During a children’s afternoon matinee in the Glen Cinema on 31 December 1929, panic set in as black smoke filled the auditorium. Seventy one children died. crushed behind an escape door which could not be opened. Britain’s worst cinema disaster left Paisley in a state of shock. Large crowds lined the streets of the funerals of the victims took place.
One of the most moving reminders of the disaster is a pair of clogs worn by Harry Green, one of the victims, on the day the disaster took place. The clogs were donated to Paisley Museum by Mr William Spence, whose mother had received them as a gift from Harry’s mother, and who treasured them all her life in memory of a close childhood friend.
Glen Cinema Disaster Memorial Services
When the memorial services started in 2009 at the Cenotaph at Paisley Cross I decided to photograph each years memorial event so these could be looked back upon in future years. Sadly some of the survivors such as Peter Smith and Jim McCallum and members of the public who attended each year are no longer with us R.I.P .Photos from 2009 the 80th Anniversary Memorial Service
Paisley Photographs 