Today we are delighted to share with you a selection of photographs by Gerry D’Ambrosio of the Glasgow Pub, ‘The Jungle’. Gerry, now residing in Perth, captured these photos in the late 60’s and 70’s. Gerry’s photography was on display at Perth Art Gallery from September 2024 to March 2025. Gerry’s work is currently featured in our exhibition, The Dark Room.
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Gerry D’Ambrosio, a keen amateur photographer of Italian and Scottish heritage was brought up in the Garnet Hill area of Glasgow in the 1930s. Now a resident of Perth, Gerry is fast approaching his 95th birthday.
These images of a Glasgow pub named ‘The Jungle’ were captured by Gerry between the late 1960s and early 1970s. After leaving St Aloysius school at the age of 15, Gerry joined the family business renting coin operated slot machines to pubs, clubs and cafes in and around Glasgow.
At the end of a long day, Gerry and his cousins sometimes stopped by their favourite pub, ‘The Jungle’, in Milton Street, Cowcaddens, Glasgow. The pub was originally adorned with murals of lions, tigers and monkeys. In the 1960s under the management of George R Johnstone of the Scottish Amateur Boxing Association, the ‘Noble Art’ of boxing memorabilia took prominence.
According to Gerry, ‘The Jungle must have been one of the best-run pubs in Glasgow, with any unruly characters quickly spotted and dealt with. Boxers including Dick McTaggart, Ken Shaw and later Willie Doyle were employed there, and if any customers misbehaved, they were duly chinned out.’
Pursuing his passion for photography, Gerry realised that pub was one of the last of its kind and the colourful characters who frequented ‘The Jungle’ should be recorded.
Investing in a Leica camera and a fast lens he went on to capture a remarkable series of images before last drinks were called for the final time.
Gerry’s photography was on display at Perth Art Gallery from September 2024 to March 2025. Perth Art Gallery is open Thursday to Monday from 10am.
Gerry and his family on a recent visit to Perth Art Gallery.