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

The Dennistoun Saracen Fountain

The Saracen Fountain, so named because it was cast by Walter Macfarlane & Co at the Saracen Works in Possilpark, has stood in its current site in Dennistoun, in the east end of Glasgow for the last 110 years. According to the Macfarlane Castings Catalogue, this cast iron spray fountain is model no. 130 and

The end of the road for the O2 ABC

On 15th June 2018, the former music venue known as the O2 ABC was fatally damaged following an outbreak of fire, which started at the Mackintosh Building of The Glasgow School of Art. The school had already suffered a devastating fire on 23rd May 2014, and the second fire occurred during building work being carried

The ‘Witches’ of Glasgow

References to Witches in and around Glasgow were sometimes hidden in plain sight. There was a stretch of road in the Calton, just south of Dennistoun in the east end of Glasgow named “Witch Lane”. Although the stretch of road still exists, it is no longer known as this. Instead, it has become the northerly

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 Cheapside Street disaster

On 28th March 1960, one of the worst fires to occur during peace time happened at the bonded whisky warehouses of Arbuckle, Smith and Co. Ltd, situated between 76 to 118 Cheapside Street in the Anderson area of Glasgow. On the Monday evening of the 28th just after 7pm, the alarm was raised after smoke

The buildings of the Glasgow Necropolis

Whenever people talk about the Glasgow Necropolis, it goes without saying that the monuments, memorials and mausolea are mentioned, and maybe even the statue of John Knox designed by William Warren, who casts his reformist glance over Tennents Wellpark Brewery on Duke Street and far beyond, from his lofty perch on top of a 58

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

George Square and the Slavery Debate

George Square in Glasgow was initially set out in 1781, but was not named as such until around 1787 – its nomenclature “George Square” was homage to King George III. There are twelve statues which will be examined along with their links to historic slavery. […]

Lance Corporal Edward McKee

This is the story of my maternal Great Uncle, Lance Corporal Edward McKee, who was killed on the 24th June 1944 at age 22 years old on active service during the Second World War. Edward was my grandmother Catherine’s older brother who was a soldier from the 43rd (5th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment) Regiment Service whose