Shuttle Lane prior to slum clearance

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Shuttle Lane prior to slum clearance

This 1930s photograph shows the Shuttle Lane slum clearance area situated between East North Street and Frederick Street, before the families were rehoused on new estates.

These houses were typical of the cramped, overcrowded tenements to be found in most Scottish cities. Large families would be crammed into 1 or 2 rooms. There might have been a shared toilet on the landings or more commonly outside in the back yard.

Infectious diseases such as diptheria and scarlet fever could be spread rapidly with such close contact of families, and infant mortality was high. There was often no drying green so many tenements had iron washing poles which could be slid out of windows when needed. Each family would have their allocated day to use the wash house.

Washing clothes was a laborious affair as the mother, maybe with the assistance of an older daughter, would stoke and light the boiler, and trek back and forth with water from an outside tap. Washing would be done by hand and if the weather was bad, then it would have to be hung inside in the kitchen to dry in the heat of the coal fire.

However, it seemed that community spirit was warm and close neighbours helped each other in times of crisis. This was a bond that would be broken when families were rehoused in the modern housing estates.

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