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Glasgow Times
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Why I hid in a cupboard at the Glasgow Garden Festival
I spent my breaks in a cupboard in the house, the only place to try and get a moment's peace, both from the constant screaming of the folk on the Coca Cola rollercoaster right outside and from the visitors who left no door unopened or item uninspected. We gave out packets of "We're Blooming Good!" seeds free to every visitor but that did not stop them helping themselves to plants from the gardens. The worst culprits were the parties from various church women's guilds who, armed with nail scissors, would "help themselves" to cuttings from every plant leaving the gardens decimated and in need of replanting every morning by our gardeners. The opening of the Glasgow Garden Festival (Image: Newsquest) When Margaret Thatcher was making an official visit the entire site was closed to the public for fear of protests against her, such was her unpopularity in Scotland. I went round the site at lunchtime to listen to choirs, look round the other exhibits and gardens and buy some souvenirs. There truly was something for everyone. The rotunda building was used as a restaurant with a statue of Eros in the centre. The bandstand from Overtoun Park in Rutherglen was used for many of the entertainments. Old friends not seen for years were met again. Old bosses too and Glasgow councillors aplenty. A young couple even spent the afternoon of their wedding there. We were issued with t-shirts proclaiming the slogan "We're Bloomin' Good!" which did, as can be imagine, result in a few comments … A highlight was when I met some of the trade union stalwarts from Upper Clyde Shipbuilders having fun posing for pictures, which I was happy to take for them and thrilled to meet them. Dorothy Connor, Rutherglen Anniesland Cross, c1935 with public conveniences at far right (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Fond memories of Anniesland Cross I enjoyed your article about Anniesland Cross (Glasgow Times, June 28, 2025). I used to cycle from Milngavie to Scotstoun shipyard where I was an apprentice. Even then it was a busy intersection. I recall a day when the fog was so thick I had to guide the bus through the cross on my bicycle. I also remember the Great Western Road was white in colour and the German bombers used that section of road to guide them on to Clydebank. I'm 91 years old but I can still recall those days. I lived in New Zealand and now stay in Canada. have been very fortunate throughout my life. I still love Scotland. Arthur Mee, Canada Drumchapel in the 1950s (Image: Eric Flack) Flushing toilet was a highlight for young family Your feature on Drumchapel brought back memories. In 1955, we moved from Bridgeton to 15 Airgold Drive on May 19, my fifth birthday. We had never seen a flushing toilet before. My sister and I put everything we could fit in to the dunny and flushed just to see it disappear. We went to Camus Place Primary the Kingsridge High. Happy days indeed. James Bryden, Glasgow Every day, we receive emails and letters from readers keen to share their memories of Glasgow. If you'd like to send us your stories and photos, email or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.
Glasgow Times
16-07-2025
- General
- Glasgow Times
The beautiful Glasgow buildings all designed by one man
So, if the same name keeps cropping up, you tend to notice – it can be a hint as to this person's significance to the history of the city. This happened recently with the name Honeyman. It wasn't a name I had heard much before, but once I started digging it didn't take long to understand why different researchers would be interested in this person who would turn out to have made quite a mark on the city's landscape. John Honeyman was born at 21 Carlton Place in Glasgow on August 11, 1831. He obtained an arts degree from the University of Glasgow and trained as an accountant for a year in London. Upon his return to Scotland, he apprenticed as an architect with Alexander Munro and by the early 1860s had set up his own practice. While he would design buildings for locations across Scotland, there is a particularly high number in Glasgow, ranging from churches and schools to commercial offices and private villas. Lansdowne Church (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Perhaps the most famous Honeyman building in the city, the Lansdowne United Presbyterian Church was built on Great Western Road at the Kelvin Bridge. Upon its opening in 1863, this Gothic Revival church was described by this newspaper's sister title the Glasgow Herald as 'a notable ornament.' Still standing proudly today, the church is now known as the Lansdowne Parish Church and boasts A-listed status. Over his career Honeyman would build 16 churches in Glasgow, including the Italianate baroque-style United Presbyterian Church by Cathedral Square (1878-80) and the Classical renaissance-style Westbourne Free Church in Westbourne Gardens (1880-81). Rockvilla School, c1964 (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Honeyman designed three schools as part of the School Board of Glasgow's big push to build in the late 19th century. Between 1874 and 1877 came Tureen Street School in Calton, Henderson Street School in Woodside and Rockvilla School in Hamiltonhill. The latter was a particularly grand imposing building, sitting atop a hill at the corner of Dawson Street and Possil Road. While the building has gone, standing at this same corner you can still see the two gated entrances with the words 'Boys' and 'Girls' etched into the rock, indicating the school's separate entrances. The Ca'd'Oro in 1978 (Image: Glasgow City Archives Special Collections) It's hard to believe this beautiful Venetian Renaissance-style building began life as a furniture warehouse for the firm F & J Smith. A feast for the eyes, there was something for everyone thanks to the different styles of windows, the cast iron detailing and the decorated columns across multiple floors. Over the years it has hosted a ballroom, gallery, bakery, tearoom and several restaurants – including the Ca' D'Oro in 1927, by which name the building is now largely known. Sadly, a fire in 1987 destroyed much of the building although the cast iron frame survived and the building was later restored, gaining A-listed status along the way. Notwithstanding the variety of commissions, most of Honeyman's buildings were domestic in nature. For example, another A-listed building in his Glasgow roster is the classical villa Craigie Hall. Featuring Italianate detailing and Ionic columns, this two-story villa was built in 1872 for the merchant Joseph McLean. Postcard of Fairfield Shipbuilding Company Offices and factory, Govan Road, 1908. (Image: Glasgow City Archives Special Collections) Despite the prolific buildings Honeyman designed in the 1860s and 1870s, by the mid-1880s work had dried up and he was struggling financially. He partnered with the young John Keppie to form Honeyman & Keppie, a firm which would go on to build the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company Offices, the Glasgow Herald building and the Daily Record building. Many of their designs include the clear influence of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was a senior assistant at the company before he became a third partner in 1901. Due to his deteriorating eyesight, Honeyman retired in January 1901 although he continued advising on projects after this date. As well as co-founding the Glasgow Architectural Society and working with the Glasgow Improvement Trust, he wrote many pieces on his wider interests including public health and archaeology.
Glasgow Times
28-06-2025
- General
- Glasgow Times
Dramatic pictures reveal how much Glasgow area has changed
One of my favourites is an image of the old railway bridge at 1551 Great Western Road in Anniesland (pictured). It was taken in August 1936 and shows workmen labouring in an open trench parallel to the main road. Part of its appeal is that, although elements of it have changed, the bridge itself - the brick of the retaining wall, so much of the view - is still recognisable in the same place today. The railway bridge partially obscures the tenements of Herschell Street which rise behind it. It also frames part of Great Western Road and showcases a developing Anniesland. This area was once a farm that was part of the Jordanhill estate and was based in both the counties of Lanark and Renfrew before it joined Glasgow. Its rural location, far removed from the city, gave rise to its local industries in the nineteenth century. These included farming, small-scale mining, brickmaking and quarrying. Great Western Road had reached Anniesland Toll (now Cross) by 1850 and the arrival of the North British Railway in 1886 and its new station in the area encouraged residential building on a larger scale. Buildings like Anniesland Mansions, on the outskirts of Anniesland Cross, particularly attracted the middle classes to move there. The Mansions were built between 1907 and 1913 and incorporated both Edwardian-era tenements and Anniesland Hall. The entire imposing sweep of tenements on this corner site would have been one of the Cross's most recognisable landmarks before its redevelopment in the twentieth century. Pulling back from the Cross and heading back towards the city centre, we travel forward in time to the late 1930s as we approach the impressive Art Deco façade of the former Ascot Cinema on Great Western Road. Ascot Cinema, February 1940 (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Designed by Charles McNair, this cinema eventually became a bingo hall in 1975. Finally, we return to the Cross and the building which now dominates its skyline: Anniesland Court. Rising above the Cross, it is a tower block built in the brutalist style. Built between 1966 and 1968, it's an example of Glasgow Corporation housing and is now a listed building. Anniesland Court (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Anniesland Cross itself is also worthy of note. While not as large as other crosses in Glasgow, it sprawls out over a considerable area. It's where several major roads meet including Great Western Road, Anniesland Road, Crow Road and Bearsden Road. This photograph of the Cross from around 1935 shows that this meeting of the roads has always been a complex network to navigate. Anniesland Cross, c1935 with public conveniences at far right (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Stranded in an island position in the midst of the Cross are Anniesland's former public loos which were built in the early 1930s. Glasgow Corporation officials struggled to find a suitable location for them before choosing this site. Ironically, they became very difficult for pedestrians to access after the Cross was redeveloped. While now closed as a public convenience, there have been attempts since then to reopen the building as a restaurant. Many of the commercial premises which helped to define Anniesland have now disappeared. For example, Castlebank Laundry, based in Anniesland Road, became a local landmark. Its distinctive yellow-painted vans were a common sight around the city, collecting laundry from clients and delivering it to the Anniesland premises for cleaning. Castlebank Laundry exterior (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Not a stone's throw away was Birrell's Factory producing the sweets which stocked the well-known confectioner's shops and stands in cinemas throughout Glasgow. Barr and Stroud, the optical instrument engineers whose business records are held by Glasgow University's Archives and Special Collections, had premises where the Anniesland Morrison's now stands. And the Top Hat Cafe on Great Western Road was, according to my aunt who used to work there, the place for teenagers in Anniesland to hang out during the 1950s and 60s. And why is the area called Anniesland? Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer. A popular theory suggests it may have been named after someone in the area called Annie. Another suggestion is that as parcels of land there were rented out annually, the area was called annual-land giving rise to Anniesland. What are your memories of Anniesland? Email or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.
Glasgow Times
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
'Forgotten' Glasgow guides reveal city's best nightspots
Legendary institutions frequently mentioned include La Scala cinema, the Alhambra music hall and the Locarno ballroom. While nothing beats personal anecdotes from the people who frequented these places, it's still great fun to look through the city guides held within the city archives. (Image: Newsquest) Many are clearly targeted at tourists, but a number seem to have been produced for citizens and give detailed insight into the variety of places where the people of Glasgow could go to entertain themselves. Glasgow Illustrated Guide by George Eyre-Todd, author and historian, was published around 1930. This guide caught my attention thanks to the level of detail and evocative language Eyre-Todd uses when describing different institutions. He writes that the Grosvenor restaurant is 'busy with dances and dinners all winter through' and 'rivals the Grand Hotel as a resort of the city's gilded youth." Meanwhile, the King's Theatre is pronounced the premier theatre in Glasgow thanks to the calibre of actors who appear on its stage as well as its musical comedy and revue performances put on throughout the winter. Amongst the growing number of 'sumptuous' cinemas in the city he highlights the New Savoy and La Scala as notable for the fine music which accompanies their performances. (Image: Glasgow City Archives) My favourite section of the guide, however, has to be the feature on 'Palais de Danse' which highlights the Ritz on Berkeley Street, the Dennistoun Palais de Danse and La Plaza near Eglinton Toll. (Image: Newsquest) Indicating changing tastes amongst the dancers, he notes that 'at all of these, dancing is of the fox-trot, one-step and jazz pattern. No reels, strathspeys or country dances." And if you didn't have a partner to dance with, not to worry - professional dancers were retained at each place and could be relied on to whirl you about for the moderate fee of sixpence per dance. Glasgow Through a Drinking Glass, another insightful publication, was produced by the Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1973. This features an introduction from writer and broadcaster Jack House, who quips that as a former teetotaller passing a pub 'I used to hold my breath because of the smell. Now pubs hold their breath if I pass them." As well as noting the general improvement in atmosphere of Glasgow pubs since the 1920s, he also gives contextualising details about different drinking establishments. Rogano's is described as a high-class bar thanks to the cigar cutters attached to every table, while many aspiring stage artists hung out at Lauder's Bar, hoping its proximity to the nearby Pavilion and Theatre Royal might get them some work. Lauders, June 1930 (Image: Glasgow City Archives) In total, more than 80 pubs are featured in the guide. Just like Lauder's Bar (now called The Lauders), there are a number of pubs that still exist today. The Griffin is described as modern and bright with trendy clientele from the nearby King's theatre. The Saracen Head is also mentioned, although the popularity of the champagne cider, which he describes as a favourite of the locals, seems to have fizzled out. The legendary Horse Shoe bar is also featured, described as deserving its long-held reputation as 'one of the finest drinking places in the city centre.' As a pun-lover, however, my favourite pub in the guide has to be The Muscular Arms. (Image: Glasgow City Archives) Beyond nightlife, there are plenty of guides which cover activities for all to enjoy. Tourist guides from the 1950s list the city's pools, baths, billiard rooms, art galleries, museums and sports grounds. Visitors are encouraged to visit golf courses outside of the city or to take day trips on the Clyde coast steamers. There is also a very useful publication named Glasgow Official Guide: Historical, marketing and industrial survey, published in around 1938 and again in 1947. These read almost like handbooks for new citizens, featuring adverts for apartments and providing information on the development of schools and public health in the city. Bursting with ideas, these guides confirm Glasgow's long-held reputation as both a popular tourist destination and a great place for a night out.
Glasgow Times
20-06-2025
- General
- Glasgow Times
Call for memories of famous Glasgow building for new book
It's one of many myths circulating about the George Square building, but it's extremely unlikely, according to an author who is writing a book about the city landmark. 'I mean, the Vatican is like a marble quarry, it has so much of it,' says Nina Baker, smiling. 'What we can say, though, is that the grand marble staircase inside the building has around four times as much marble as the famous 'holy stairs' in the Vatican. 'There are well over 100 steps in the City Chambers, and only about 26 steps in La Scala Sancta – so that claim is certainly true.' (Image: Newsquest) Nina, who was a councillor in Glasgow from around 2007 to 2017, is researching the history of the City Chambers for her latest book and she is hoping Glasgow Times readers can help. 'I have lots of people willing to tell me about the goings-on inside the building, but what I'm looking for are stories about the building itself,' she says, wryly. 'I'm looking for the oldest 'living memories' I can find from visitors or people who worked there. 'I'd love to talk to the workies, the people behind the scenes who might have been involved in putting in electrics or boilers, for example, or the steeplejacks who cleaned the stonework in the 90s – what tales can they tell me about the place?' (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest) She adds: 'I'm also collecting the myths and legends, what Glaswegians believe about the building, which may or may not be true.' The City Chambers were designed by Paisley-born, London-based architect William Young, who won a competition organised by the city. A public holiday was declared on October 6, 1883, for the laying of the foundation stone. Around 600,000 people watched a trades' march of skilled workers from the city's heavy industries as Lord Provost John Ure did the honours. (Image: Glasgow City Archives) In August 1888, the topmost stone - the apex of the central tower - was installed, and Queen Victoria performed the inauguration ceremony. In 1889, a 10-day public viewing attracted 400,000 people. The pediment above the main entrance shows Queen Victoria enthroned and surrounded by figures of Scotland, Ireland and Wales receiving homage and congratulations of her subjects from all parts of the world. (The original proposal was to illustrate the Clyde and the city's manufacturing going to all parts of the world, but it was changed to mark the Queen's jubilee in 1887.) Above the pediment are statues representing Truth, Riches and Honour. At the very top, Truth is known by some as Glasgow's Statue of Liberty because it bears more than a passing resemblance to the famous New York lady. The building's beautiful Banqueting Hall includes murals by several famous Glasgow Boys, depicting Glasgow's past, present and future. These are lit by huge electric chandeliers, which are winched down annually for cleaning. Nina's fascination with the building began almost by accident. 'I discovered by chance that there are tunnels beneath the old building, which connect it underground to the 'new' bit, which was built in 1913,' she explains. 'These were used as archive stores, coal and ash stores, and it was fascinating to have a nosey around.' (Image: Newsquest) Upstairs, there is an old members' library, full of fascinating books preserved in glass cases. 'When the library moved to the Mitchell, doubles of the books were made to ensure the shelves in this lovely room were populated,' says Nina. 'In one of the cupboards, there were enormous leatherbound books, about a metre high, which were the city scrapbooks. 'Those are fascinating – they are full of records like seating plans and menus from city events.' Asking Nina for her favourite spot in the whole building is 'too difficult a question,' she says, with a laugh. 'Although standing at the bottom of the marble staircase looking up is hard to beat,' she says. 'In the 10 years I was a councillor, every single time I walked into the building, I thought – what a privilege to work here. It really is an amazing place.' Can you help Nina by sharing your stories about Glasgow City Chambers? Email or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.
