The Tenement House

The Tenement House is a first-floor flat at 145 Buccleuch Street in Garnethill, an ordinary red sandstone Glasgow tenement of 1892 whose four rooms were kept almost unchanged by one woman for more than fifty years. Agnes Toward, a shorthand typist, moved in with her mother in 1911 and stayed until 1965, throwing nothing away, so the coal-fired range, gas lighting, box beds, sewing machine and a pot of homemade jam dated 1929 survive as she left them, along with her letters, bills and recipes. The National Trust for Scotland opened it in 1983 as a time capsule of early 20th-century city life, with an exhibition, shop and the Wally Dug cafe in the ground-floor flat. Reviewers say it is a moving hour of social history and, for older Glaswegians, a trip down memory lane. Tips from visitors: there are 15 steps to reception and more to the flat, so it is not wheelchair accessible; parking is metered on nearby streets; and the cafe needs no ticket.