GORBALS SOCIAL HISTORY
GROUP
The Venny Adventure Playground, located in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, holds a special place in the community’s history. Created with the help of the legendary Glasgow folk singer and schoolteacher, Matt McGinn, the playground became a beloved spot for local children in the 1960s. It was known for its adventurous and somewhat risky play structures, including rope ladders, tyre swings, and climbing frames.
In 1967, when the playground faced the threat of closure due to funding cuts, the local children and their parents organized a protest march to save it. Their efforts were successful, and the council eventually reversed the funding cut. The Venny remains a symbol of community spirit and the importance of safe, creative play spaces for children. The original Venny does not survive today, but we do have the Gorbals New Park Playground.
The Venny.
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Memories for us Gorbals weans are all really plentiful and so many. It was helped to be built by the weans , who all called it the “Venny”. Actually there were two Venny’s, one built after the other in phases. The first one was near to Gorbals St, the next near to Dixon’s Blazes. What an adventure playground they were , dead brilliant and Grand. Who cared if we ripped our clothes, or maybe a big skelf in oor hand.
Rope ladders , tyre swings , shoogly platforms, and a climbing frame. On the zip wire called the Flying Fox , none of us wanted to go hame. Health and Safety would not have it today, we wouldn’t stand a hope. Especially when there were twenty weans swingin on the Tarzan rope. Some of the people in charge took us camping to Arran, that wiz a joy.
Or the Campsie Glens or Ballquider which holds the grave of Rob Roy. Thinking back to that time, skint knees ,bruised shins, and other pains. And glad to say we played at the Venny when we were Gorbals weans.
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Danny Gill
