Oh, Glasgow!

Absolutely gutted by the devastating fire in town. Iconic sounds too strong somehow but it's such a documented view within the heart of the city that has remained unchanged for generations.

We've got older buildings in Glasgow but there's something so familiar and accessible to this spot and how probably hundreds of businesses, millions of citizens and travellers for over 170 years have connected with it in everyday life that makes this just really sting. An overlooked comfort that it was something that evolved but remained tangibly the same since my great-grandparents time, a visual anchor in common to all as they became Glaswegian.

Maybe there's something to it being right beside the train station comings and goings, welcomes and goodbyes that's imbued it with a liminal quality where I can't help but think of it as something we've all had in common with those we've lost.

Incredibly no-one was hurt though loads of business directly affected, nevermind the fallout for the times to come. Particularly added to the art school we're really getting our reputation back as tinderbox fucking city 🤪. Don't even want to think about the rumour mill of circumstances for it right now (but fucking vapes need to get seen too). A real escalation, under control now but the firefighters managing to save it spreading to Central station (busiest in Scotland, 4th busiest U.K. station outside of London ones!) has been some going. The one bastard time it's not raining! 😅

Known as Union Corner, at the junction of Union Street and Gordon Street, the B-listed building was constructed in 1851 and pre-dates the station itself which opened in 1879.

Designed by architect James Brown of the firm Brown & Carrick, it was built for Francis Orr & Sons, a well-known Glaswegian stationery and publishing company.

For years there was an Irn Bru advert on the rooftop and a red neon Bells sign on the dome itself.

Documentation of the mundane, taken for granted and what we're left with:

Alan Murray Rust, Nigel Thompson, Michelle Cohen, Thomas Nugent

An old photo of a historic building in Glasgow which has been destroyed by fire yesterday. My heart is broken. For me the fact that life brings about so much change especially to a city like Glasgow but these buildings act as an anchor to our past, knowing loved ones who are sadly gone also gazed on the same sights provides me with comfort. Therefore the destruction of those links cuts deep. I know there are far more worrying and upsetting things going on in the world but I am feeling rather sad today for my home city.

Is there any truth to what people say? You may be robbed at knife point and, if you're lucky, you'll see the mugger at the pub and he may even buy you a drink with the money he took from you?

It’s a caricature of Glasgow from the 80s - the joke was that Glasgow was deemed the knife capital of Europe and voted Europe’s friendliest city in the same week.

It’s Superbowl night!

Remember when Glasgow had an American football team? Nope, not the Scottish Claymores, but the Glasgow Diamonds!

Ludicrous decision by the UK government who have announced they will refuse to recognise Scottish Gender Recognition certificates.

On December 14th 1896 Glasgow District Underground opened.

Originally built for the Glasgow District Subway Company, the railway first opened in 1896 as a cable-hauled system. Propulsion was provided by stationary steam engines and the railway was hailed as the first of its type in the world.

After five years of construction, and a final bill totalling £1.5 million pounds, Glasgow’s Subway system went live for the first time on this day in 1896, entering the history books as the world’s third municipal underground railway system after the Budapest Metro and London Underground. But it would be a troublesome baptism for the fledgling tube service.

The brainchild of civil engineer Alexander Simpson, it had been built to serve a rapidly-expanding industrial city with a population fast approaching 1 million people.

The first carriage of the new Glasgow District Subway, as it was originally named, departed Govan Cross at 5am. The first cars were cable-hauled and would remain so until electrification was introduced in 1935.

As dawn broke it seemed the whole city was out in force and directors and officials were soon congratulating themselves on the success of their new system. However, any fist-pumping or back-slapping was to prove premature.

At around 3pm a complete breakdown occurred on the outer circle, causing momentary chaos. Stranded passengers were forced to walk along the lines back to the nearest station.

A few hours later, as normal service resumed, one man suffered a horrific foot injury as the huge swell of people forced him between the carriage and platform.

As if that wasn’t bad enough for day one, worse followed at just before 11pm when a stationary carriage awaiting the signal to approach St Enoch Station from Bridge Street was hit by another car running at near full speed.

The two carriages were carrying roughly 50 passengers each at the time of the collision and 18 were reported as seriously injured.

One 14-year-old boy was rendered unconscious and taken to the Royal Infirmary, having suffered a severe cut to his left temple.

The accident made headlines up and down the UK, forcing the closure of the Subway until January the following year.

An enquiry into the collision concluded that defective electrical connections between the signals had been the cause, although private trials in the weeks leading up to the opening had failed to flag up any major issues.

The driver of the approaching car claimed that he had spotted the stationary carriage but had been unable to stop in time to prevent the collision.

Despite the accident, the vibe was mostly positive - one of the main complaints being that the number of cars available on day one had been “hopelessly inadequate”. Subway directors countered this by stating that the extreme “rush of traffic” had exceeded all expectations.

They weren’t wrong - over 9 million passengers travelled on the Glasgow Subway in its first full year of operation.

When the Subway opened, a fixed fare price of one penny allowed passengers to travel around the six and a half mile long subway as many times as they wished. Many passengers had taken full advantage of this on the inaugural day - including the 14-year-old boy who suffered the severe head injury at 11pm, who, it’s said, had been travelling round and round the system for 8 or 9 hours prior to the collision. The fixed rate was soon abolished in favour of a fare stage system to avoid future congestion.

Save a refurbishment in the late 1970s which saw the system nicknamed “the Clockwork Orange” on account of its circular route and bright new Metro-Cammell orange carriages, the Glasgow Subway remains largely unaltered. Expansion of the six and half mile long, fifteen station circuit has been discussed on numerous occasions but has never come to fruition.

Recently Subway bosses gave a sneak peek inside new driverless trains set to be on the tracks next year, get a glimpse of it on the video below.

As a Scottish person, I need to say this:

ESTABLISHED TITLES IS A SCAM!

You cannot become a Lord/Lady in Scotland by owning land of any size. The title of Lord or Lady are titles of Peers in the House of Lords, who are members of the House of Lords, the Upper House of the British Parliament. You get a peerage by donating a fucktonne of money to the Tory party being appointed as such by the British Government, not by owning Land in Scotland. If owning land was enough to get you a peerage, my parents would be Lord and Lady Stabbii. They are not. In fact my Dad is banned from any official honours.

There are better ways to support tree planting, rewilding or natural landscape projects in Scotland, namely by donating to either the National Trust for Scotland or the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Both of these charities are trusted, well established and reliable charities that carry out rewilding, tree planting and nature conservation all over Scotland. If you want a cool title, make one yourself.

Worth mentioning the Supreme Court is ruling on the current law of the UK and whether an ‘equal partner’ of the UK can exit of their own accord.

A rule against isn’t the fault of the court, it will be the fault of the UK’s inadequate constitutional law…which would further the case for why independence is important.

My gut says they won’t make a ruling in order to kick independence into the long grass which I hope ScotGov is prepared for. We’ll need to change tactics.