THEY were a way of life for generations of families in Glasgow before washing machines became a household essential.

And now a collection of photos showing the last days of the city's old wash houses is being exhibited for the first time as part of the 25th anniversary of one of Scotland's best-known plays, The Steamie.

The black and white photos, taken in three Glasgow steamies – Parnie Street, in the city centre; Bluevale Street in Dennistoun and in the city's Anderston – give a real-life insight into the people who washed their clothes, took a bath or gathered there.

The man behind the pictures is Glasgow photographer Allan Bovill who took the snaps a year before Tony Roper's play, about a group of Glasgow women doing their washing in a steamie on Hogmanay, was first performed.

Mr Bovill, 48, who lives in Lenzie said: "I shot the pictures in 1986 when I was 22 or 23. I wasn't a photographer at the time but I was passionately interested in photography.

"I think what happened was I realised wash houses were still in existence and thought, 'this is right on my doorstep'. They are a Glasgow institution.

"The fact they were still around into the mid 1980s and you could still get a bath there as recently as 1986 was really fascinating to me."

At that time there were around 10 wash houses left in the city. Mr Bovill wrote to the city council and gained access to three.

"At the time it wasn't an issue," he said. "Once I was in the door, people just let me get on with it.

"It was good, there was a bit of banter.

"Everyone was friendly and just let me take my pictures."

The first steamie was built on Glasgow Green in 1732 as a way of improving public health by encouraging people to take baths and wash their clothes properly.

Visitors to the public baths and steamies would go once a week often pushing their washing in a pram.Cleaning the clothes would take the whole day and would involve putting the items "into the boil" before being washed in special tubs using carbolic soap.

The laundry would then be wrung and hung out on drying racks.

By the 1960s, washing machines were here and wash houses were phased out in the 1980s.

Mr Bovill, a freelance photographer, approached bosses at the King's Theatre when he realised it was The Steamie's silver jubilee.

He said: "I went back through my negatives and realised I had enough for a whole exhibition."

He then printed the photos and at these are now at the theatre's Bath Street entrance.

"I like how they show families coming together to do their washing," Allan said.

"It's the sense of community you get with places such as this - it was an opportunity to blether."

Playwright, actor and author of The Steamie Tony has directed the Scottish tour which started on March 21.

Allan admits he is yet to see the play, adding: "I must see it now."

The free exhibition runs until Saturday and returns from May 22-26. Visit www.allanbovill.co.uk for more.

rachel.loxton@ heraldandtimes.co.uk