Remembering Thomson

The Scottish Architect, Alexander “Greek” Thomson was born on 9th April 1817 inEndrick Cottage in the village of Balfron, around 15 miles north of Glasgow. He wasthe son of bookkeeper John Thomson and his second wife Elizabeth Cooper. Sadly,John died in 1824 and by the following year, Elizabeth moved to the outskirts ofGlasgow with her

Walton: The other ‘Glasgow boy’

Scottish Architect and Designer George Henry Walton, the youngest of twelve children, was born on 3rd June 1867 to Jackson Walton and his wife, Eliza Ann Nicholson. The Walton family settled near Glasgow by 1860 at Glanderston House on the south periphery of Barrhead, where several of their children were born. It was an old

The Mermother of Greenock

An untitled mural which is located on the gable end of a tenement at 61 Nicolson Street in the west end of Greenock is almost nearing completion. The street artist known as Smug, aka Sam Bates, hails from Nowra in New South Wales and has lived and worked in Scotland for close to 20 years.

An Architectural Scandal

Madeleine Hamilton Smith was the eldest child of Architect James Smith and his wife Janet, daughter of the well-known Architect David Hamilton. She was born in Glasgow on 29th March 1835 and was alleged to have killed her lover Pierre Emile L’Angelier by arsenic poisoning, but her guilt was famously found to be “not proven”

The Tennent Memorial

The Tennent Memorial (known as the Tennent Memorial Institute of Opthalmology) dating from 1935 was designed by Edinburgh born Architect Norman Aitken Dick, (1883-1948) the son of Margaret Broadfoot Aitken and Robert Dick. In December 1907, he was recruited by Sir John James Burnet for his Glasgow office and secured a ten year partnership with

Montfort House, Barrhead

A hidden gem still exists mostly hidden from view off Darnley Road in Barrhead. The current building was category B listed by Historic Environment Scotland in 2003 and was formerly known as “Tower Rais”.  The name relates to the former remains of a 15th century keep situated nearby called “Stewart’s Rais” built by Alexander Stewart. 

The Dennistoun Palais

The Dennistoun Palais de Danse (known locally as the Denny Pally) was located nearby to Duke Street, with the main entrance at 7 Roslea Drive. The image above comes from the Glasgow City Archives collection Ref: D-CA8/2636, dated 1938, when the new Art Deco building, which was designed by Charles James McNair and Robert Walter

St Columba’s Gaelic Church, Greenock

This category B listed church at the corner of Grey Place and Patrick Street in Greenock was built around 1823 and designed by James Webster, Architect. It was known locally as the Chapel-of-East  or ‘Morin’s Kirk’, which referred to the Minister whose surname was Morren. Several Gaelic speaking congregations were established in Scotland around that

Torrance House, East Kilbride

Torrance House is a 17th century towerhouse sited within Calderglen Country Park. Roger Hamilton built Torrance House in 1605 on the site of the original Torrance Castle. In 1650, James Hamilton of Shields inherited the estate and sold the house and accompanying lands to James Stuart of Castlemilk. It was during the Stuarts’ occupancy that

The Lion Chambers, Glasgow

The Lion Chambers in Glasgow. Built in 1907,  one of the first buildings in the UK built using Hennebique system of reinforced concrete. Designed by James Salmon Jnr and John Gaff Gillespie in 1903/4 as Lawyer’s offices and Artist studios. The building was commissioned by William George Black who was a lawyer and writer based