This 1947 photograph shows the entrance to the Housing Department's plant workshops and depot at Tollcross Garage, Amulree Street. Much bigger that the photograph indicates, the plant depot was an important part of the Direct Labour Organisation's operations.
Building and civil engineering plant played an increasingly vital role in the post-war housing drive, in respect of both site servicing and house-building, with new items being added almost daily. Maintenance and driving staff had an important job to do in ensuring that jobs were carried out by machine rather than manually, where possible. As the Housing Department's own magazine put it, "Muck-shifting may be mundane, but it is absolutely essential!"
During the Second World War, much of the Department's plant was hired out to the Government for war contracts on sites as far afield as the Orkneys, Shetlands and Hebrides. It was quickly reclaimed and reconditioned once hostilities had ceased.
Reference: D-AP9/7/8/80
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
civil engineering, council houses, cranes, diggers, Direct Labour Organisation, Glasgow Corporation, Housing Department, housing estates, housing schemes, Second World War, Tollcross Garage, workshops