No.50

This photo probably dates from around 1900 - a time 

when a man with a camera always attracted a crowd

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In 1953 I took up the position of Youth Secretary at the Glasgow YMCA. Their headquarters were in the city centre in a big building with accommodation for boys and youths on the top floor, and senior members and office staff on the first and second floors. 

There were a number of shops on the ground floor. In the same building there was the Lyric Theatre owned by the YMCA, but, when I was working there, it was being rebuilt after a disastrous fire. The loss of the theatre had been a great blow to the city, for many amateur companies had found it ideal for their productions. 

There were five full-time members of staff and a fair number of voluntary leaders. I worked four evenings and five mornings each week, and frequently on Sunday afternoons. 

Each year the boys went camping for a week at Crail, and that gave me my first and only experience of living under canvas. Fortunately the weather was good and I really enjoyed it. Jean and a girl friend of one of the other leaders came also but they had sleeping accommodation in Crail.

There were a number of Glasgow business men who took an interest in the YMCA, especially when funds were needed. I remember one of them donated money to give each boy a copy of “Pilgrim’s Progress."  In those days this was considered a wonderful gift, but I often wondered how many of the books lay unopened and forgotten. Did I read it? What do you think?

One final memory. There was a little storeroom where games were kept. The single window which was painted over looked out on to the Pavilion Theatre across the road. The boys soon discovered that, where the paint had been scraped away, glimpses could often be had of the chorus girls in their dressing room !

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This picture shows the building when it was owned by the YMCA, and it remained so until it was demolished in the late 1950’s. 

The main entrance to the YMCA and the theatre can be seen halfway along the main side of the building. The entrance to the youth section was at the end of the stretch on the left.

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