Southside Festival

The next meeting for the Southside Festival 2008 will take place on Tuesday 6th February in Queen’s Park Parish Church, 170 Queen’s Drive at 7pm.

A project team has now been put in place to drive the project and they are now looking for people to join a steering group to move it forward. If you want to know more, are interested in joining, have some ideas for the festival or are just curious then go along to the meeting or contact Isobele Barrat manager@tramdirect.com or by phone 0141 423 6037 .

(Here a copy of a letter about the southside and a proforma to fill out with your ideas or contact detasil.)

letter about southside festival meeting

group proforma

Theatre school for kids

2 youth theatre running in the south side.

One in Queen's Park Church, 170 Queen's Drive tel 0141 423 6037 on Wed 6.30 - 9.30 for 9 to 18 year olds.

One a Sunday at Langside Halls from 1.15 to 3.15 catering for 7 to 18 year olds.

No audition necessary just turn up. Both groups are rehearsing for their musical in June.

Elder Park Meeting

There is a public meeting being held in Elder Park Library tonight [Tuesday] at 6 pm. The meeting is to elect new members of the community, who are interested in becoming members of the friends of Elderpark.

There will also be a presentation on the proposals for the regeneration of the park.

M74 Archaeology Masterclasses

The M74 Dig is running a series of Masterclasses throughout February and March giving beginners the opportunity to learn some fascinating archaeological techniques. Interested participants are invited to sign up to the classes in advance, coming to as many as they choose. Places are limited to 20 for each session all of which will take place in The M74 Dig Discovery Centre. Each class will involve a practical element and there will be handouts available for participants to take home.

Archives for Archaeologists with Kirsty Dingwall & Liz Jones
Saturday, 2 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School Museum Glasgow

This class will cover the main sources of publicly available information used by archaeologists when researching a site and where to find it. It will focus on Glasgow and the M74 Dig sites in particular and will cover the use of old maps, documentary sources and the National Monuments Record of Scotland.

Archaeological surveying and drawing with Mikael Simonsson & Elin Evertsson
Saturday, 9 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will include an overview of the techniques employed by archaeologists to plan sites and draw features. There will be a practical introduction to basic planning and drawing using tapes, planning frames and dumpy levels and reading and understanding maps. We will also look at digital planning using electronic survey equipment.

Historic Building Recording with George Geddes
Saturday, 16 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School Museum Glasgow

This class will cover the basic techniques used when recording buildings using the M74 Dig building recording projects as an example. There will be a practical introduction to the recording of buildings focussing on Scotland Street School Museum.

Environmental Archaeology with Sarah-Jane Haston & Roz Gillis
Saturday, 23 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will look at the different palaeoenvironmental techniques and analyses used in vegetation reconstruction, such as plant macrofossils (including wood and seeds), pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (including fungal spores). The session aims to show the potential of these methods to inform the archaeologist of what the past landscape was like and how people in the past were interacting with this landscape (e.g. clearing of woodland for farmland). The class will involve an introduction to the methods outlined above, some microscope work and discussion of these techniques.

Oral history with David Walker of Glasgow Museums and Angela Bartie of Strathclyde University
Saturday, 1 March 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will include a general introduction to oral history as well as an introduction to the testimonies gathered on the M74 oral history project. It is hoped that there will be a practical element to the class with participants given the opportunity to record oral testimonies themselves.

Finds from prehistory to the 20th century with Julie FranklinSaturday,
8 March 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will be an introduction to on-site finds recovery and documentation and will cover the legislation relating to finds in Scotland. It will focus on the 19th/20th century pottery and finds recovered from the M74 Dig sites but will also cover finds of other periods.

Click here for the application form

Tea Time

Pollokshaws Road 1920's

Back at the end of the 19th Century, mini cafes, tea shops and coffee houses were big business and nearly every Glasgow street corner had a Lyons or a Liptons store where people could meet, chat, drink tea and, most importantly of all, be seen. But by the end of WW2, 90% of these had closed and the rest soon followed, so that by the time the 1980's came round and Starbucks, Costa etc began to appear, they were heralded as some kind of new unknown concept.

If you look around the streets of the Southside you can see that our cafe culture is continuing to grow. While the big name brands continue to dominate, (joined now by the nicer Scottish mini brand version Beanscene), there are also more and more individual places popping up as well, for example Tchai Ovna, on Deanston Drive, - where you can have a cup of tea from a massive selection, and then sit around on cushions for a couple of hours playing Scrabble or listening to someone playing guitar. (I recommend a tea called Yogi Yogi Tchai.) There is also a huge increase in the number of deli-style eateries in the South. In Shawlands alone there has been recent additions of a Polish Deli (See photo below) and a Persian style cafe selling what sound like very tasty fruit milkshakes.

I'm all for these places and hope they get the support they need to survive. They bring an additional night time use to our streets and help give the place a bit more of a buzz. They help get us out of our homes to meet up with friends to hang out, chat and just experience other fellow humans behaving and interacting. Much better than sitting at home and watching a DVD. (Though in saying that I've just got the boxset of the US police drama "The Wire" and its supposed to be very good . . . and well, it is rather cold today . . . hmm maybe I'll not go out tonight after all.)

Little Krakow 2007

The Future of Shawlands

On Tuesday 29th of January a meeting will be held to discuss the future of Shawlands. The meeting, organised by Shawlands and Strathbungo Community Council and Southside Media, will be attended by local MSP Nicola Sturgeon, local councillors and Glasgow City council representatives.

This is a great oppurtunity to have your say in the way forward for Shawlands. Does the area need a Town centre action plan? Whats happening with the Shawlands Arcade? How can we improve the area.

If you've got time go along to the meeting and have your say about your area. The meetings at 7.30pm and is being held at Langside Halls.

Some idea's Alburt had [taken from use them or lose them post]

There needs to be a strategic rethink of the Southsides, mini shopping centres, some suggestions, please post your comments, alternatives:

here to add you name.

Shawlands Arcade needs to be completly redesigned to make it attractive to shoppers and to give a bit of life to that stretch of Kilmarnock Road. (We've conacted the centres owners to find out their plans, but have had no responce, anyone any ideas what the plans are?)

Need more specialist Shops to attract tourists, shoppers from elsewhere.

Shops need to change opening hours. Maybe opening at 10am until 7pm.

Shop Community meetings for the shop holders to meet, and plan how to work together to improve things.

Govanhill should be promoted as an area of ethnic shops - like the way Brick Lane is, in London.

Other areas should try to specialise or at least promote different specialities ie Shawlands could promote small individual fashion stores from new designers.

Better signage and maps connecting the Southside areas to the City Centre and Westend. (From speaking to a number of friends from these areas, they don't acutally know the southside exists or how to get there!!)

We've always had a great array of individual shops in the Southside but as more competition rises up around them, they are going to continue to struggle and decline if they don't get help.

G41 have set up a petition about the future of Shawlands click

If we don't use them we're going to lose them. We thought it would be interesting to generate a list of specialist shops within the Southside area so if you know of a great little shop in the Southside that saves you having to go into the City centre then let us know.

Re Shuffle at the Pierce Institute - Govan

An event called Re-Shuffle is on at the Pierce Institute in Govan on Saturday, their seems to be lots of interesting things going on for kids and adults.

The idea of Re-Shuffle is to present a series of activities ranging from things to do with the kids to how to become more active in your community. It will not be dull and boring, it will have interesting things for old and young, to try and do. We will cater for the book people, the film goers, as well as the experimental wean. We will be filling the MacLeod hall and other spaces in the Pearce with stalls and groups of all kinds.

Click here for further information

National Review of Live Art

February and March are my favourite times of the year, for contemporary theatre in Glasgow. The National Review of Live Art is being hosted at the Tramway, opening on the 6th of February this unique event runs until the Sunday night. Each day of the event artists from around the world perform from around 12 o clock until 2am, in locations all over the tramway.

Click here for the 2008 brochure

Links

The Tramway

New Moves

25 Free Tickets to Performing Rights Glasgow

We received this e-mail from the Vacuum cleaner

25 Free Tickets to Performing Rights Glasgow – a project from the vacuum cleaner
What is Performing Rights Glasgow?

Performing Rights Glasgow (10/02/08, 11 am till late) is a day of performances, presentations, discussions, screenings and interventions around ideas of performance and human rights.
Read more here http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/NRLA

Why are you giving away 25 free tickets?

Last time we made an art piece at Tramway it was for an inclusive art event called Common Work; it cost £100 to get in, which we couldn’t afford. So we decided to raise the ticket cost by begging outside the entrance. See - http://www.vacuum.org.uk/beggingforsocialengagement

This time round we’re performing inside but we thought it important that people on low and no incomes weren’t excluded, thus we’re getting paid in tickets, which you can have.
How do I get a ticket?
You are entitled to a ticket if:
You live locally to the Tramway or live in Glasgow.
You don’t really go to see much art, or have heard modern art is a load of rubbish but want to give it a go.
You wanted to go, but had been put off by the cost.
You think that art has nothing to do with social and ecological change.
You are on a low or no income.
All you have to do is email suck@vacuum.org.uk with ‘A free ticket’ in the subject line and a name, and we’ll put you down on the list. Tickets are on a first come first served basis. Only take a ticket if you are sure you want to come, as the 25 tickets are instead of our fee.
(See further details on your free ticket below)

Help spread the word.

Help us get the message out and forward this to anyone who it maybe of interest to.
Further ticket details.
No one will be made aware that you’ve got a free ticket.
You won’t be expected to see everything or stay all day if it isn’t for you, but you must be prepared to give it a go.
If you would like to have a buddy for the day, so you can have someone to talk to about the art work, we can try and arrange one, so please state in your email if this is the case.
If you have a visual, auditory or mental impairment or difficulty, please also let us know in your email.
The Tramway is wheelchair accessible.

the vacuum cleaner is not responsible if you have a bad experience.

New Years Resolution

It's at this time of the year when we promise ourselves we'll be fitter, healthier, tidier, skinnier and then after a few weeks we can be found with our feet up eating a chocolate biscuit.

Glasgow's Women's Jogging Network course's start in early February. So if you fancy completing a 5km or the woman's 10km run, this could be the course for you. One of the course's is the 10km crash course, you meet up with a group of women, all beginner runners, many have never ran in their life's and there's a mix of ages from 18 to 70. The class meets twice a week for 12 weeks. In the first class you may run one minute and then walk for two or three, but by the end of the twelve weeks you will be able to run and complete the Women's 10km in May.

The feeling of setting a goal and achieving it is a fantastic feeling and completing the 10km is great and happens to be alot of fun.

The course is £53.50 for the 12 weeks and you can pick up a brochure in any Glasgow sport centre or you can telephone 0141 287 5079

More indian grub

CHAI WHAI
In contrast I also recently went to Chai Whai, one of the newest restaurants to open in the southside.

The look of Chai Whai is another odd one, while Shimlas is going for a very trendy, deliberate, eye catching style, Chai Whai seems to be a place in the middle of working out who it is.

From the outside, it doesn't look anything special, a doorway between a baby shop and an empty unit leading to a long uninviting corridor. At the end of the corridor however is a HUGE restaurant, probably 160 seats.

The staff were extremely friendly but looked a little cold - they were all still wearing their coats and jackets. They seemed almost surprised to see us as we walked in and as we looked around we realised why - the place was even emptier than Shimla Pinks had been. This may to some extent be explained as they have only just opened and have yet to start really spreading the word that they are there. So new are they in fact, that they haven't yet got round to hanging any pictures or images on the walls. I recommend they do that quite soon as it felt very odd to sit in a bright white room - a bit like a canteen.

From our first impression we were therefore not expecting too much from the food. The staff bustled around us, advising on a good selection of tapas dishes and then all scurried off to get them for us. We sat looking around, a bit confused - its odd being the only people in a restaurant.
We then heard the clinking of cutlery and thought that there must be other patrons that we hadn't previously noticed. I poked my head over the low division wall only to find the sound was coming from the staff who were all sitting down to dinner together.
The food took quite a long time to come, possibly because the staff were eating their own or possibly because we were the first customers the night and they had to heat up the ovens but when it did arrive, it was very nice. Indian/ Malay tapas is a good idea - whenever I go out to an Indian restaurant I end up wanting everyone else's dish.
This way, each of you order 3 or 4 dishes and the chance to try different things is greatly expanded. Ann's a veggie so I got to try her dishes but she couldn't try mine. Two of mine were delicious, one was ok. That's not a bad average and the home made chapatis that come with the meal, were buttery and garlicky and very, very tasty.
We chatted to the owner as he constantly kept trying to encourage us to eat more - "have another chapati", "I'll get you the deserts" "another rice? I think you should have more rice".
The tapas is their first step but they have plans to expand. Next they will start doing home deliveries from a second non-tapas menu and then they will dedicate a section of the restaurant to a third fine dining menu. All sounds a bit complicated to me - and I can imagine Gordon Ramsay would have a few things to say to them about their plans but I hope they do well as they seem nice people, the food is good and its only about two seconds from my flat.

http://www.chaiwhai.com/index.html

Up-date .....

Unfortunately Chai Whai has now closed

Shimla Pinks

Glasgow, and the Southside in particular, have a huge array of Indian Restaurants and over the last few weeks I've been to one of the most well known and one of the newest.

SHIMLA PINKS
Shimla Pinks (see photo above) is a bit of a southside institution, sitting on a prime corner spot at the main Pollokshaws Road entrance to Queens Park. Its bright pink signage will be a familiar sight to commuters crawling to work in the morning.

Shimlas had a bit of a face lift last year (jet black and neon pink) but the place ended up looking like a nightclub from the outside which put me off eating there and I'm glad they've decided to repaint back to white.

I was really looking forward to be going to Shimlas - I've lived nearby for three years but always seem to end up going elsewhere for grub so to try it for the first time was quite exciting.

First impression when walking in the door was a bit of a surprise the inside is still black and pink with very modern furniture. While I think when the place is full and busy that minimalism might work well - we had gone just before 6pm on a Tuesday night and the place was dead and the decor made it feel very empty. The inside is more like a bar and I think the new owners intention with their last face lift was to make it half bar/ half restaurant. This however gives it a bit of an identity crises. What exactly is it supposed to be?

I was worried my expectation build up over the three previous years would taint my opinion regarding the food and I think it may have done to a certain extent, as while I found the food and service were both reasonably good, I just wasn't blown away as friends recommendations had previously led me to believe I would be. Not terribly bad - but just OK tasting, reasonably priced food.

I think my alternative recomendation for a good Indian meal is still the Village in Tradeston.

Other external reviews:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-2795611-prod-travelguide-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i
http://www.glasgoweating.co.uk/9088.htm
http://www.myglasgow.org/glasgow/restaurants-review-glas-shimla-pinks.htm

Fairfield Farmhouse - Govan

A couple of years ago LUV [Linthouse Urban Village] held an architecture competition for the regeneration of the Fairfield Farmhouse in Elderslie Park in Govan. Do Architecture won the competition with the proposal above.

The renovated farm and new buildings will provide among other things, a school for herbal medicine, creche facilities, a cafe and artists work spaces.

There is a regeneration consultation meeting at Elder Park Library on the 16th of January 2008 from 3.30pm till 4.15pm and then a second session from 6.30pm till 7.15pm. At the meeting you can find out more about the proposed plans for the currently derelict Farm House [which is possibly the oldest building in greater Govan].

LUV will be providing refreshments at the event. So if your interested in finding out more and voting on what you like ..go along.

There is more information the LUV website Click Here and also on the Do Architecture site

Southside Festival

Last night we went along to listen in on a meeting about the upcoming Southside Festival taking place in Queens Park on 28 June 2008.

Its still in the very early stages at the moment and they are still forming proposals for what the day will actually entail.

The theme of the festival is apparently "Heritage" but I think they are open to all suggestions of involvement so I wouldn't let that worry you.

While the festival is going to be called the Southside Festival - its not going to actually cover the whole Southside. (Well not in its first year) It's only going to cover Langside, Strathbungo, Battlefield, Govanhill and the edge of Cathcart/ Mount Florida - though if you are outside this area they still would like you to be invovled but you'll have to hold your event in the Quens Park area. The intention seems to be, that they see this day as a main focus which will act as an umbrella to promote all the rest of the events/ gala days and festivals which take place in the Southside during the summer.

They are also very keen for people to get involved so if anyone has any ideas then they should contact Counciller James Dornan (James.Dornan@glasgow.gov.uk) or come along to the next meeting 7:00pm, 22 January at Queens Park Church, 170 Queens Drive.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year - apologies for the lack of posts we've been on holidays but normal service can now resume.

During the hols we had a few guests and took them on lots of tours of the local Glasgow sites - including a nearby distillery and to the Kelvingrove where there is an ariel image of Glasgow including the extent of the Southside. (see below) Nice to see how much of that is still green.