AT FIRST glance the old Glasgow close, sandwiched between the baker’s and the fruit shop and captured in a clear black and white photograph taken in the 1930s, is unremarkable.

But it means the world to Diana and John Grierson.

“That was the entrance to our first home together,” explains Diana, proudly, after spotting the picture in Cardonald library at our recent Thanks for the Memories event.

“It was a room and kitchen, with a toilet on the landing, and we were so proud. We were on the top floor, so after our daughter was born, we had to haul the pram all the way up three flights of stairs.”

She smiles: “But we loved it.”

Diana and John joined fellow residents of old Cardonald at our recent drop-in session, sharing stories and photographs of the area through the decades.

The couple, who now live in Mosspark, have been married for 51 years.

“We met in 1966, when John was a student at the university and I was working as a clerical assistant,” says Diana. “We went dancing together, at the Flamingo dance hall in Cardonald and to lots of parties.”

Diana grew up in Moss Heights, the newly constructed, all-mod-cons flats-for-families on Berryknowes Road.

Built between 1950 and 1954, the development comprised 263 homes. Promoted as ‘modern luxury flats’ they had fitted kitchenettes and bathrooms, a living room and lounge and separate bedrooms for parents and children. In a lavish addition, the flats had central heating – which meant warmth and hot water, all year round…

“We were one of the first families to move in, which was exciting,” says Diana. “I remember there was a big piece of wasteground beside the flats too, that was brilliant for the kids to play on.”

Read more: Five facts about - Mary Barbour

Agnes Kirk was brought up in Cardonald and now lives in nearby Penilee.

“There was a big green hill, where the Morrison’s is now, and all the kids used to play on it,” she recalls. “I used to go dancing with my sisters – I loved the Locarno in town.”

Agnes’s parents, Bridget and George Miller, worked close by – George on the railways and Bridget at McDonald’s biscuit factory in Hillington (famous for making Penguins, among other things.)

“They also made the posh biscuits for M&S,” laughs Agnes.

Alex Harvey, who is now 80, moved to Cardonald with his parents, brother and two sisters just after the war.

His father David was a baker at the biscuit factory and his mum was a fishmonger, originally from Govan.

“Oh yes, moving to Cardonald was a step up,” laughs Alex. “It was quite posh, in fact. In Govan we had had a room and kitchen with a shared toilet on the landing, but in Cardonald, we stayed in a four-in-a-block and the toilet was inside.”

Read more: Elaine Mackenzie Ellis on the Best Days of Her Life

He adds: “I remember the schools and the cinemas, joining the 44th Glasgow Boys’ Brigade – many happy memories. It was a different world back then in many ways – all the kids played outside on the streets,

In 1957, Alex signed up to the army, and after a spell with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, he came back to Glasgow where he worked as first a bus driver and then a taxi driver.

“I worked all over Glasgow, but Cardonald was my home,” he smiles.