Glasgow is city famous for its outdoor markets, but none have been quite so unusual as the Schipka Pass.
Just like Paddy's Market, the Schipka Pass was a city flea market located by the arches of the old Union line not far from Glasgow Cross - but that's pretty much where the similarities ended.
Painted in the colours of Partick Thistle and covered in all manner of slogans, the legendary market, which was situated parallel to St Andrew's Lane off the Gallowgate, billed itself as the 'mini Barras' and attracted generations of thrifty locals.
READ MORE: Former Glasgow trader recalls heyday of Paddy's Market and life lessons he learned there
Established in the early 19th century, Schipka Pass got its unusual moniker soon after the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War in 1878. The Russians had been battling the Ottoman forces for control of a vital pass in Bulgaria's Balkan Mountains called the Shipka Pass, and, for whatever reason the traders at Glasgow's St Andrew's Lane attributed it to the area around the market and the name stuck.
The stalls at the Schipka Pass sold a variety of wares, but specialised in the sale of antiques and household furniture. In one Daily Record advertisement dating from the Second World War, the owners confidently proclaim the cash-only enterprise as "Glasgow's biggest furniture market".
Fast forward to more recent times, Schipka Pass was taken over by Dick Barton, who also owned a pool hall in London Road. The market continued to thrive right up to the end of the century along with the nearby Barras and Paddy's Market.
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As an avid supporter of Partick Thistle, Dick Barton at some point elected to paint the ramshackle buildings of Schipka Pass in the colours of his beloved Jags. Slogans bearing everything from Thistle results to Scots history factoids were hand-painted on to the buildings too.
Dick Barton passed away in 2004, but the red, black and yellow Thistle paintwork and slogans endured until the demolition of the market 10 years ago.
In a YouTube video, Dick Barton's son Gary explained the reason behind his dad's Schipka Pass shrine to the Maryhill Magyars and the many painted boards bearing eccentric slogans and football-related quizzes.
"That was just part of a sort of wind up to annoy or surprise a lot of the Celtic and Rangers supporters about here," explained Gary in the video. "My father was mad into football. Everywhere you could put up an 8 by 4 board, there would be a 'wind up' going on."
Following the death of Dick Barton, Schipka's pass steadily became derelict. A serious blaze at a nearby row of shops along the Gallowgate only served to speed up the iconic market's demise.
All of the existing buildings between St Andrew's Lane and Moir Street were flattened in 2011 and the area around the former Schipka Pass redeveloped to become a new green district for the East End: Barrowland Park.
In 1987, the Glasgow artist Avril Paton, best-known for her wintery painting of an upmarket city tenement 'Windows in the West', produced a watercolour of Schipka Pass. Avril's delicate brushstrokes captured the hustle and bustle of the outdoor market perfectly.
Article originally published in 2022.
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