Portal to the Past

When the railway reached it in 1864, Giffnock was still a rural village with some local industry and remained so for quite some time afterwards.

Coal was mined and sandstone and limestone were quarried locally, and these industries benefited from the new rail connection.

More importantly, however, the railway made commuting into Glasgow feasible, and it was the growth of Giffnock as a commuter suburb from the late nineteenth century onwards that led to the emergence of the modern residential district of today.

In Giffnock, where there are now streets of houses, there were once farm fields.

You can search for photographs of Giffnock held in our archives by browsing the Heritage Photo Collection page.