Our History

Berridale Allotments and Gardens Association was constituted in 1937 although people had been cultivating plots on the site since about 1918. Developers were refused permission to build houses because the area was then a flood plain. The Association arranged to rent and then later buy the land from the owners. Those of us lucky enough to have access to one of these plots owe the founders and following generations a debt of gratitude for their foresight and hard work in securing the land for community use

Some of the documentary evidence for this fascinating local history has been deposited by the Association with the Mitchell Library.  A collaboration between the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society, Glasgow Allotment Forum, The Heritage Lottery Fund and Glasgow City Archives has made it possible to archive material relating to allotments. Professional archiving will ensure that the hard copy material is conserved in better conditions than the Association’s own facilities can offer and that it will be made available for amateur and professional historians and interested individuals to explore for years to come.

An online history of the Association can be found here, while a clip from “The Beechgrove Garden” which featured Berridale Allotments can be viewed here. (Best viewed on a smaller screen as the quality isn’t great.)