Gorbals Highlights

Saw this and thought people might find it interesting. Here's what the creator has to say about it.

"This is a project I organised in 2004 in one of the derelict high rise buildings in the Gorbals, where I used to live.The aim was to celebrate the relatively short life of the building before it disappeared forever. I feel that it is wrong that these buildings are demolished without a trace, like so many of the homes that have been part of Gorbals' heritage. The lamps in each room were connected to a computer which I programmed to generate the animations, some of them designed by local children who lived in the tower blocks.I am organising a similar project, but bigger and better, multicoloured and interactive. See www.multicolours.org"

Greek Gorbals

Photo by Daveymcn

I read a couple of short pieces about plans to renovate the old Alexander "Greek" Thompson Church on Caledonia Road last week and so today decided to try and find out a bit more information.

Poor "Greek" Thompson buildings have suffered over the years with many torn down in the 60's and many more being allowed to fall into disrepair and collapse. This is made even more striking when you compare him Glasgow's other famous architectural son - the ever present Mackintosh and the huge impact that his style still has on the city today.

Its funny that as a city we seem to have opted to put all our efforts into the one rather than try to promote both but hopefully, finally that's going to change.

Its just been announced in the last few weeks that the old abandoned Caledonia church - one of the few original Gorbals buildings still standing is possibly going to find a new life. This new life will be to create a permanent home for the Alexander Thompson Society, a gallery of his vast (150+) buildings, studios, apartments and a museum.

There is a good wee article on the Architecture Scotland website and more info on the society's site where they outline their aims for the project and how things are attempting to progress.

What do people think of the proposed images?

I like them, very different to other buildings in the city and if will completed could be a good addition to the area - but I guess it totally depends on how well it gets put together and them raising sufficient funding to afford good quality materials.

Whats in a name?

The area around Bridge Street underground has gone through a lot of changes. At one point it was the centre of all Glasgow trade with Central station sited there prior to its moving across the river (more on that another day). After WWII and the motorway plans were drawn up, the final link of the system was to head down highstreet across the river, passing through the gorbals straight over Bridge Street and ending at the Kingston Bridge. Though this was never completed the whole area was left in Limbo while the threat of the new road hung over it.

The road never came but ,partly as a result of the limbo status, while a lot of the area was knocked down the two large public buildings were left alone. The Colisseum Theatre which became a cinema and then a bingo before ending up empty and the Eglinton Street United Secession Church which became the Bedford then the New Bedford cinema, then "Glasgow's most successful bingo club" before in 2003 becoming the Carling Academy. This is how most people these days will know it, but that too has just changes and now as the result of a new deal it has become the O2 Academy.

Not sure that this is really news or not but I always find the stories that buidlings go through very interseting and I lioe to wonder what the original Church goers would make of the fact that someone with the name Ghostface Killah is performing where their alter used to sit?

I've never actually been to the Carl . . . O2 Academy but my friends who go to gigs a lot say that its not that great a venue and that the sound isn't too hot?

Anyone else had problems there? Where is the best Southside place for gigs?

O2 name change

Images of the Bedford and Coliseum

History of Bedford Cinema

Love is in the air

I just spotted this on the great Nothing to see here website. I knew that Glasgow claimed to be the City of Love due to having parts of Saint Valentine hidden away somewhere. I had always assumed they were in the Cathedral or maybe in St Mungos museum so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Love Saint is actually residing in a smaller location, a Church in the Gorbals.

Have a look at the post on Nothing to see here for more info and a short article on the Scotsman.

Sub Rosa @ the Citizens

SUB ROSA
Written & Directed by David Leddy
A gothic Victorian promenade show through the secret backstage spaces of the Citizens Theatre.Out of the shadows comes a motley crew of sopranos, hoofers, chorines and wig-masters. They tell a haunting, mournful and darkly comic tale of yet another chorus girl burning to death beneath the stage while the show carried on above her head. Can somebody put a stop to these incidents? Will there be a bloodthirsty coup or a red velvet revolution? The management are literally getting away with murder...

Sub Rosa has been created especially for the Citizens by David Leddy, who has been described as a ‘theatrical maverick' (Financial Times), ‘one of the most interesting dramatic writers on the Scottish scene' (Scotsman) and ‘the rising star of Scottish theatre' (Observer).

The promenade show will take an audience of just 15 people through the secret, backstage areas of the theatre.Cast includes: Cora Bissett, Angela Darcy, Louise Ludgate, David Magowan, Alison Peebles & Finlay Welsh

Tickets strictly limited, advanced booking highly recommended. SHOWS BEGIN EVERY 20 MINS, FROM 7PM-9.20PM Show lasts approximately 1 hour & 20 minutesWarning: not for the squeamish! Recommended for 16+

Dates:
Mon 19 January - Sat 31 January
Ticket prices:
SPECIAL TICKET PRICE: £12 (CONCESSIONS AVAILABLE)PREVIEWS £4

City of the Dead

You wait two months and then along come three posts at once.

We were sent the below by a fellow southsider–

"Open Evening You are invited to attend the open evening of South Glasgow Heritage and Environmental Trust (S.G.H.E.T.) on Tuesday 1st April 2008 at 7pm in Queen’s Park Parish Church, 170 Queen’s Drive. Our speaker for the event is Colin Mackie, his subject for the evening will be “Dead You Know” – Southern Necropolis Memories. Come along and find out all about the organisation. Our book “City of the Dead” will also be on sale. Tea and coffee will be served."

http://www.cityofthedead.co.uk/

http://www.southernnec.20m.com/

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

Sir Basil Spence Touring Exhibition - at the airport and the Gorbals

This year the architect 'Sir Basil Spence' should have been one hundred years old, and due to this the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland have launched the 'Sir Basil Spence Archive. There are several events on, the main event, being the the major exhibition of the Archive at the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh. There is also a touring exhibition and it's been exhibited in two spaces in Glasgow . The first being at Glasgow airport, Spence designed the original Glasgow airport [see the pic above] It's open from 15 December–5 January, 9am-6pm daily.

The next event is taking place in the Gorbals Library, and is open 12 January–10 February, Mon-Fri, 9am-9pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 12 noon-5pm

For more information Click Herehttp://www.basilspence.org.uk/

2B or not 2B

We went along to see Hamlet on Saturday night and really enjoyed it. I've never read Hamlet or seen it on stage but I have seen a couple movie versions so I knew what would be going on. Just to be on the safe side its probably worth having a read through of a synopsis on the net before hand as it does take a minute or two to get into the way the characters talk.

The cast were all very good though I didn't get as strong a feeling that Hamlet was battling in his soul between exacting revenge or not, though I think this was intentional. Hamlet seemed from the start to be a very angry man looking for any excuse to start fighting back. From the films I remembered him as being a very honest man struggling to maintain his goodness in a very corrupt and wicked world. The sets and costumes were also very good and the show hung together very well apart from the sounds accompanying the ghosts appearance which scared the pants off us.

Its definitely worth going along to see if you get a chance. (It runs for one more week) but be warned that the theatre is very, very warm and by the end of the two and a half hour show you may well be roasted alive and will definitely be ready to drift off home to sleep.

Guardian Review

Citizens - His Dark Materials

We are quite lucky in the Southside when it comes to contemporary theatrical entertainment. Not only do we have the Tramway and the soon to arrive ballet but we also have the Citizens which has a Europe-wide reputation for top class drama and is where many of our own home grown Scottish theatrical talents first treaded the boards. (Click here for its history)

The building which is plain brick and doesn't look all that exciting from the outside is on Gorbals street on main bus routes and a short wander from nearby Bridge Street Underground. inside the building is a bit more vibrant - mostly painted black with bright pink columns and elephants.

We've been to quite a few shows there over the years, in all of the three halls, the main hall where the main productions are staged and where we have seen more traditional style plays "Importance of Being Earnest" and "Dial M for murder" and the smaller more intimate halls where more unusual and more contemporary shows are held "The cutting room".

The Citizen's production company recently announced their Autumn schedule and there is quite a wide variety of shows on offer - from a new production of Hamlet to an audience with Ken off Coronation Street. The one that has picked our interest is Philip Pulman, "His Dark Materials" trilogy which appears to be being shown split into two plays. The first is this week, with the second next week and I think we'll go along as I'm interested in how they will condense the tight plot and ideas into two short evenings. If you haven't read the books, I highly recommended them - they are often marketed as kids books, but don't let this put you off as once you start them you'll see that they cover topics and discussions on subjects that most kids just won't understand - ie the nature of sin, the existence and role of God. There's some meaty discourse in there and it will be interesting to see how the Citizen's combine that, with what, in essence, is a rollicking good adventure story and how on earth are they going to represent giant battling bears, hot air balloons and icy tundra wastes.

With the first of three films of the books coming out in the winter - starring Daniel "007" Craig, now is a good chance to get in there first before everyone else has read them.



EDIT: We saw the first part on Thursday night - it was good, the acting by the young cast was excellent and they did a fine job of translating the dense text into an entertaining evening. Only probs were it was a bit on the long side for one sitting - especially as I was full of the cold. Despite the first half being two hours long and the second 1hour 45mins, there were of course still gaps in the narrative to allow for condensing the book, these didn't really affect the plot but it did take away from some of the characters. I think it definitely helped to have read the book - especially in the second half when even I was getting a bit confused as to what was happening - and I highly recommend picking up some copies of the trilogy.

My main grumbles of the evening were actually more to do with the original story and the annoying long winded and unpronounceable names all the characters and places have. I remember when reading the book I found they distanced me somewhat from the story. I also didn't like the creatures with wheels for hands and feet which appear in the third book and I'm hoping they get skipped or at least make only a limited appearance tonight.

Running Classes

I went out running with the jogging network on Monday night, I normally go to two classes every week, one at the Gorbals and one at Bellahouston park. On Monday we were running one mile reps.

You can join the jogging network, as long as you can run three miles, if you can’t, you can join one of their beginners classes to get you up to the 3 mile mark.It's really good fun

There are classes on everyday, at different places around the city, here are the southside classes

Monday 6.30pm – Gorbals Sport Centre
Tuesday 6.30pm - Holyrood Sport Centre
Wednesday 6.30pm – Bellahouston Sport Centre