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Morgan Glen - Larkhall
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MORGAN GLEN

But back down here, from beneath the viaduct to the Millheugh Bridge we are in an area called Morgan Glen, the name comes from a Mr John Morgan who died in 1914, as the then owner of the Applebank Inn, he left a bequest of £1,650 to be used solely for the purchase or to assist in the purchase of ground for a public park, at or near Millheugh, to be known as the John Morgan Public Park.

With the demise of Mr Morgan, his wife carried on successfully with the Inn for many years and affectionately became known locally as Lady Morgan, it was when she died in 1935, the trustees began the negotiations to purchase the land from the Broomhill Estate and the planning rights to carry out the bequest, these negotiations being successful work began in June 1939, and in June 1942, at the official opening of the John Morgan Park, or as it is now known Morgan Glen an oak tablet was erected and unveiled at the foot of the steps which we came down in memory of John Morgan. This plaque has long since gone due to what has pitifully become accepted as a normal course of events, vandalism, but I feel that some other form of memorial, less accessible to that element, should be constructed at the steps.

We have always been inclined to look on Morgan Glen as starting at the Millheugh Bridge and ending at the viaduct, but in actual fact the park as it is originally known, extends not only to the viaduct, but right past the steps, which are part of the park, to the 'Big Lynn', which is still a beautiful place for a picnic, yet has still to be treated with respect, for lurking beneath the beauty lies one of the most dangerous parts of the Avon.

If you look to the left of the path over there, on that flat area, that's where a fenced in open air stage and dance floor stood, guarded by its finely sculptured large stone lion that had come from Broomhill House. The first dance was held there on Glasgow Fair Saturday night, 1943, admission 1/- (5p) and as the years went by Morgan Glen became more and more popular as a rendezvous for people of all ages, and not just for Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays , and there were Brass Band and classical concerts, held there on Sundays.

Morgan Glen could claim to have given serious competition to the seaside resorts that 'Fair', for there was entertainment of some sort on every day and night, from kids competitions and beauty contests during the day, to fancy dress balls and old time and modern dancing in the evening. Similar arrangements were made every Fair Holiday for several years after this.

For those who wanted to watch and listen free this was ideal, with what seemed a perfect natural auditorium, with it's wide open expanse of grassy bank running from the path right up to the top of the glen, it was a gift for courting couples and anyone else who wanted to lie back on the grass on a summers evening and listen to the music.

In actual fact this is not a natural amphitheatre, trees did grow here, but they were cut down to allow a local coal merchant, to plunder coal from the side of the glen during the miners strike. Fortunately nature has recovered pretty well, and now that the public no longer want to use it other than as an area in which to enjoy a walk, we should assist in the landscaping of the sparsely dressed embankment by replanting some of the natural trees, then letting the glen do the rest.

After the war, Morgan Glen continued to develop as a source of cheap and even free entertainment and it must have seemed as the time, that there as no limit to what would be next, as it seemed to be forever increasing in popularity and if the pre-wart plans that were laid out for the building of a Boating Pond, a Bathing Lido and Bathing Huts, involving both Morgan Glen and Millheugh, had transpired it may have lasted longer.

I remember the Carnival Day parade, the first of which was in 1950, making our way down here after marching through the town, the fancy dress competition which always had plenty of entrants, being judged and awarded prizes, then the Carnival Queen who was a local girl who had won the title at the Carnival Queen dance, held prior to the event, being crowned. The climax of what was most likely until then, the most exciting day in her life.

In 1956, the local council applied for a loan of £4,603 to the Secretary of State for Scotland, this was to be used towards alterations in Morgan Glen, namely a better access road into the glen from Millheugh, a car park and a new stage which itself was to cost £5,000, as the glen was still a popular place with the Larkie folk this could have been looked upon as a sensible piece of expenditure, unfortunately this was rejected by the Home Office. It can only be hypothetical guess work as to what may or may not have developed in Morgan Glen if the loan had been given, perhaps it's been for the best.

It's a pity that lack of funds, disuse and a decline of public interest, the latter I believe being the main reason, allowed the facilities to deteriorate to such an extent that in the end the vandals took over and won, the ultimate being the complete demolition of the open air enclosure, and nature herself is in the process of leaving very little evidence that it ever existed.

Still we thank you John Morgan, not only for what there's been, but for what there is today and may hopefully be in the future, you were the basic instigator and the patron that was needed, we appreciate it.

                                               

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Stuart & Kirsty
stumca@hotmail.com