
Victorian bandstands stay a popular function in lots of parks and open areas throughout the UK. Why were so numerous of them constructed in Scotland?
Many of the more prominent Victorians had fret about the working class.
With what little bit free time they had actually, those utilized in the factories and mines may consume alcohol, or even worse.
What was required was something more enhancing.

And, according to historian Paul Rabbitts, bandstands were a really public part of this dedication to uplifting activity.
“Their function became part of what they called ‘purchased, reasonable leisure’,” states Paul.
“It was actually something to get the working classes – to get them into parks and open areas, and provide something that was far more bought and managed leisure and entertainment.
“Basically it was to get them out of the gin palaces and the clubs.
“They saw music as becoming part of that, and the bandstands came out of that.”

This effort at social engineering developed a financial tradition, with workshops in the main belt of Scotland making a lot of the bandstands set up throughout the UK and beyond.



“It was all to do with the sort of ore that was discovered in the hills simply outside Glasgow,” Paul states.
“The ore there was best for smelting and casting of iron. What you discovered was you had an entire market grow up in and around Glasgow.
“One of the extremely earliest foundries was Carron Ironworks near Falkirk however the most significant maker of all was Walter MacFarlane and the Saracen Foundry in Possilpark in Glasgow.
“They actually cornered the market.”




Paul states MacFarlane was “an extremely creative male”.
“What he did was that he was excellent at marketing.
“So nowadays we consider given the web, and brochures which type of things.
“He utilized marketing through released brochures that revealed bandstands and all the other kind of things that they cast.
“He marketed them nationally however likewise worldwide too.”





Recent years have actually seen a renaissance in Britain’s bandstands, with numerous being brought back or reconstructed utilizing lottery game financing.
Some, such as the one at Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick, had actually gone practically without trace.
Paul states: “All that was left was the residues of the plinth, which ended up being a flowerbed and after that a fishpond and after that an empty piece of open area.
“They got lotto loan and returned a reproduction of the initial Scottish bandstand back therein.”

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Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-49472083