Glasgow’s ‘uncomfortable’ colonial history marked by new city trail

In 2022 the council issued an apology on behalf of the city to the descendants of enslaved people and the nations affected.

Glasgow was a major trade route for sugar and tobacco for the slave states of America and the West Indies.

Aitken said many Glaswegians had fought against the slave trade, but there was also those who argued in favour of it.

She stated: “The Glasgow we know today wouldn’t exist without the labour of enslaved people and it’s time to give them their proper place in our story.”

The new trail has been informed by the research of Dr Stephen Mullen, a lecturer in history with a focus on legacies of Atlantic slavery at the University of Glasgow.

It builds on the work of the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER), who run Black History Month walking tours in the city.

Locations on the trail include Glasgow City Chambers, where 40 Lord Provosts of Glasgow were connected to slavery between 1636 and 1834, Cochrane Street, named in 1787 after prominent tobacco lord Andrew Cochrane, and the City Halls, which served as a key site for anti-slavery meetings and rallies.

The trail will be expanded with information relating to George Square when it reopens later this year.