

The beginning of the Govan Reminiscence Group
The Govan Reminiscence Group started by collecting stories of the life and upbringing of elderly Govan folk. We did this by recording these stories on audio tape. This proved interesting and we began to collect some artefacts.

On contacting the local Govan library, the Librarian Cathie Knocker offered us a shelf to make a small display. By the time this had been arranged we had amassed many items.


  Cathie joined our group and attended our meetings as we met on her day off. She also offered her advice which we accepted gladly.

We were then offered a room in the Govan Library to put on a display of our collection. This included photos, maps, and some artefacts.

It proved very popular especially our collection of old school photos, we overheard our visitors exclaim "That was my teacher" or I know who that is.
Elder Park Library: Opened by Andrew Carnegie on September 5th, 1903. The building was gifted by Mrs Elder to the people of Govan.

That was our start and we have had various exhibits and projects since then.

We built a Single End 14ft x 14ft. furnished with set-in bed, Gas light and bunker, this was on display in various venues in Glasgow and as it was only made of 1/2" inch cardboard. Sadly this became a bit ragged, so we photographed our model and dismantled it.

We then decided this was all good fun, most of us were retired shipyard workers and friends. We then formed the "O" things O' Govan" and started various projects, collecting stories of our upbringing.

From then on we put on a Govan Pageant performed by school children, organised a swimming Gala in Harhill Street Baths, some years ago. The Govan Baths with Steamy no longer exist.

We built and displayed various Floats for the Govan Fair. We also erected a full size loom for display in the Govan Library. Complete with songs, from Ann Lome Gillis and Jimmy McGregor. The loom itself was on loan from the Paisley Museum.

We have also had assistance from Alister McDonald and Jimmy Logan on our displays in Elder Park library.

We have written a few books, 'Govan Post Card Book', 'All our Yesteryears' and put in place the Govan Trail with assistance from the Glasgow Council South West Area Committee.

We became a bit sophisticated then and changed our name to The Govan Reminiscence Group. We have been in existence for over 20 years, lost some of our original members but new recruits have joined. We continue with new projects, and visit interesting places in Scotland. It's still good interesting fun.