Parly Road

Glasgow Chronicles, #1

by Ian Todd

It is the summer of 1965 and things are looking up for ten-year-old Johnboy Taylor in the Townhead district of Glasgow. Not only has he made two new pals, who have recently come to his school after being expelled from one of the local Catholic schools, but their dream of owning their own pigeon loft or ‘dookit’ and competing with the city’s grown-up ‘doo-men’ in the sport they love, could soon become a reality. The only problem is that The Mankys don’t have the dosh to pay for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Lady Luck begins to shine down on them when Pat Molloy, aka The Big Man, one of Glasgow’s top heavies asks them to do him a wee favour. The Mankys are soon embroiled in an adult world of gangsters, police corruption, violence and crime. Meanwhile, Johnboy's mother, Helen Taylor, is busy trying to keep one step ahead of the local Provi cheque men and organising a group of local women to demonstrate against The Corporation Sheriff officers' warrant sales. Set against the backdrop of a condemned tenement slum area, the fate of which has already been decided upon as it stands in the way of the city’s new Inner Ring Road motorway development, the boys soon realise that to survive on the streets, they have to stay one step ahead of those in authority. The only problem for The Mankys is working out who’s really in charge. Parly Road is full of the shadiest characters that 1960s Glasgow has to offer and takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey that has been described as irreverently hilarious, bad-assed, poignantly sad and difficult to put down.

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 19, 2014

About the author

Ian Todd was born in the Townhead district of Glasgow in 1955 and lived in Glasgow until he moved to the north of Scotland in the 1980s. He has worked for over thirty years as a Community Development Worker, within Youth Work and Adult Learning. Ian has a grown-up family and lives with his partner, his five dogs and one cat and has been writing for a number of years.

Ian has set up a Facebook page for The Glasgow Chronicles (www.facebook.com/theglasgowchronicles) where he regularly posts photographs of Glasgow Townhead in the 1960s which are related to the story lines in the books. Readers can also stay up-to-date with news about Johnboy Taylor and The Mankys and future publication information.

The Glasgow Chronicles book covers are created by Angus McNicholl, Forres, Scotland.
Author Central photographs are produced by John Ferguson, ex-Easterhouse, Glasgow and now Elgin, Scotland.

Parly Road is the first of six books in The Glasgow Chronicles series:-

It is the summer of 1965 and things are looking up for ten-year-old Johnboy Taylor in the Townhead district of Glasgow. Not only has he made two new pals, who have recently come to his school after being expelled from one of the local Catholic schools, but their dream of owning their own pigeon loft or 'dookit' and competing with the city's grown-up 'doo-men' in the sport they love, could soon become a reality. The only problem is that The Mankys don't have the dosh to pay for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Lady Luck begins to shine down on them when Pat Molloy, aka The Big Man, one of Glasgow's top heavies asks them to do him a wee favour. The Mankys are soon embroiled in an adult world of gangsters, police corruption, violence and crime.

Set against the backdrop of a condemned tenement slum area, the fate of which has already been decided upon as it stands in the way of the city's new Inner Ring Road motorway development, the boys soon realise that to survive on the streets, they have to stay one step ahead of those in authority. The only problem for The Mankys is working out who's really in charge.

Parly Road is full of the shadiest characters that 1960s Glasgow has to offer and takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey that has been described as irreverently hilarious, poignantly sad and difficult to put down.

Run Johnboy Run is the second book in The Glasgow Chronicles series:-

It is 1968 and The Mankys are back with a vengeance after thirteen-year-old Johnboy Taylor is confronted by a ghost from his past. The only problem is, he's just been sentenced to 3 years at Thistle Park Approved School, which houses Scotland's wildest teen tearaways. Without his liberty, Johnboy is in no position to determine whether the devastating revelation is a figment of his vivid imagination or whether dark forces are conspiring against him.

Elsewhere in the city, Glasgow crime lord, Pat Molloy, aka The Big Man, is at last about to topple those who he believes were responsible for putting him out of the city's thriving 'Doo' business three years earlier. Unfortunately for him, The Irish Brigade, a group of corrupt police inspectors, who rule the city with an iron fist, are not about to stand by and allow anyone to dip their fingers into their honey pot, without a fight.

Meanwhile, Helen Taylor, Johnboy's mother, has come up with a dangerous plan that she believes will finally overturn The City Corporation's policy of selling their tenants' household goods through humiliating public warrant sales. Reluctantly, she is forced to join forces with The Glasgow Echo's sleazy top crime reporter, Sammy 'The Rat' Elliot, whose shadowy reputation of having more than one master makes him feared and reviled by the underworld and the establishment in equal measure.

Run Johnboy Run is an explosive tale of city crime in 1960s Glasgow, involving a heady mix of establishment leaders and underworld gangsters, who will use anyone to keep control of the city's lucrati

Reviews

[Margaret Galbraith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me straight back home and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve been living in South Australia since 1982 and cannot believe how much I’ve missed the Glasgow, and surrounding areas, humour as much. If you’re not Scottish don’t even look at this book as I know you would not understand any of the slang of the West coast of central Scotland. However I challenge you to have a look if you’re brave enough. It’s the first book I’ve ever read that is completely written in Scottish slang.

It’s lower class Glasgow in the mid 60s when there were tenements (now some are completely renovated and sold for a helluva lot of money, others demolished and dumb high rise flats which only caused more crime) where most working class lived. Townhead is the main section in the story where Jonboy Taylor lives or Toonheid to the locals. They are a bunch of ragamuffins who steal and just literally dodge (dog) school and get into all sorts of scrapes. They eventually become involved with “The big man” and then they get into stealing more expensive stuff like trannies or transistor radios and get £1 for each I’ve but if it’s a good model they can earn £3. A lot of money for teenage boys back then. The things get get up to trying to break in will literally have you “pishing” yourself laughing! I laughed aloud at some of their antics so much so my husband asked me to read out bits! Luckily I lived far enough away from Glasgow not to be in their situation but I still knew people like them.

There are 13 Glasgow chronicles but sadly our library system only has 2 but they are apparently available on Amazon Kindle. There is also a Facebook page
www.facebook.com/theglasgowchronicles which I’d followed for a while before I found these books.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It is a great story full of very colourful characters who get up to some incredible exploits. The book is written in the way that most working class Glaswegians would have spoken in the 1950's and 1960's so readers not familiar with this type speech will probably struggle to understand the text.

The story centres around Johnboy and his gang, the mankies, and is set in the Townhead area of Glasgow. There were times when I felt that the boys in the gang were acting as though they were much older but with hindsight I think children in those days were much older in many ways than those of a similar age today, they were also much less under adult scrutiny then and left to their own devices.

I will be reading the rest of the books in this series at some point soon.

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had wanted to read this book for years, being Scottish myself and my mom grew up on Parly Rd. Unfortunately I found it very disappointing. It is written as in a broad Glasgow accent. I had no problem with that myself but others might. It is basically about a bunch of juvenile delinquents going around thieving and destroying property. The plot is poor and I never found it very funny. I'll wait before I read book two, although I already own it.

[Jacqueline Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read.

Fantastic book, loved all the characters can’t wait to read the rest, brilliant read. Recommended them to all my family and friends.

[john foster, mrs Debra Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, well worth a try.

[janette mcniven · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of many

I loved reading this book because I stay in Springburn and know all the places in the book and some of the people in the book remind me of some people i know lol