Welcome readers, to our first Monday briefing of 2025. It’s back to business at Bell HQ. As you’ll have heard already, the city is breezing into the second quarter of the 21st century with a bit more wind in its sails than might be expected (or is warranted, according to some), as it celebrates its 850th anniversary.
More on that in a moment.
There are now just shy of 6,900 of you reading this newsletter, which brings us no small amount of joy as we dust off the cobwebs from our laptops and reintegrate into normality after all the festive and new year revelry. As always, we’re grateful to you all for supporting our work and sharing it far and wide. Special menshy to our fully paid-up subscribers, almost 370 of you — for giving us the remunerative means to publish our stories and pay our burgeoning bank of freelancers.
We know Christmas Eve feels like half a lifetime ago at this stage, but we’re still proud of Stuart Edwards’ delightful Barras traders picture essay, which you can read here if you’re a paid subscriber. If not, you can still follow him on Instagram to keep up with his work.
While we’re on the subject, we’re scouting for memories of the old Paddy’s Market on Shipbank Lane off the Saltmarket. In 2009 it closed forever, after almost two centuries of trading at various locations throughout the city. We’d love to learn more about the traders who once hawked their wares there, and the failed council plans to gentrify the lane and turn it into a gentrified food court. Get in touch.
Now, let’s wind the clock back.
Your Bell Briefing
🧊 We don’t want to start the New Year with a moan but it’s undeniable that the city’s gritting coverage has been pretty substandard during the most recent cold snap. One Bell staffer was nearly (note: nearly) felled by black ice multiple times during a stroll round Alexandra Park. And residents across Glasgow have been reporting similar experiences, asking via social media where council-provided gritting teams are. The answer is: they’ve been gritting. The problem is, winter maintenance crews usually only focus on main roads and areas outside schools and hospitals, a council source tells us. If you’re in a residential area, you’re expected to get thee to a local grit bin and do it yourself. But complaints seem to have forced the council’s hand — the Glasgow Times reports that extra gritting teams have now been deployed.
🏗️ Sauchiehall Street’s first phase of improvements is complete but they’ve been met by a rather muted response. Kevin McKenna has a freshly published report on the reaction from local traders in The Herald today, asking: ‘Were 450 days of disruption on this famous Scottish street worth it?’. One interesting detail: restauranter John Quigley says it’s currently East Asian students who are keeping Sauchiehall Street’s struggling retail trade afloat. “The Asian and Chinese student communities are keeping the lights on in Sauchiehall Street,” Quigley says. “They’re arriving here in droves and spending money.”
🗳️ Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has this morning taken to a Glasgow podium to deliver his New Year speech. One major theme, which he repeated in his latest weekly Daily Record column, was blasting ‘quangos’, the public bodies funded by the government but not run by elected officials. “These bureaucratic behemoths have swelled, and the cost is astronomical,” Mr Sarwar writes. “Scotland spends a jaw-dropping £6.6 billion on these bodies each year. That’s money that could be better spent on improving services for the people of Scotland. Instead, millions are wasted on board members and middle management. Yet, as the bureaucracy grows, the quality of the services Scots rely on continues to decline.” Sounds pretty sensible. But it’s quite the break with UK Labour — in December, The Telegraph reported that a new quango had been established at an average of every week by the party once they took over in Westminster. A political rift to start 2025?
Glasgow City Council is keen to celebrate — but is the city in a mood to party?
Topline: Glasgow is celebrating its 850th anniversary. Sort of.
Of course, we all know the Dear Green Place is far older than a ripe 850. More accurately, this year marks the anniversary of the granting of the city's burgh charter in 1175. The city wasn’t officially given Royal Burgh until 1611, but in 1175 King William the Lion granted the Bishop of Glasgow (then Bishop Jocelin) “the privilege of having a burgh at Glasgow, with a market on Thursdays, and all the liberties, and customs of the King’s burghs”.
Glasgow City Council is making the most of the anniversary, during what has been, by most estimates, a turbulent time for the city and its leaders. The celebration builds on the festivities that took place half a century ago, when Glasgow marked its 800 candles. “2025 will see the city once again, remember its past, mark its present and look forward to its future,” the Glasgow 850 website confidently declares.
What’s it aw aboot? Kicking things off is the St Mungo Festival, with an opening lecture by Louise Welsh on ‘Who Owns the Clyde’ — and yes, you can read our piece on the campaign here. On Thursday, Glasgow Uni’s Craig Lamont is giving a talk on Glasgow and cultural memory at 850.
On January 1, People Make Glasgow released a short video of Elaine C. Smith on X, firing the starting gun on proceedings. The actor and comedian is set be awarded the city’s highest honour, the Freedom of Glasgow, as part of celebrations. Previous recipients include Nelson Mandela, Alex Ferguson and Billy Connolly. She will be the first woman to receive the honour since Dame Anna Maxwell Macdonald in 1969, who’d bequeathed Pollok House and its art collection to the city three years earlier.
Stick to the programme: Council leader Susan Aitken took to a green screen to tell us more about the signature events taking place to mark the anniversary. These include a three-day music extravaganza and a food trail. There will be a musical performance along the river, as well as special Celtic Connections events, including a Glasgow 850 opening concert. Celtic Connections, now in its 32nd year, will be helping to demonstrate “just why Glasgow is a UNESCO City of Music”. The 850 festival fund is also providing extra support to existing festivals like the Mela, to give “a special 850th anniversary flavour to what they are doing”, says Aitken in the video. Six festivals have received funding: TRNSMT, Yardworks, St Mungo Festival 2025, Merchant City Festival, Glasgow International Comedy Festival and the Glasgow International Piping Festival.
- There will also be a People’s Palace pop up touring exhibition. (The Palace and Winter Gardens are currently closed as part of a major refurbishment using an initial £850,000 of lottery funding.) More importantly, Aitken says, there will be events in every neighbourhood in the city, “every one of the 23 electoral wards in Glasgow will have their own 850th anniversary events”. Most of those will be free, and so there will be “opportunities for everyone in the city to get involved in Glasgow’s big gala year,” she says.
- Alan Bissett, Ashley Storrie and Christopher MacArthur-Boyd have been tasked with creating responses to the Alasdair Gray Archive in collaboration with Glasgow International Comedy Festival in what would have been Gray’s 90th birthday year. There’s even a volunteering programme if you’d like to get involved.
Given GCC’s cash-strapped situation, a bulk of the events will be made up of public-private partnerships, collaborations with existing festivals, and extra funding for events and communities. In the case of April’s ‘Taste the Place’ food trail, this will be a series of “free self-guided trails, designed to celebrate (and show off) a key ingredient in Glasgow's vibrant culture - its food scene” — partnering with 40 eateries. It is delivered in partnership with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. May will bring Clyde Chorus, a “multi-venue, multi-genre music event”.
Burgh-haha or brouhaha? We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we pretended it was all rosy in the city right now. It’s been hard to ignore the state of the city centre. Or the potholes. Or the buildings that keep catching fire, or getting demolished. Or the rubbish. Or . . . You get the idea.
The concern about the state of Glasgow’s built heritage has already reached a fever pitch, with national campaigns shining a light on the dire state of many of Glasgow’s buildings. Last July, a new commission was created to take charge of the issue. Most recently, Libby Brooks wrote in the Guardian about Glasgow’s crumbling heritage coming into focus as the 850th anniversary begins — adding to the screeds of column inches devoted to the topic.
In the pages of The Herald in September last year, a boosterish Barry Didcock attempted to downplay the naysayers and talk up the importance of the 850th celebrations, reflecting on the successful celebrations that took place for Glasgow 800. He wasn’t entirely pollyannaish either. “[W]ith cuts of £4 million to care services in Glasgow announced in May, threats to teacher numbers unresolved and a £100 million budget shortfall looming between now and 2027, many city residents will question money being spent on marking what is, after all, just a number,” Didcock wrote.
A Herald reader, William Gold, responded in a rather less optimistic tone, writing that “as a proud Glaswegian I look around the city and the thought occurs to me that if I were holding a birthday party I would make sure my house was clean and tidy first, sadly two adjectives not many would associate with Glasgow city centre.”
A bunch of mugs: In May 1975, Glasgow 800 celebrated the granting of the Burgh Charter with gusto. The festival was billed as no less than the "greatest celebration the city has ever seen". There were various events, including but not limited to: a remarkably colourful Lord Provost's Procession of 120 floats; a Highland Gathering at Scotstoun; a "Song for Glasgow" contest; a firework display; an ox roasting on Glasgow Green; a performance by Billy Connolly; a Lulu gig at the Pavilion; rowing regattas on the Clyde; a Joan Eardley exhibition at the Third Eye Centre — we could go on. The Wombles were even booed off the stage at Hampden during a half time penalty kick competition as part of a friendly match between Scotland and Portugal.
Glasgow 800, however, is better remembered for … mugs. For readers not old enough to recall, every school pupil in the city was given a branded mug made by Dunoon Ceramics, a family business still going strong fifty years on. Last year, Glaswegians were particularly animated by a Lost Glasgow (Norry Wilson) post on X. “Next year,” Wilson wrote, “us remaining mugs will celebrate Glasgow 850”. The Glasgow Coat of Arms page responded, calling the mug “a defining moment for Glasgow's GenXers”, adding that: “Some of us are already celebrating #Glasgow850, even if we *are* a bit chipped and broken, both me + the mug”.
A mug’s game? Rather than being in a fit state to celebrate, some might argue the city should be going back to auld claes and cauld porritch right now — focusing on the delivery of essential services. GCC, for its part, hopes Glasgow 850 will help us reflect on how the city has transformed over the last fifty years and how we can inspire change for a better, sustainable future over the next fifty. It’s easy to be negative, far harder to find reason to celebrate when times are tough. And don’t we all need a bit of positivity now and again, a good cause to get our gladrags on and knees up — especially when the city hasn’t marked the occasion in half a century?
Spot of the week: Queen’s Park flagpole
Glasgow might have missed out on becoming a winter wonderland over the past few days, but the view from the flagpole at one of the Southside’s most glorious parks was mighty fine indeed. A mist rolled in over the Campsies, which were dusted white, as a walker stopped to gaze out towards Ben Lomond in the distance. — Robbie.
Media picks
Fergie-mania: Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is back in the spotlight, with both a two-part documentary and seven-episode podcast on offer from the BBC. As would be expected from a linear narrative, it’s the earlier sections that focus most on how Ferguson’s Glasweigian heritage shaped him but there’s plenty to hold the attention, even for non-sporting enthusiasts.
Water Row, Water Go: Glasgow’s showpeople have a long and storied heritage, one that’s increasingly at risk amid rapid property development. This new longread from The Ferret profiles the Stringfellow family of Govan’s Water Row, amid a battle to preserve their carnival yards as a multi-million pound regeneration plan in the area gets underway. It’s a thought-provoking look at the difficulties of balancing much needed city improvements, and the interests of communities that have lived there for decades.
The secret history of the UK’s longest street: The BBC has a curious quirk of broadcasting fantastic programmes, then archiving them offline so all a prospective viewer can do is stare forlornly at the show’s landing page informing them that “this episode is not currently available”. Thankfully, an enterprising YouTube upload has preserved the Duke Street installment of BBC series ‘Secret History of Our Streets for the public. Ahead of the January revamp of Glasgow’s longest thoroughfare, revisit the story of how a group of local residents saved their tenements from destruction and helped shape community ownership in Scotland.
Things to do
Tuesday
If you missed the delights of the Scottish Ballet pre-Xmas, there’s still a few performances of The Snow Queen to catch at the Theatre Royal. 7.30pm, tickets from £15.
Wednesday
Throughout January, grassroots music venue The Hug and Pint is showcasing Glasgow’s best new artists to start the year off right, with the series aptly named ‘First Footing’. Wednesday sees Ample House and Guests take to the stage. Tickets from £9.99.
Thursday
You’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t bop along to at least one of Elton John’s songs. For fans, King’s Theatre is playing host to ‘The Rocket Man’ for one night only, a two-hour celebration of Elton’s biggest hits. Given the big man claims he’s retired from touring, this might be the closest you’ll get for a while… Tickets from £19.30.
Friday
As the world still adjusts to a new year, have a quiet night out and watch The Girl With The Needle, a Danish gothic thriller about a young woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant and pulled into increasingly terrifying circumstances. Only the grand surroundings of Glasgow Film Theatre could accompany this twisted period piece. Standard tickets £11.90, concessions £9.
Comments
Become a The Bell paid subscriber to leave comments. To add your photo, click here to create a profile on Gravatar.
