What is "barrowfield"

Barrowfield is an area of east Glasgow in Camlachie, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic Football Club.

Being an area of working class housing enclosed by main roads and railway lines, it consequently developed a distinctive character. The original 1930s council housing scheme (built to accommodate those cleared from Glasgow's 19th century slums) became increasingly hard to let and were demolished in the 1990s to make way for more appealing houses.

In the 1950s the area changed from a normal working class suburb like most other areas of the city to being a place renowned for its gangs, namely "The Torch" and "The Spur". Each terrorized the other's patch, and the area was so violent that the fighting stopped only in the 1980s, because the gang leaders realised that dealing in drugs was more profitable. Unfortunately for the community this meant the Scheme had hundreds of drug abusers from all over Glasgow coming to the area to buy their "gear". Barrowfield therefore has a high mortality rate amongst the youth, largely due to drug abuse and suicide. More recently, the area has undergone a massive revamp, but the drug problem still exists in plague proportions and crime is still high.