#builder's tea

Come tae the Barrowland tonight

Swing yer maw, swing yer paw, swing yer granny up the wa

Come tae the Barrowland tonight!

Cuppa: an exquisite builder's tea with two sugars

View: the retro interior of Guido's Coronation Café on Gallowgate, Glasgow.

I don't go into the city as much as I used to, as I've changed jobs. It's nice to have a reason to come intae toon on a sunny evening, and this Friday I had the best of reasons.

The Barrowland Ballroom was just that, a popular dancing spot until it burned down in the 50s and was rebuilt in the swinging 60s. The perfect place to spend a night at the dancing, and maybe find a cute boy to walk you home. Now that ballroom dancing isn't so much the thing, the Barrowland has become a world famous music venue.

Warning: flashing lights

When they started this way, I knew which song they were going to lead with! If you want to hear the rest, here's the lockdown version (there's a studio version and an official video too, I just like that one!)

I am a huge fan of Tide Lines. The man above has the voice of a burly Gaelic angel. And this guy here is a wizard on a different set of pipes:

We even got a wee cover of another act that famously played here:

It was a wonderful night. Especially the moment that Robert Robertson forgot his own lyrics, while the crowd confidently went on singing. Maybe we should hold up prompt cards.

I'll leave you with a couple of Glasgow's famous murals, on the Barrowland itself, and on the Winged Ox pub at St. Luke's, another excellent music venue just along the street.

Cuppa: builder's tea from the on-board bar.

View: heading south down Windermere, back to Lakeside at the end of a busy day.

We have been on many, many boats today. This last one is the Teal, a lovely old boat with a fascinating canoe-like bow.

This place is a boat-spotter's paradise.

And, when the RAF decides to give a suprise fly-past, it's pretty good for plane-spotters too.

The act of brewing cheap, inexpensive tea in a mug rather than a teapot. In addition to this, the tea is often brewed stronger and usually contains two or more spoons of sugar. Drunk usually by construction workers who haven't got the time (amongst their many breaks) to make a proper brew. Example: Builder 1: "Fancy a cuppa?" Builder 2: "Yeah - I think the teapot is in the van." Builder 1: "Don't be soft lad! The other builders will laugh at us! Get me the PG Tips" Builder 2: "Hate builders tea, but I always have to have at least 5 before I can start work"

Source: http://nl.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=builders+tea

Want to know more? ;-)

The Tea Lady: Part I, Builder’s Tea:

For as long as I could remember, I've been taking my black tea... well, black. Today, for the first time ever, I added some milk to my tea and OH MY FUCKING GOD GUYS IT CHANGES EVERYTHING.