'Local legend' Glasgow road sweeper retires after 43 years

Glasgow Times

22-06-2025

Allan Richardson, 60, started working for Glasgow City Council in 1982 and has retired after 43 years of service.
For the past 30 years, Allan, who lives in Kelvinhall, has kept Byres Road and its surrounding areas clean as a road sweeper, but saw his job as much more than that.
A well-loved member of the community, he also spent his lunch breaks sketching the area and has delved deeper into the hobby since retiring.
But his love for art started in school before he began his council career.
'Local legend' West End road sweeper retires after 43 years (Image: Supplied)
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Allan explained: " I started in 1982, and I was doing a higher art at the time, my dad worked in the cleansing department, he had a word with someone and told me, 'You've got an interview for Friday.'
"He said, 'Well, you know you can always do the art later on'.
"You know, it was the 80s, and during that time, there weren't many jobs and everything was really uncertain."
Allan, originally from Drumchapel, started on Monday after a straightforward interview, during which he agreed that he didn't mind it being a 'messy' job.
He spent two days as a binman but said, "That wasn't for me. I wasn't built for that. It was all the bigger-built guys who did the bins back then."
Allan is a talented artist draws and paints the streets he used to clean (Image: Newsquest/Colin Mearns)
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Allan moved into sweeping and around from depot to depot, settling with his patch being Byres Road, where he kept the streets spick and span for over 30 years.
He saw a lot of change in the area in that time, and generations of families grew up. He said, "A lot of the residents, you would see them going to school with their kids, and then all of a sudden, you'd see them going to secondary and then into university.
"And they come back and they go, oh, you're still here - you're still pushing that cart."
He worked through decades of events in the area, remaining a stalwart through the Covid lockdowns and enjoying events like the UCI Cycling World Championships.
We asked Allan what his highlight of his decades in the job was, to which he replied, "the people."
He explained: "Somebody would come up to me in the morning and say and have a chat, and it'd make my day just to have a five-minute chat and ask what you're doing.
"And they would be happy about it as well, you feel as if you're included, you feel as if you've got a presence."
His presence was definitely felt by the community, who organised a party for his retirement, and one even wrote a poem about him.
A poem written for Allan by Marie Birchard for his retirement party (Image: Supplied)
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Resident Carol Martin shared her admiration for Allan, she said: "Rain, hail or shine, he was there. He inspired people, uplifted their spirits, and it was so nice to always see him and know he was there.
"He's such a good soul, he gave people 'street therapy' with his chats."
The landscape of Byres Road has also changed, and Allan enjoyed spending his lunch breaks sketching the area.
He said: "At school, I wasn't any good because I didn't know that until later on when I found out that I was dyslexic.
"I can't construct a letter; you know, things that I find quite difficult, but if you say, 'Go and sketch something,' I'll sketch it.
"I enjoy my sketching, and I just think it's a release. When I'm sketching, I'm kind of carried away."
Some of Allan's artwork (Image: Newsquest/Colin Mearns)
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When hearing Allan's story, you can't help but think of the Deacon Blue hit Dignity - he's a worker for the council, has been 43 years.
And his art is like his ship, his Dignity, letting him retire into the thing he loves.
Allan revealed his favourite street on his patch too, he said: "I like Athole Gardens, I like the buildings and the church, Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church. I think that's quite a nice area there."
You can see some of Allan's artwork on his social media here.