Annabelle's Reflections On the 30th Anniversary: Govan Tour

As our 30th anniversary celebrations have come to a close, our trustee Annabelle reflects on one of her favourite events from the programme: a tour of Govan with Radical Glasgow Tours.

It’s been great to see and attend a variety of events programmed at KPC over May and June as part of the 30th anniversary of the community sit-in.

I really enjoyed and learnt a lot about the local area and past local people from the Radical Glasgow Tour. The tour started at the Aitken Memorial Fountain where we learnt about the history of Govan prior to it becoming part of the city of Glasgow. It was clear it has a strong identity of its own which is important to preserve, especially in the face of the new bridge to Partick opening up. One of our stops included the beautiful and historical Govan Old Church. Although we didn’t get a chance to see the Viking stones, we heard about George Macleod and his impact in Govan and subsequently Iona -- a connection which I had not known about before.

One of my favourite stops was at the Mary Barbour statue outside Govan subway. Her powerful stance against landlord rent increases in 1915 was very inspiring, especially given the period of time in which it occurred -- a great example of community activism. What stood out the most was that her actions didn’t stop there and she continued on to improve the lives of those around her -- opening up the first contraceptive clinic in Glasgow.

We ended at KPC and learnt more about the 55 day sit-in 30 years ago -- there is a great photo exhibition around the building at KPC. Understanding how the community can have a profound impact when they get together and stand up for what they believe in is really inspiring, which is why it’s important to me to celebrate this legacy and find ways to ensure it continues.