The Glasgow Wrap 🗞 Weekend Guide 22-24 March 2024
McGill’s vow to fight, West End church facing demolition, HGV driver ‘haunted’ by cyclist's death, Govanhill stars in new film + Foo Fighters guitarist & Madison Beer in a busy weekend of live music
☁ Good morning Glasgow. It’s looking like a weekend of sunshine and showers, except Sunday which is currently forecast to be rain-free. Here’s Friday’s Wrap and the Weekend Guide.
🚎 McGill’s bus boss Sandy Easdale says he is in the process of getting ‘a real heavyweight legal team’ to fight SPT’s new franchising system plans. Easdale tells today’s Glasgow Times:
“I will fight it with every breath I've got and I will fight it with every penny I've got.”
🏗️ Hillhead Baptist Church is facing complete demolition after its owner ruled-out retaining the building’s facade. Developer Wemyss Properties has shared a new update saying that entirely knocking down the 1883 church to build flats is now ‘unavoidable’. Building flats on the Cresswell Street site, just off Byres Road, now ‘represents the only economically reasonable way forward’, the firm said. - Updated plans and some results of last year’s consultation are shared online by Wemyss here. The owner has not yet submitted plans to the council.
⮑ Among those responding online to the news was UoG Sociology lecturer Dominic Hinde, who described it as ‘an assault on Glasgow’s built environment and history’.
🚔 A mother who died after being knocked off her bike and killed by an HGV in Bearsden on Tuesday has been named by police as 56-year-old Una Brandreth. - Ben Waddell, Glasgow Times.
🚴♀️ The parents of 22-year-old cyclist Emma Burke Newman, who was killed by a lorry driver at Broomielaw last year, have said their daughter’s death could have been avoided, reports Lauren Brownlie, Glasgow Times. They said:
“She did not deserve to die or suffer in the manner that she did. Along with our overwhelming sadness is the senselessness of it all, knowing that the collision could, and should, have been prevented.”
⮑ They spoke after 69-year-old lorry driver Paul Mowat avoided jail despite pleading guilty. He was sentenced in court to 100 hours of unpaid work. His defence agent told court:
"When he became aware of something being wrong, he pulled his vehicle to a stop and went to Emma’s aid. He held her hand and reassured her that emergency services were on the way. He has been haunted by this incident and that he was unable to assist. He's truly sorry for what occurred. He profusely apologises to Emma's family.”
⮑ Her parents, Rose Marie Burke and John Newman, spoke to BBC Scotland's Drivetime programme last night. They said they felt Glasgow was ‘about a decade behind’ their home city of Paris when it came to safer cycling routes. - Listen in here.
⮑ ‘When is this Carnage on our Roads Going to End?’ is the title of a lengthy discussion on the Glasgow Reddit forum just now. It includes discussions between cyclists and HGV drivers.
🚨 A woman was taken to hospital after being hit by a car in the Bearsden Road area yesterday. - Callum Loudon, STV News.
🔥 A fire on Sauchiehall Street on Thursday morning is being treated by police as ‘deliberate’. - Rebecca Newlands, Glasgow Times.
🏢 There is hope a breakthrough is close on a plan for the former Watt Brothers building on Sauchiehall Street. - Stewart Paterson, Glasgow Times.
🪧 A series of rolling strikes will hit every college in Scotland next month as lecturers escalate a dispute over pay. - The dates for impacted Glasgow colleges are listed in Gabriel McKay’s report here.
🚝 A direct link between Glasgow Central Station and Glasgow Airport will not be included as part of the Clyde Metro system councillors have been advised. - Catherine Hunter, Local Democracy Reporter, Glasgow Live.
🛫 Airline Jet2holidays is expanding its offering from Glasgow Airport this summer by adding package holidays to the Bulgarian resort of Sozopol. - Brian Donnelly, The Herald.
🍻 Should the ScotRail booze ban remain in place? - The Herald’s Rebecca McQuillan reports that rail bosses told a Holyrood committee this week that commuters were split roughly 50/50 on whether to continue the ban. It was ‘temporarily’ introduced three years ago during the pandemic in a bid to curtail spread of the virus. Have your say:
💻 The University of Glasgow is due to open a new computing innovation lab today. - Scott Reid, The Scotsman.
🎥 A new series of BBC crime drama Shetland is expected to be filmed in Clydebank next week. - Ava Whyte, Glasgow Times.
☕️ The Bees Knee's Cafe in Govanhill has closed down as a cafe after five years of trading. - The owners said in this Facebook post that ‘a new creative space’ will ‘transform the cafe into a hidden gem’.
🇬🇧 A local councillor wants to stop flying the Union flag above the City Chambers on the King’s birthday. - Stewart Paterson, Glasgow Times.
🇺🇸 The Six By Nico restaurant team have launched a new menu inspired by a famous New York City deli. - Rebecca Newlands, Glasgow Times.
🚌 The Citylink bus operator is increasing journeys in and around Glasgow. - Ben Waddell, Glasgow Times.
⮑ Meanwhile First Bus has announced that the ‘majority’ of its ticket prices will be frozen across Glasgow. - Beth Franklin, STV News.
⚽️ Former Rangers player Barry Ferguson was photographed at Murphy's Pakora on Argyle Street. - Ben Waddell, Glasgow Times.
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📸 If local history is your thing, photos of Glasgow shops in the 70s from the archive of former Glasgow School of Art photographic assistant Iain Mackenzie are featured in this gallery shared by the NMS.
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🪩 It’s another busy weekend in the city. We’ll kick off with gigs:
⮑ Friday: Emperor, Barrowland.
⮑ Friday: Former Champ, Rum Shack.
⮑ Friday: Ozric Tentacles + Gong, Saint Luke’s.
⮑ Friday: Chris Shiflett (of the Foo Fighters), Queen Margaret Union.
⮑ Friday: Capollos, Nice N Sleazy.
⮑ Friday: Eric Nam, O2 Academy.
⮑ Saturday: Feeder, Barrowland.
⮑ Saturday: Mastiff, Audio.
⮑ Saturday: Uproar Scotland 7th Birthday Party, Classic Grand.
⮑ Saturday: Vitalic, Platform (Midland Street).
⮑ Sunday: The Native, King Tut’s.
⮑ Sunday: Madison Beer, O2 Academy.
⮑ Sunday: Emotional Oranges, SWG3.
⮑ Sunday: Shawn James, Saint Luke’s.
⮑ Looking ahead to next week: on Monday Thundercat plays the O2 Academy, Bleachers play the Barrowland, on Tuesday Sunn O))) play SWG3 and on Wednesday DJ Shadow plays at the Barrowland.
🎤 Here are some highlights from the Glasgow International Comedy Festival this weekend. If the act you want to see is sold out, check to see whether they’re performing on other days this month. Most acts are performing more than once.
⮑ Friday: The Friday Show, The Stand.
⮑ Friday: Mark Nelson: All The Best, King’s Theatre.
⮑ Friday: Tinder Tales, Tennent’s Bar.
⮑ Friday: The Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz, The Stand.
⮑ Friday: Young Team, Tennent’s Bar.
⮑ Friday: Caroline Rhea: I Identify as a Witch, Oran Mor.
⮑ Friday: Sikisa: Hear Me Out, The Old Hairdresser’s.
⮑ Friday: Quiz Ain’t a Scene: An Emo Gameshow, The Flying Duck.
⮑ Friday: Hannah Campbell, Van Winkle West End.
⮑ Friday: Big Angie Fire Starter, Glasgow Science Centre.
⮑ Saturday: A Political Brunch, Tennent’s Bar.
⮑ Saturday: Frank Skinner, 30 Years of Dirt, King’s Theatre.
⮑ Saturday: Viv Gee, The Glad Cafe.
⮑ Saturday: Julia Sutherland: Gen X Rated, Blackfriars.
⮑ Saturday: Rory Mullen: Faces of Glasgow, The Griffin.
⮑ Saturday: Richard Pulsford, Short Joke Teller, Van Winkle West End.
⮑ Saturday: Mr Fibbers: On The Plectrum (family-friendly), The Stand.
⮑ Saturday: Out Out Live!, August House.
⮑ Saturday: Sad Girls Club, Oran Mor.
⮑ Saturday: Smutty Letters, Riding Room.
⮑ Saturday: Best of the Fest, Max’s Basement.
⮑ Saturday: Kemah Bob, The Old Hairdresser’s.
⮑ Saturday: Any Suggestions, Doctor? The Improvised Doctor Who Parody, Britannia Panopticon.
⮑ Saturday: Morgan Rees, The Old Hairdressers.
⮑ Sunday: Scott Agnew’s Scottish Square Sausage Show, Drygate event space.
⮑ Sunday: So You Think You’re Funny? Glasgow Showcase, Oran Mor.
⮑ Sunday: It Just So Happened: An Alternative History Show, Whistler on the Green.
⮑ Sunday: Milk On The Side: A Barista Musical, Tennent’s Bar.
⮑ Sunday: Deep Fried In Patter, Blackfriars.
⮑ Sunday: Woman Up Comedy Improv, McChuills.
⮑ Sunday: Sophie Duker Is On Fire, The Old Hairdresser’s.
⮑ Sunday: Lauren Pattison: Big Girl Pants, Nice N Sleazy.
⮑ Sunday: Leslie Liao, Oran Mor.
⮑ Sunday: Auld Enemies! International Roast Battle, The Griffin.
🎞️ The Glasgow Short Film Festival is ongoing and runs until Sunday. - The Skinny’s Jamie Dunn has the lowdown on what to expect from the festival.
⮑ This year’s programme includes a deep dive into feminist film archives, a focus on Moroccan filmmaker Randa Maroufi, a portmanteau film portrait of Govanhill and a thematic strand in defiance of oppression titled ‘Towards Liberation’. - The full programme is here.
⮑ Govanhill: A Community Film Portrait is showing at the CCA Theatre on Saturday. Its BAFTA-winning creator Felipe Bustos Sierra spoke to Greater Govanhill mag about the film.
🥧 The spring season of A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Oran Mor is previewed in The Skinny’s weekend guide by Anahit Behrooz and Ellie Robertson.
☕️ Quine Magazine’s weekend guide includes ‘the hot chocolate café of dreams’, the inaugural Fair Fashion Collective festival and a chance to design tote bags for Refuweegee. - Read more from Natasha Nelson here.
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📌 The Loading Bay in Port Dundas hosts Skateboard Scotland’s street championships this weekend. Events will be running between midday and 6pm on Sunday.
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