page_title: Bishopbriggs
section_title: 20th-century development
hierarchical_section_title: Bishopbriggs / History / 20th-century development
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of Sister Lauras Food supplement
context_page_description: Bishopbriggs is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately 4 miles from the city centre. Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of the historic parish of Cadder - originally lands granted by King William the Lion to the Bishop of Glasgow, Jocelin, in 1180. It was later part of the county of Lanarkshire, and then an independent burgh from 1964 to 1975. Today, Bishopbriggs' close geographic proximity to Glasgow now effectively makes it a suburb and commuter town of the city. The town's Gaelic name Coille Dobhair reflects the name of the old parish of Cadder. It was ranked the 2nd most desirable postcode in Scotland to live in following a study by the Centre for Economic and Business Research in 2015 and 2016.
  Bishopbriggs grew from a small rural village on the old road from Glasgow to Kirkintilloch and Stirling during the 19th century, eventually growing to incorporate the adjacent villages of Auchinairn, Cadder, Jellyhill and Mavis Valley. It has a population of approximately 23,500 people.
context_section_description: The Glasgow tramway network was extended north from Springburn to Bishopbriggs in 1903, with a terminus at Kirkintilloch Road close to traffic lights at what is now the Triangle Shopping Centre. As all trams were required to switch tracks (and direction) at a central crossover this proved dangerous as the levels of traffic on the main road increased. The tracks were eventually relocated and a new crossover created in a short spur which required all trams to turn left and terminate at Kenmure Avenue, where they changed direction and returned southwards to Glasgow. The tram service ceased across Glasgow in 1962.
  Bishopbriggs suffered an economic decline in the early decades of the 20th century. With the working out of the quarries at that time, what mines the area had closed systematically thereafter, throughout the 1920s.
   Manufacturing in the town began to grow after the First World War, one of the manufacturers that located in Bishopbriggs at the time was a producer of Infant formula, Sister Lauras Food Supplement. There were also engineering firms and the Scottish Wire Rope Company factory at Crowhill, Trebor Bassett at Huntershill, and Blackie and Sons Publishers at Cadder amongst those providing alternative employment.
  In 1929, a new 13-acre (53,000 m²) printing works for Blackie and Sons Publishers were erected on Kirkintilloch Road, retaining the name of their original Townhead works, 'The Villafield Press'. During the Second World War, Blackie & Son Ltd used part of their Bishopbriggs works for the manufacture of 3.45" shells for the Ministry of Supply. They also undertook some toolmaking for another Glasgow company, William Beardmore and Company; and, for a short time, produced aircraft radiators. By 1960 the publishing and administration section of the company also relocated from Townhead to join the printing section in Kirkintilloch Road, Bishopbriggs, and in 1971, new premises were occupied in Wester Cleddens Road, eventually becoming the headquarters of the company. The printworks were now no longer required and earmarked for demolition, following a demand for residential property in the area. The Villafield name was retained in the housing estate now on the site, opposite Cooper's Fine Fare supermarket (now Asda).
  The Robert McCarroll Plant Hire company was established at Crowhill in 1934 and continues to operate today.
  In 1932 the town saw the opening of its first (and only) cinema, The Kenmure. Located on Kirkintilloch Road it had an impressive towering facade and a single auditorium with capacity for 1000 patrons. Eventually the clientele dwindled after the arrival of television (in 1953) and by 1958 a decision was made to close it down. It lay derelict for a number of years, before being demolished to make way for the Churchill Way shopping centre which was constructed in 1962 (and demolished in 1993). The entrance to the cinema was where the Bishopbriggs Sub-Post Office is now located.
  Proposals were also drawn up for the creation of a 3,000-acre (12 km²) "Garden suburb" at Cadder by Patrick Abercrombie, under the instruction of Sir John Stirling-Maxwell in 1936 but by the 1950s just 26 art deco bungalows had been completed.
  During the Second World War, the town was bombed by the Luftwaffe at around midnight on 7 April 1941, as part of a series of raids on the Greater Glasgow area during early 1941, which included the notorious Clydebank Blitz some three weeks earlier. Approximately five bombs were dropped in the vicinity of South Crosshill Road. One fell behind Cadder Church Hall, an annex building of Bishopbriggs School (now the library) housing the junior school, that had been converted into an Air Raid Precautions first-aid post, received a direct hit, killing five staff instantly, along with four civilian residents of South Crosshill Road. Three ARP staff were also injured in the blast and died of their injuries at Lennox Castle Hospital in Lennoxtown the next day. The only strategic targets in the area were the railway and RAF Bishopbriggs (now Low Moss Prison), a barrage balloon depot established
caption: Sister Lauras Food Supplement
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