Landlordism, Blythswood Square Gardens

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 3 Apr 2024

I had always thought that these locked private gardens were the preserve of Edinburgh, but obviously Scotland's second city (!) is afflicted with them too. The little stuck-on poster makes for very good reading until the rather self-pitying sounding last paragraph, which veers into class politics - this has its place but isn't particularly relevant here. Even though there will doubtless be a higher proportion of poorer residents without access to private gardens, there will also be a great number of comfortable and very well-off Glaswegians without gardens too, also unable to use this central green space. These exclusive parks are, frankly, an anachronism and should now be handed over for public use. The sign on the pole inside reads: Private Property Enter at Own Risk As it is pretty impossible to read from the picture, here is the main body of the text, done in capitals as per the original: 'WHAT A LOVELY PARK' YOU MIGHT EXCLAIM UPON SEEING THE INVITING PATCH OF GREEN AMONGST THE DENSE CITY BLOCKS. 'I WOULD LOVE TO TAKE A RELAXING BREAK IN THIS PARK' YOU SAY APPROACHING THE BLACK METAL GATES. 'LOCKED!' YOU MUTTER SHARPLY, UNDER YOUR BREATH. 'IS IT SUNDAY? OR PAST CLOSING TIME?' YOU WONDER, ALOUD, TO NO ONE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS FOR YOU, BUT IT WILL BE LOCKED REGARDLESS. BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE GARDENS IS A PRIVATELY OWNED PATCH OF GREEN, JUST OFF SAUCHIEHALL STREET. YOU CAN HIRE THE SPACE FOR 59 MINUES [sic] FOR A MERE £95, AND £995 FOR THE WHOLE DAY. SEEMS PRETTY STEEP FOR A SANDWICH IN THE PARK - SORRY - 'GARDEN'. NOW, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I LOVE BEING OUT AND ABOUT. WHEN I MANAGE TO SCRAPE MYSELF OUT OF BED AND EMERGE FROM THE HOLE I RENT FOR A FEW HUNDRED POUNDS A MONTH, THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THE FEELING OF THE SUN AND/OR THE RAIN BEATING DOWN ON MY FACE. FOR A CAR-LESS CITY DWELLER LIKE ME, I CHERISH GREEN SPACES IN THE CITY, AND IT REALLY SUCKS TO NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS ONE THAT I PASS SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK. AS RENT AND BILLS ARE EVER-INCREASING, PUBLIC SPACE BECOMES MORE AND MORE VALUABLE. LAST WEEK, CIRENCESTER PARK INTRODUCED A £30/YEAR PASS TO A SPACE THAT HAS BEEN FREE TO THE PUBLIC FOR 326 YEARS. THE BBC ARTICLE ON THE SUBJECT SAYS: "LORD BATHURST, WHO OWNS THE HISTORIC 3000 ACRE PARK, SAID THE MONEY WOULD FUND MAINTENANCE WORKS." AS I WRITE THIS ON MY BROKEN DIVAN BED, WITH THE HOT WATER NOT WORKING FOR THE 3RD TIME THIS MONTH, I FANTАSISE ABОUТ HAVING A PLACE OF MY OWN. BUT MORE THAN THAT, I DREAM OF SECURITY, OF MY OWN DECORATION NAILED TO THE WALLS, AND OF KEEPING MY WAGES TO SPEND ON OAT LATTES AND CINEMA TICKETS. A HUMBLE DREAM, I THINK, BUT ONE THAT BECOMES MORE AND MORE UNLIKELY IN THE AGE OF LANDLORDISM.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0