THE NEWLY ELECTED GOVAN FAIR QUEEN

2013

Rahat BaigLorne Street Primary School

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THE OUTGOING GOVAN FAIR QUEEN

2012

Dani KilbridePirie Park Primary School

Order of Events

The Oldest Procession in Glasgow will take place on Friday 7 June 2013. The Procession with costumes, floats and bands will set off from Fairley Street at 7.45pm, then down Copland Road and along Summerton Road, then right into Orkney Street. The procession will continue along Govan Road, passed Elder Park and down Drive Road before turning left at Langlands Road and finishing at Arklet Road.

Friday 7 June - The Govan Fair

2PM A variety of traditional fairground rides will be located at Govan Cross; Children go free!

7PM The crowning of the Govan Queen takes place at the Victory Christian Centre, 285 Langlands Road

7.45PM The Procession with costumes, floats and bands will set off from Fairley Street and make its way through Govan before finishing at Arklet Road.

Saturday 8 June - Elder Park Fun day

1 - 5PM Elder Park Fun Day welcomes people of all ages to come along and join in the fun! Fairground Rides (free for children) & Heritage exhibits by the Riverside Museum.

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Hi Folks,

Historically on the first Friday in June from the 1930’s the people of Govan have lined the streets to revel in community spirit and annual pageantry brought to them by the Govan fair.

Although the Govan fair is still the biggest event in the local calendar, you only have to realise the passion and excitement the participants share be-fore, during and after that night.

Can I introduce to you our new chairman, Mr Jimmy Stringfellow, who has taken over this mammoth job to give us a night to remember. Jimmy is a well kent face in Govan and has done his bit to maintain the Govan fair in all it’s history.

I am, it seems, promoted to honorary chairperson, and will assist in any way I can to keep this age old tradition going from strength to strength.

This year is the centenary of the unveiling of the ‘Black man’ statue com-memorating the life and contribution of William Pearce to Govan, and hopefully will stand on its prime site in the heart of Govan for another 100 years on its renovation back to its original condition.

A big thanks to the committee once again for all the unseen work that they deliver for the big event, so lets make 2013 a great start for another cen-tury of Fairs that this monument proudly looks over.

O aye, the Govan fair.

Dorothy Courtney Honorary Chair Person, The Govan Fair Association

The new Chairperson of the Govan Fair, Mr Jimmy Stringfellow, with Honorary Chairperson Dorothy Courtney.

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The Govan Fair Association

The Govan Fair is organised annually by a dedicated group of local volunteers.

HONORARY MEMbERS

Harry McNab O.b.E. J.PMargaret E Maclean J.P

Evelyn Sherry

COMMITTEE MEMbERS & CONVENORS

Honorary Chair Person: Dorothy CourtneyChair Person: Jimmy Stringfellow

Treasurer: Kenny KerrSecretary: Sandy black

Communication Officer: Kyle ThorntonProgramme Distribution: Robert Dickie

Chief Marshall: Freddy Hunter

With attendance this year and help on:

Fundraising & Admin: Liz GardenerDramatic Direction: Frank Miller

Health and Safety Officer: Dr Wan CheahWeb & Presentation: Andy McAvoy & Ann Nisbet

Order of Procession7.45 - 8.30PM

Section 1The Govan Weaver’s Ancient Sheep’s Heid

Mounted PolicePolice Pipe band

Govan Fair Queen Horse & CarriageOfficial Cars

Open Top bus

Section 2Chairperson, Maids & Escorts

Plantation ProductionsGovan Youth ProjectRenfrew Pipe band

Park Villa FloatAngela Mills Dance

Section 3HorsesUnity

Sharon breen DancersGeorge Wyllie’s Steel Heid

Fairground Community Group & Edo Lace Ghost

Robin Campbell Commercials

Section 4St Francis Pipe band

brightest Star Charity GroupFraser Farrow Historic Truck

JewsonsDavid Grey Vintage Delage

Section 5Salvation Army band

GalgaelTunnock’s

Southern General HospitalVictoria S Dance

Section 6Strathclyde Fire & Rescue

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THE FAIR QUEENCROWNING CEREMONY

2012

(L-R): Kristofer Campbell, Melanie Gilmour, Dani Kilbride, Lauren Costick, Connor TaylorThe 2012 Fair Queen with her Maids & Escorts.

Govan’s Johnny beattie crowning Queen Dani Kilbride of Pirie Park Primary School.

This year’s Queen with her Maids & EscortsBack-to-Front: Rahat baig; Mark Wright; Zartashia Rana: billie-Jo Leiper; Mohammed Halane; Eve Elliot

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Today’s Govan Fair continues a tradi-tion going back to 1756, when the Govan Weav-ers Society revived an old fair first recorded in the 1400s. The event has always started with a grand parade which, like the fair itself, is an old Govan tradition. but this idea of a procession through the heart of the town is even older than the fair. It reaches back a thousand years, to a time when Govan was the capital of a kingdom.

In 2013, Govan is a busy modern town with a proud industrial heritage. A thousand years ago, it was a small settlement beside the river. but it was already an important place: it was the capital of Strathclyde, one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Viking Age.

The royal family of Strathclyde worshipped at a wooden church where the old parish church of Govan now stands. They were buried in the church-yard, and some of their finely carved gravestones have survived. Like royal families in modern times, they used their favourite church for big celebrations like weddings, coronations and christenings. When these ceremonies were over, the king and queen led a procession through ancient Govan. Their des-tination was a huge, flat-topped mound called the Doomster Hill.

The hill no longer exists, but it stood where the Riv-erside Housing Estate stands today. Like the church, the hill was a focus for important events in the old kingdom, so a special road - a processional pathway - was built to link the two ceremonial sites. Local people would have turned out to see the king and queen leading their entourage out from the church towards the Doomster Hill. These parades would have been colourful occasions, with the royal folk dressed in their finest regalia. The kings and queens of Strathclyde are now a distant memory, but the pomp and colour of their processions are reflected in the Govan Fair parade.

We don’t have to look far to see how the past con-nects with the present, even if some connections are no more than coincidences. Consciously or sub-consciously, old traditions are reborn and re-shaped to suit the needs of a modern community, and we may note that today’s procession - like those of a thousand years ago - is graced by the presence of a Queen.

As the Fair parade passes the churchyard of Govan Old, its route runs parallel to the ancient proces-sional pathway, traces of which were discovered by archaeologists in the 1990s. The pathway went from the southeast corner of the churchyard, along an alignment now followed by Pearce Lane, before crossing Water Row to reach the site of the Doom-ster Hill.

The Govan Fair procession is a celebration of past, present and future. It brings people together, and it tells the world that Govan is a special place. The Weavers were giving out a similar message when they first paraded through the town in 1756. So, too, were the kings and queens who led the parades of ancient times. History shows us that Govan folk have enjoyed taking part in grand processions for many hundreds of years. Long may this proud tradi-tion continue.

Tim Clarkson Author of The Men of the North

The Govan Sarcophagus, carved in the 9th century AD, drawn by Andrew Gibb in 1855 or 1856. The horseman in the centre is probably a king of Strathclyde

PROCESSION: A LINK WITH GOVAN’S ANCIENT PAST

A pictorial representation of the importance of procession - in this case, bringing in the mistletoe. George Henry & E.A. Hornel, ‘The Two Druids’, 1890Govan’s Parliamentary Hill, the Doomster, in 1757.

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Weaving Truth With Trust is an HLF-funded project, supported and managed by Northlight

Heritage (www.northlight-heritage.co.uk)

Taking its name from the motto of the Govan Weavers Society, ‘Weaving Truth With Trust’ is a collaboration between commu-nity groups, artists and archaeologists to create a one-of-a-kind textile screen to be displayed in Govan Old Church. The church is home to the ‘Govan Stones’, a collection of medieval sculpture carved in a unique style which flourished at a time when Govan was the centre of the Kingdom of Strathclyde over 1200 years ago. The project draws inspiration from this outstanding sculptural heritage, and from Govan’s rich history of textile manufacturing - from handloom weaving to silk mills. The completed screen will be hung next to the Govan Stones, celebrating the innovation, creativity and industry of the people of Govan, past and present.

The role of the textile industry in shaping the his-tory of Govan has been largely overshadowed by the heavy industries which colonised the area from the mid 1900s onwards. In the 1800s, be-fore the arrival of the shipyards and engineering works, Govan was a small, rural village and han-dloom weaving was the main source of employ-ment. The Govan Weaver’s Society was formed in 1756, to provide assistance to weavers who had fallen on hard times, and they were instrumental in reinstating the Govan Fair celebrations. Other ‘cottage industries’ included cloth bleaching - linen woven in the village was soaked in a mixture of water and sour-milk was laid out on the common lands around Doomster Hill and bleached in the sun.

Life was often hard for the handloom weavers - pressures from external market forces, wars, and increasing mechanisation drove prices down and threatened livelihoods. In 1845, the parish minis-ter, Rev. Matthew Lieshman described the declin-ing fortunes of the last of the Govan handloom weavers:

‘For many years, it is too well known, the handloom weaver has received for his labour very inadequate remuneration. His mind has been depressed by this.’

Today, the Weaver’s Society continues to operate as a charity supporting Govan folk, but the last of the looms had fallen silent by the late 1900s.

Morris Pollok opened Scotland’s first silk mill in 1820 on a site later occupied by Fairfield Ship-yard. The six-storey mill dominated the Govan skyline and can be seen in several early views of

the river. bales of raw silk imported from Italy were delivered to the mill to be ‘thrown’ (spun) into a fine silk thread, ready to be woven into high-quality garments. The mill employed many villagers, mainly women and children, and despite a modern, steam powered factory, working con-ditions could be harsh and long hours were the norm. The Govan Silk Mill was followed by other textile mills: the chimneys of Dunsmuir Street Silk Works, broomloan Cotton Factory, and several printworks peppered the Govan skyline.

Reid’s Dye Works was another local landmark, nestled between Water Row and the looming bulk of the ancient Doomster Hill. The pragmatic dyers saw that the hill was put to effective use:

‘The utilitarian and the antiquarian will be differently af-fected when they learn that a reservoir for the use of an adjoining dye-works has been formed on the top of this tumulus’. Rev. Leishmann

Now conjoined, the two sites suffered a parallel fate upon the arrival of the shipbuilders in 1839 and they were demolished to make way for the hulls of Vanguard, Persia, Golondrina, Estrella, Ariel....and the dawn of the great ships.

Govan Silk Factory letterhead, by Joseph Swan c. 1840.

A view of the Silk Mill in 1900, a year before it was demolished to make way for an extension to Fairfield Shipyard. The main block seen in the company letter-head was destroyed by fire in 1873 and never rebuilt.

Undated print (c. 1820s) showing Reid’s Dye Works and the southern flank of Doomster Hill.

bleachfield (Vale of Leven, not Govan). Reid’s Dye Works was the successor to the bleachfield east of Water Row.

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GEORGE RALSTON WYLLIE31ST December 1921 – 15TH May 2012

A life less Ordinary1

Sadly in the days leading up to last years Govan fair George passed away. His contri-bution to Govan and the Fair was huge and some may remember his Jazz Float of 1998 which took pride of place in the procession. In community residency at the Pearce Institute over a number of years he was able to work in a wide ranging way and from there illuminate many situations. As you walk through Elder Park, the Pearce institute or many Govan Landmarks today you will find his craft sitting in equilibrium with its surroundings and posing questions about what is actually going on. He was careful never to use more that 2 ma-terials and commonly worked with one preferred material which he mastered – stainless steel.

George’s eye was accustomed to noticing where things came from and where they were going. The Govan Fair as a vibrant and ongoing proces-sion which had roots in the ancient suited him very well. It was real life celebration; raw data and live Geo poetics.

Not surprising then that George returned to Govan in his later years, when you consider what it meant to him and where he had been. Laura Hamilton curator of the Collins Gallery reflects:-

“Like many small boys, he was enamored by trains and while working in a Govan Ship Yard Office, a new fascination with Cranes sparked his ambition to become an Engineer and on the strength of technical Drawings made for model aeroplanes, he was offered a job in the crane department of Sir William Arrol and Co.”

but wary of a slump in the Industry his father diverted this desire and placed George in the Engineering or manhole department at the Post Office, which looked steadier.

On the onset of World War 2, he managed to ‘chat his way out’ of the Fleet Air Arm and into the Royal Navy, which apart from active service in France and Italy, offered wonderful opportunities for the 21 year old to travel as an electrical arti-ficier on the HMS Argonaut to: Egypt, Sri Lanka, Australia and the Philippines.

From Yokohama he took a day trip to Hiroshima which in his later years directly led to an installa-tion in Glasgow’s George Square in which he ex-pressed his horror that, in his own words;

“[...] the evolution and eternity of this planet, its human race, and the culmination of all energies which is fertility, can be converted by a touch on an idiot switch, to sterility”

George Wyllie proposed question marks and throughout this last year his Artistic achievements were celebrated in a year long event entitled ‘For The Burds’.

The chairperson of the Friends of George Wyllie society Jan Patience reflects;

‘The first time I met George Wyllie in 2011, he de-manded to know : “What’s your passion? The best thing you’ve ever done?” The thing about George Wyllie, I have come to learn, is that he asks direct questions. Of you as a person, your heritage, your creativity, and your whole Philosophy on the world in which you find yourself living. He made things happen.’

With his insight and international reputation es-tablished he raised question marks … and ques-tions.

What ?

With words actions and craft he later proposed that :-before every step there should be thought about where that step is taking you.

How ?

by making, placing and moving pale representa-tive ghosts around our landscape and beyond.

Where ?

In places where precious skills and Industry were threatened by unilateral greed, he posed a ques-tion. - Hand Craft at home or enforced Foreign Slavery and dependence. In doing that, he repre-sented life stories, ideologies, materials and craft from this specific geography + his work continues to give those significance.

He asked for a considerate Society and for a gath-ered and distilled consciousness.

For Equilibriums sake - Where armed submarines drift …..George sailed a fragile paper boat

….Commonly piloted by himself with family.

Remember or discover him at this years fair. See if you can locate what he left to sit harmoniously in Govan today raising these equilibrium question marks.

Apostles of rainwalked over the Sea

lightning and actual thunderstruck the shores

till innocence criedin the virtuous townshipand the ancient prophet

flew from his cave

with blazing wings2

Andy McAvoy May 2013

George Wyllie with an eagle perched on a toilet roll sculpture in 1995. Photograph Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian

1. Title of retrospective exhibition on George’s Lifetime achievements. 2. ‘The Cold Wind of Dawn’, Kenneth White, 1966

For more information on George Wyllie please see; twitter.com/ForTheburds facebook.com/ForTheburds http://www.whysman.co.uk/� �

BRUCE MILLAN 5TH October 1927 - 21ST February 2013

The Rt Hon bruce Millan, who died earlier this year, was MP for Craigton from 1959 to 1983 and then, following an adjustment of constituency boundaries, for Govan from 1983 to 1988.

His funeral took place in Govan Old church on 4 March 2013, and attracted a large congregation of local people, friends and former political col-leagues. bruce Millan was widely respected not only for his personal gifts and his considerable political achievements, but also for his integrity and unfailing commitment to the needs and inter-ests of the people in his constituency. He never lost sight of that, despite the other significant de-mands on his time and energy. He had little time for political ‘infighting’ or some of the priorities of ‘New Labour’: his primary concerns were social justice and the common good.

born and educated in Dundee, he trained as an accountant and came to work in Glasgow for the Scottish Gas board, before entering Parliament in 1959. He held junior ministerial office in the Min-istry of Defence and then the Scottish Office in the Wilson governments before being appointed first Minister of State. He then became Secretary of State for Scotland in the Callaghan government from 1976-1979.

During his distinguished term of office he was an able and effective advocate for Scotland’s in-terests within the Cabinet. Among many other things he was responsible for the setting up of the Scottish Development Agency and the major GEAR project for the regeneration of Glasgow’s East End.

He left the Westminster Parliament in 1988, on appointment as European Commissioner for re-gional policy and cohesion in brussels, where he

made a notable contribution to regional develop-ment throughout Europe. He left that post in 1995 and came to live in Glasgow where he continued to be active in charitable and local political work. He was made chair of a widely praised review of Scottish mental health legislation. This legislation recommended important improvements and was implemented by the Scottish Parliament.

bruce Millan was a modest and unassuming man who wore his gifts and achievements lightly and never sought the limelight. He was a very ef-fective administrator who ensured that he was always on top of his brief and, although he was hardly an exciting public speaker, his arguments were consistently persuasive and convincing.

At his funeral service, Charles Currie, a family friend and son of the much-remembered Rev James Currie of St James, Pollok; with whom bruce often stayed when in the west of Scot-land, spoke warmly of bruce’s personal gifts, and the present leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Johann Lamont MSP paid tribute to his public achievements.

before training as a Church of Scotland minister I worked for 15 years as a civil servant in the Scot-tish Office and served as his Private Secretary from 1976-77. I had the highest regard for him, and it was an immense privilege to have been asked by his widow Gwen, his daughter Liz and his son Mark to conduct his funeral.

Rev Dr Norman Shanks Minister of Govan Old, 2003-2007

bruce Millan at Chrysler factory in Linwood, Sep. 7th 1977. Photograph by Stephen Mansfield10 0

“GREAT SPEECHES BY GOVANITES

JIMMY REID ‘ALIENATION’ Rectoral Address to University of Glasgow

28th April 1972

Alienation is the precise and correctly applied word for describing the major social prob-lem in britain today. People feel alienated by society. In some intellectual circles it is treated almost as a new phenomenon. It has, however, been with us for years. What I believe is true is that today it is more widespread, more pervasive than ever before. Let me right at the outset define what I mean by al-ienation. It is the cry of men who feel themselves the victims of blind economic forces beyond their con-trol. It’s the frustration of ordinary people excluded from the processes of decision making. The feeling of despair and hopelessness that pervades people who feel with justification that they have no real say in shaping or determining their own destinies.

Many may not have rationalised it. May not even un-derstand, may not be able to articulate it. but they feel it. It therefore conditions and colours their so-cial attitudes. Alienation expresses itself in different ways by different people. It is to be found in what our courts often describe as the criminal anti-social behaviour of a section of the community. It is ex-pressed by those young people who want to opt out of society, by drop outs, the so-called maladjusted, those-who seek to escape permanently from the re-ality of society through intoxicants and narcotics. Of course it would be wrong to say it was the sole rea-son for these things. but it is a much greater factor in all of them than is generally recognised.

Society and its prevailing sense of values leads to an-other form of alienation. It alienates some from hu-manity. It partially dehumanises some people, makes them insensitive, ruthless in their handling of fellow human beings, self-centred and grasping. The irony is, they are often considered normal and well adjusted. It is my sincere contention that anyone who can be totally adjusted to our society is in greater need of psychiatric analysis and treatment than anyone else.

Profit is the sole criterion used by the establishment to evaluate economic activity. From the rat race to lame ducks. The vocabulary in vogue is a giveaway. It’s more reminiscent of a human menagerie than human society. The power structures that have in-evitably emerged from this approach threaten and undermine our hard-won democratic rights. The whole process is towards the centralisation and concentration of power in fewer and fewer hands. The facts are there for all who want to see. Giant monopoly companies and consortia dominate al-most every branch of our economy. The men who wield effective control within these giants exercise a power over their fellow men which is frightening and is a negation of democracy.

Government by the people for the people becomes meaningless unless it includes major economic deci-sion making by the people for the people. This is not simply an economic matter. In essence it is an ethical and moral question for whoever takes the important economic decisions in society ipso facto determines the social priorities of that society. From the Olym-pian heights of an executive suite, in an atmosphere where your success is judged by the extent to which you can maximise profits, the overwhelming tenden-cy must be to see people as units of production, as indices in your accountants’ books.

To appreciate fully the inhumanity of this situation, you have to see the hurt and despair in the eyes of a man suddenly told he is redundant without provision made for suitable alternative employment, with the

prospect in the west of Scotland, if he is in his late forties or fifties, of spending the rest of his life in the Labour Exchange. Someone, somewhere has decid-ed he is unwanted, unneeded, and is to be thrown on the industrial scrap heap. From the very depth of my being, I challenge the right of any man or any group of men, in business or in government, to tell a fellow human being that he or she is expendable.

The concentration of power in the economic field is matched by the centralisation of decision making in the political institutions of society. The power of Parliament has undoubtedly been eroded over past decades with more and more authority being invest-ed in the Executive. The power of local authorities has been and is being systematically undermined. The only justification I can see for local government is as a counterbalance to the centralised character of national government.

Local government is to be restructured. What an opportunity, one would think, for decentralizing as much power as possible back to local communities. Instead the proposals are for centralising local gov-ernment. It’s once again a blueprint for bureaucracy, not democracy. If these proposals are implemented, in a few years when asked “Where do you come from?”, I can reply: “The Western Region”. It even sounds like a hospital board.

It stretches from Oban to Girvan and eastwards to include most of Glasgow conurbation. As in other matters, I must ask the politicians who favour these proposals - where and how in your calculations did you quantify the value of a community? Or a com-munity life? Of a sense of belonging? Of the feeling of identification? These are rhetorical questions. I know the answer. Such human considerations do not fea-ture in their thought processes.

Everything that is proposed from the establishment seems almost calculated to minimise the role of the people, to miniaturise man. I can understand how attractive this prospect must be to those at the top. Those of us who refuse to be pawns in their power game can be picked up by their bureaucratic tweez-ers and dropped in a filing cabinet under “M” for malcontent or maladjusted. When you think of some of the high flats around us, it can hardly be an ac-cident that they are as near as one could get to an architectural representation of a filing cabinet.

If modern technology requires greater and larger productive units, let’s make our wealth producing resources and potential subject to public control and to social accountability. Let’s gear our society to social need, not personal greed. Given such creative re-ori-entation of society, there is no doubt in my mind that in a few years we could eradicate in our country the scourge of poverty, the underprivileged, slums, and insecurity.

To unleash the latent potential of our people requires that we give them responsibility. The untapped re-sources of the North Sea are as nothing compared to the untapped resources of our people, I am con-vinced that the great mass of our people go through life without even a glimmer of what they could have contributed to their fellow human beings. This is a personal tragedy. It’s a social crime. The flowering of each individual’s personality and talents is the pre-condition for everyone’s development.

My conclusion is to reaffirm what I hope and certain-ly intend to be the spirit permeating this address. It’s an affirmation of faith in humanity. All that is good in man’s heritage involves recognition of our common humanity, an unashamed acknowledgement that man is good by nature. burns expressed it in a poem that technically was not his best, yet captured the spirit.

In “Why should we idly waste our prime,” he writes:

The golden age, we’ll then revive, each man shall be a brother,

In harmony we all shall live and till the earth together,

In virtue trained, enlightened youth shall move each fellow creature,

And time shall surely prove the truth that man is good by nature

It’s my belief that all the factors to make a practical reality of such a world are maturing now. I would like to think that our generation took mankind some way along the road towards this goal. It’s a goal worth fighting for.

This speech was abridged for inclusion in the Govan Fair Programme. For unabridged version, please see www.educationscotland.gov.uk

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Water Row has always sat at the heart of Govan. It’s a route to a crossing of the water and the reason Govan exists.

Since pre Christian times, there have been suc-cessive layers of crossing & inhabitation here. All have their stories....all have their ghosts. Many re-main buried awaiting investigation.

Govan’s Raison D’etre is routed in the water. With its desire line blocked it remains in a state of disconnection.

The Ghost of Water Row as it has appeared on the footprint of the original buildings, distils the nature of human inhabitation that lasted here, till the Industrial giant Harland and Wolff arrived.

built in pale Scottish spruce - The Ghost is a care-ful distillation of four buildings that sat to the West of the now buried slipway at Water Row. It’s not a direct copy of the Ferry Inn or the Weaver’s cottages that were here from 1700 - 1912, but it says something of them.

The shuttles of Govan’s hand loom weavers stopped flying in early 1900 to make way for ship-building. On the 5th November 1912, the burgh of Govan was subsumed by the city of Glasgow and much of its independence went with it.

The pattern of the lace on the Ghost was taken from Flemish trade on the River Clyde. It’s known as ‘Guirlandes’ meaning garlands & representative of honour. The pattern was moved from hand looming to mechanised looming and remains in production by MYb textiles in Ayrshire to this day.

Human inhabitation today is represented by members of the showpeople community from two families; the Stringfellows & the Johnstones. In taking their apparatus on the road from this ancient site they represent hundreds of years of activity in and around the subject of Fairs. both here and in the East of the city of Glasgow, their tradition of manufacture, showmanship and hon-our continues.

Ann Nisbet & Andy McAvoy Edo Architecture

THE GHOST OF WATER ROW

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Govan Workspace LtdGovan Cross Townscape Heritage InitiativeFriends of Elder ParkGalgaelShowmen’s GuildPlantation ProductionsPuppets in Partnership FestivalCRAN TheatreSunny Govan RadioNicola Sturgeon MSPDialectogramsReeves Fairground RidesFablevision StudiosSwayedEdo ArchitectureGovan Housing AssociationSouthside Housing AssociationJohann Lamont MSPElderpark Housing AssociationDavid Mitchell Plastering & building LtdJohn R Adam & Sons LtdClydeportCruden GroupLove SalvageIan Davidson MSP Joe Smith Showman of bridgetonSouthern General Hospital & brookfield MultiplexLinthouse Housing AssociationFairground Community GroupElderpark LibraryMcKay FlooringGovan Cross Shopping Centrebrookfield MultiplexJbD Tritec LtdHumza Yousaf MSP

Supporters of the 2013 Govan FairFAIR GLASGOW & THE GOVAN FAIR

Govan has provided a home and yard to Showmen and Show women for cen-turies. Govan Historically has also provided a Fairground destination of National impor-tance. A seasonal ground where the best of that Cultural offering, from all over the coun-try could be experienced.Each year as the procession prepared to move through the streets of Govan – Elder Park and the surrounding streets would be filled with rides, showmen, amusements and theatrics.

Where did that go ? … Where is that Waltz-er where I first kissed my husband … you may ask !

As the Fair comes round this year the Govan fair Committee is welcoming some of that; particularly Scottish, Glaswegian and Govan specific, colour, tradition and excitement once again.

Various people form the Show people Com-munity will be bringing out (in kind) their ap-paratus to re-enliven that tradition this year.

Let the fun begin!

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Fairfield Doors Open 21-22 September 2013

10 am - 4 pm

First public viewing of the restored building

All Welcome

Congratulations to the Govan Fair

- a great Govan tradition

www.fairfieldgovan.org.uk

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GLASGOW’S OLDESTSCHOOL FOOTbALL

TOURNAMENT

Historically sports and the people involved have provided support in the broadest sense for the Govan Fair.Presently football is still providing a heritage link but we would hope that with the advent of the 2014 Commonwealth Games other organisa-tions will come forwards and re-engage with the heritage.

This year sees another inter-school football tournament, an event whose continued success is thanks to dedicated or-ganisers and enthusiastic players. Long may it con-tinue.

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7th June 2013 Govan Fairp a r a d e

RESTORATIONPearce Statue

Revealed ...

www.getintogovan.com16 6

Friends of Elder Park (EST 2008) - Protecting and promoting Elder Park, which Mrs Isabella Elder provided for the people of Govan in 1885.

Registered Scottish Charity No. SC040084

The Friends of Elder Park have been working with GCC Land and Environmental Services to keep improving Elder Park. You may have noticed the arrival of 67 new trees, a commemorative bench for Derek Neilson made by Galgael, and the new out-door gym equipment for all of us who’ve let those New Year’s exercise resolutions slip. We’ve also been cleaning up, sowing seeds and having lots of fun with all kinds of folk.

We’d love to hear about what you’d like to see happening in Elder Park, and if you’d like to become a Friend of Elder Park get in touch!! Anybody can be a friend of Elder Park!

friendsofelderpark@gmail.comfriendsofelderpark@gmail.comfriendsofelderpark@gmail.comfriendsofelderpark@gmail.comfriendsofelderpark@gmail.com

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New MAKING ART MATTERprogramme out now!

To find out what’s on for YOU, or to hire your meeting space visit www.plantation.org.uk

The Portal, 978 Govan Road, G51 3AJ Scottish Charity No: 42866 Tel: 0141 445 1666 info@plantation.org.uk

Proud to support the Govan Fair 2013.

www.fablevision.org

Level 3, 7 Water RowGovan Cross

GlasgowG51 3UW

0141 425 2020

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The Sunny G stage hosted by Steg G, will welcome live local music, fun and games to the Govan Fair again this year. Situated under the Judges balcony at the Pearce Institute, Scotland’s top community station will introduce the unveiling of the newly restored Pearce statue and flashmob dancers as the crowds await the procession. Hear all about the Fair and its history on 103.5fm or online at www.sunnygovanradio.com

Proudly supporting the Govan Fair 2013.

www.quarriers.org.uk

Best Wishes to the Govan Fair 2013

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Committee, Staff & Tenants ofElderpark Housing Association

wish the Govan Fairanother successful year

Elderpark Housing Association Ltd31 Garmouth Street, Glasgow G51 3PR

Tel: 0141 440 2244 Fax: 0141 445 5345Email: admin@elderpark.org

Web: www.elderpark.org

Clydeport is Scotland’s premier west coast port operator

which boasts of world class facilities at each of its ports.

These ports along the River Clyde include Greenock

Ocean Terminal, Hunterston and King George V Dock.

This combination of ports offers diverse facilities to

accommodate a broad range of industries and their varied

needs.

Clydeport Operations Limited

16 Robertson Street, Glasgow, G2 8DS

www.clydeport.co.uk

MCKAY FLOORING LTD.

Visit our showroom and see the latest in flooringVUXURY VINYL plus over 200 wood floor styles:

SHOWROOM: 123 Harmony Row, Govan, G51 3NB

Tel : 0845 602 7694

Get more out of your floor

www.mckayflooring.co.uk

@McKayFlooring

http://www.facebook.com/mckay.flooringltd

LUXURY VINYL FLOORING by:

NEW!Luxury Vinyl Tile

From only

£19.99per m2 ex vat

Ideal for Kitchens &Bathrooms

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www.crudenhomes.co.uk

The Cruden Group are proud to support The 2013 Govan Fair

www.crudenhomes.co.uk

Cambuslang Investment Park, 5 Clydesmill Road, Cambuslang, Glasgow G32 8RETelephone: 0141 646 5400 cruden@cbrl.co.uk

BUILDING HOMES ...CREATING JOBS ...

REGENERATING GOVAN

BESTDEVELOPMENT

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Park View, Govan

Best Family Home 2011 The HeraldBest Home Design 2012 Homes for Scotland

Best Home Design 2013 Homes for Scotland Best Apartment 2011 Homes for Scotland

Govan Gateway Park Court Park View

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Best wishes to everyone taking part in the

2013 Govan Fair

Write Telephone Telephone

Email

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The Staff and Committee of Southside Housing Associationwish every success to the Govan Fair 2013

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Reclaimed flooring vintage lighting

upcycled / vintage / antique & 2nd hand

furniture with a dash of architectural salvage

LOVE SALVAGE8 Harmony Square, Govan

www.lovesalvage.com

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Humza Yousaf MSP for Glasgow

Pearce Institute Surgery 840-860 Govan Road, G51 3UU 3rd Monday of the month, 12:30pm—1:30pm

_____________________________

Contact Details: MSP Office, Empire House 131 West Nile Street Glasgow G1 2RX

T. 0141 353 1593 E. humza.yousaf.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Twitter: @HumzaYousaf Facebook: HumzaYousafSNP

Thank you

The Govan Fair Association is extremely grateful to the following:

Elder Park Library who have kindly hosted our organising meetings; Victory Christian Centre who are hosting the Crowning Ceremony; Lorne Street Primary School and our other local schools; Strathclyde Fire & Rescue; Glasgow City Council; Strathclyde Police; The Riverside Museum; Friends of George Wyllie; Fablevision Studios; MYb

Textiles; William Anderson & Sons Printers Ltd.

Thanks must also go to all the businesses and groups that have contributed to the programme and to all the organisations participating in the street procession.

Finally, a special thanks must go to you, the people of Govan and beyond, for your continued support for all the Govan Fair activities.

Requests of the people of Govan

Dress up, celebrate & show your appreciation for this annual pageant. Please be safe and take your rubbish home with you.

We’d love you to contribute any memories, photos or film from this or previous years fair to www.thegovanfair.org. As Govan enters it’s latest age of greatness, we hope this year’s fair will be as good as any ancient one has ever been.

O aye, the Govan Fair.

The Govan Fair Association is a registered Charity in Scotland (SC040936)

This programme was produced by Edo Architecture & Liam O’Shea www.edoarchitecture.com

All this years photography by Julia bauer juli8bau@hotmail.com

Printed & bound in Govan, May 2013