Dear readers, welcome to 2026. The Bell is back for another big year in Glasgow. Thank you to all the readers from yesteryear, and welcome to the many of you who joined us over Christmas. Send us any surprising stories or funny tales from the holidays. But of course, not everyone took time off over the break, as Neil Scott highlighted in his piece about the Glaswegians working over Christmas. If you’re one of them, thank you too.
Robbie and Calum are back in HQ, being kept warm by an industrial-sized space heater and looking forward to reading your comments and emails. A break from The Bell brought them both some R&R and time spent making the most of the surprisingly bright and clement weather. Holiday reading for Calum included choice pieces in the Fortean Times, the UK’s prime periodical for all things poltergeist, UFO, and “strange phenomena”. Robbie finished a Japanese detective novel over the break, which accompanied a Christmas eve sushi feast and accompanying sake cocktail rather well.
We’re back to a full schedule this week. So, as usual, get in touch with tips, ideas, and questions about what’s going on in the city: editor@glasgowbell.co.uk
Glasgow in Brief
🛑 It’s 2026 and Glasgow City Council ain’t playin’ games. Adding to their wide-reaching parking restrictions, the council will now roll out 20mph speed limits across the vast majority of city streets. The headline numbers, according to a council information page, are these: 3,690 streets currently have a 30mph speed limit; by the end of the year, this will fall to just 650. The total number of city streets with a 20mph limit will rise to over 5,000 once all changes have been implemented. Roads with speed limits above 40mph will be unaffected.
The first phases of the rollout will begin in the East End across Calton into Southside Central and then Govan. The speed restrictions will then spread across the city over the coming year, finishing in North Glasgow. The new limits are part of the Scottish government’s long-held ambition to roll out 20mph zones across all “appropriate” built-up areas in the country. But buried in the late-December interlull was a concession from the Scottish SNP government that its target of implementing such schemes by the end of 2025 would be pushed back to this coming March. It’s looking likely Glasgow’s contribution to the target will go beyond the first quarter of the year.
We anticipate arguments in the press resembling that of the reaction to parking restrictions in (mainly) the Southside. That is, vocal critics given more column space than is truly reflective of local sentiment. We want to address both issues and all viewpoints thoroughly, so get in touch if this will affect you one way or another. Meanwhile, there are some interesting maps you can check out showing current average speeds on roads across Glasgow, most of which are on roads where the new 20mph limits will be imposed. See how many averages are already close to 20mph.
🇮🇷 We’ve been following a very curious story in The Times concerning the alleged influence of the Iranian regime in some unexpected places across Glasgow. The most recent report concerns the Ahl Al Bait Society Scotland (AABS) and its new £2m premises on Ashley Street. The Scottish government previously funded them to the tune of some £420,000. Last July, a Times investigation revealed the Ahl al-Bait Society, hosted a vigil for Iran’s late president and other high-ranking officials from the Tehran regime after they died in a helicopter crash in 2024. Footage recorded inside the society’s premises in Glasgow’s West End showed banners mourning Ebrahim Raisi, known as the “Butcher of Tehran”. In response, the Scottish Conservatives would very much like to know who’s funding AABS, and why they were able to access public funds. Previous reporting by the Ferret also raised questions about Azzam Mohamad, a long-serving director of the The Ahl al-Bait Society (also vice-convenor of the Muslim Council of Scotland). Mohamad was disqualified from holding a company directorship in 2010, yet remained director of the charity until 2014. He also accompanied Alex Salmond on a trip to Iran. The recent news also follows previous Times reporting which showed the Al-Mahdi Islamic Centre on Albert Road was used as a polling station for Iran’s presidential election. A charity run from the premises also received more than £370,000 in public funds to reach sustainability goals.
🎄 The Bell bookies are taking bets on the last designated Christmas tree drop-off spots to be uplifted this year. Calum recalls firs stacked behind a fence in Kelvingrove park remaining well into March last year. As for disposing of your own, here is some useful info:
- For households with a brown bin, real Christmas trees can be placed in your bin for kerbside collection. The brown bin must display a valid garden waste permit for period 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. The council says your tree must be cut up so that the lid on the bin can close. Alternatively, trees can be taken to any of the council’s household waste recycling centres.
- And for our list of tree dumps in the running, you can take real trees to the following locations from 3 January until 31 January 2026:
Stories you might have missed
Monday after Scotland’s men’s world cup opener to be a bank holiday, STV News
Former Glasgow Lord Provost convicted of stalking in ‘gaslighting’ moan, Daily Record
Strathclyde University in Glasgow staff balloted for strike, Glasgow Times
‘Do not approach’: Police still looking for prisoner missing from open jail, STV News
Scottish Government in ‘advanced’ talks to buy Ardrossan Harbour, STV News
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Read/listen/watch: Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Embarrassingly, The Bell finished a grand total of two books over the festive period, and one of them was only 168 pages long. Burnet’s brief book was given to Robbie with the advance notice that it was startlingly similar to his Booker-shortlisted book, His Bloody Project. From the first page, it is clear the Glasgow writer has penned another story very much in the same universe: a gruesome murder set in the 19th century Gàidhealtachd; an unreliable narrator telling the tale; a sense that things are not as they appear on the page. Indeed, Burnet came across the true story Benbecula is based upon while researching his previous book.
In this sense, Benbecula is the inverse of HBP: while the latter was a fictional tale purporting to be factual, the latter is based on historical fact but presents itself as fiction. The book is a triumph, lingering in the mind not only for the way in which Burnet reimagines the bloody murders of Angus MacPhee, but also owing to how he cleverly conveys the ambiguity and unknowability at the heart of any such act of so-called madness.
Catch up and coming up:
- Let Natalie Whittle whisk you up the waterways towards the city’s source: Loch Katrine, where work is underway to secure the next century of quality tap water. “Wonderful article, well written and informative,” wrote reader Richard. “So precious. Great writing!” said Helen. Yet more proof of the central importance of Chateauneuf-du-tap to Glasgow’s drouthy citizens.
Natalie Whittle
- Catch up on our best stories from last year.
From the Editor's inbox:
We recently re-issued a piece from last April: Jamie Maxwell’s story on the history and future of speedway at Ashfield in Possil. It was one of our favourites from 2025, and we felt that all our lovely new subscribers should all get to read it too, as well as those who missed it at the time. One such reader was Gordon Bickerton, who emailed in his experience with speedway:
Loved the article about Ashfield and I still pang for the adrenaline rush during attendance there with my wife. My interest had been rekindled by meeting up with an ex rider back in 2014 when we were both involved in a certain political event. We lived in Helensburgh, he on the Roseneath Peninsula. His knowledge from being a racer & fellow biker was infectious. I’d attended the White City [an old speedway track on Paisley Road West] events back in my youth in the early 60’s when my own biking adventures began.
Re:view: Crabshakk Botanics, 18 Vinicombe Street
I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy a few choice meals at Crabshakk’s big sister restaurant in the past month. The first thing anyone notices upon entering 18 Vinicombe Street is the immaculate refurb of the former Botanic Gardens Garage, unsurprising given the owner John Macleod is an architect. Where the Finnieston premises’ charm comes from its compactness, the Hillhead spot is all capaciousness: sleek glass, neon lights, open-plan kitchen.
Fresh fish, of course, is the focus — from whole sole cooked in brown shrimp butter to John Dory, scallops to tempura squid — or in Calum’s case, the “best fish and chips” he’s ever eaten. Unusually for a pescatarian spot, vegetables are far from an afterthought: risotto with winter chanterelles and truffles, roast pumpkin in cashew cream, celeriac schnitzel. While the food might not reach the heady heights of its OG wee sibling, the cooking is confident, the space spectacular and the service attentive. The city’s dining scene is much the better for it.—Robbie.
Glasgow Calendar: Songs and stories, Glad Cafe
A night of great songs and captivating tales from three local songwriters: BG McDaid, Michael McMillan and Diana Schad. January 11. Tickets £15.
Also on:
- Mother Curator exhibition preview, January 9. Tickets free.
- Climate Community Cèilidh, January 10. By donation.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated it was the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society (SABS), not the Ahl al-Bait Society Scotland, with alleged links to Iran. SABS has no connection to the Ahl al-Bait Society.
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