Flamingos land at Loch Lomond and the Easdales cling on

Dear readers — well, we all survived what was supposed to be Glasgow’s apocalypse, as an Orange walk and Celtic title celebrations landed on the same day, in the same part of the city. In the end, the crossover passed with none of the explosive clashes drooled over by the tabloids. We’ve got more on that below, along with the rest of your Glasgow in brief.

Glasgow in brief 

🗳️ Last week, Calum was docked in the City Chambers, at the full council meeting. A lot of time was devoted to recent tensions between India and Pakistan. New Labour leader, Rashid Hussain, showed particular concern about the conflict spilling over to Glasgow’s Indian and Pakistani communities, reminding them that they are neighbours first and that their nations share a culture and “recipes”. If you’ve noticed anything relevant to this issue, get in touch. 

🚌 There’s 10 days left to fill out Strathclyde Transport Partnership’s consultation on its regional bus strategy. What does this mean? Well, the key thing they’re consulting on is whether to franchise Strathclyde region’s buses e.g. bring them back under public control — which can kickstart integrating the rest of the transport network. If you’ve followed the launch of the Bee Network in Manchester and their shiny new yellow buses — linking up with trams and suburban rail — that’s what is being proposed. We’ve covered Glasgow’s buses already — if you’d like to have your say on the consultation, it’s here. 

🎡 Turns out it is possible to build new railway infrastructure in Scotland — so long as you’re a theme park operator named ‘Flamingo Land’. Controversial plans for ‘Lomond Banks’, a £40m attraction at Loch Lomond that includes a waterpark and monorail, look set to be approved by the Scottish government. The decision would overturn a previous rejection of the proposals by the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park authority, who said they didn’t adhere to conservation policies. Flamingo Land is owned by the Gibb family, who hail from Strathaven. 

🍊 Tabloid predictions of “chaos” erupting between Celtic fans and marchers in the Orange walk on Saturday were a touch overblown. The Bell observed the two groups co-existing in as close to harmony as they can get, with thousands of Celtic fans peacefully making their way to Trongate to celebrate their team’s league title just as the Orange walk passed through the town centre, bisecting the fans’ route. Bar a few flying objects, apparently tossed from the direction of the Orange walkers towards the Hoops supporters, everything proceeded without a hitch. ‘Chaos’, it was not. 

🚂 However, come Glasgow Central on Saturday evening, disorder was certainly afoot, following the unofficial Celtic title Trongate celebrations. Robbie was walking to catch a train when he clocked the pristine marble floor splattered with what he initially thought was tonic wine and smashed glass. Then he noticed the folding screen, paramedics, and police… and realised someone had been bottled minutes before. Chatting with a rather ashen-faced ticket inspector later, he learned the young man had already witnessed four bottlings in four hours from the rec room overlooking the Four Corners. On the hour, every hour it seems.

🏢 A 19-storey block of student flats on the site of the former Littlewoods has been granted full planning permission subject to conditions. The Cambridge Street development previously received 60 objections, arguing the proposed building was excessive and there were too many student flats in the area already. We hear some locals aren’t best pleased at the planning decision, and are genning up on Section 75 agreements as we speak.   

💰 The Sunday Times released their Rich List last week and it looks like they don’t read The Bell — Sandy and James Easdale, of McGill’s infamy, are still on there, at number 111. In fact, the Times claims their fortune has increased to £1.46bn. Really? Then why did our own investigation find that figures provided by the Easdales looked to be vastly inflated. And why, we wonder, are McGill’s Companies House accounts from last year overdue..? 

The Easdale brothers want everyone to know they are billionaires. Are they?

Sandy and James Easdale are meant to be the sixth richest people in Scotland and their £1.4 billion fortune lends them great influence. But we struggled to make the numbers add up.

The BellCatriona Stewart

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Read/listen/watch: Glasgow as a skate park in this Noughties documentary

We recently stumbled across 2004 jewel H’Min Bam, the first film to present the country as a skateboarding nation in its entirety. And we’re very glad we found the vid, which is described as “arguably one of the greatest independent skate videos of all time”. While it features much of Scotland’s skating mecca and spiritual home, Livingston, we also see some cracking shots of Glasgow, such as Colin Kennedy wall riding under the Kingston Bridge. There’s arty black and white clips of mountains, sweeping seaside scenes, abundant use of a fish eye lens and a choice soundtrack too. 

We also rec: 

🤬 ‘I’m from Glasgow – the swearing came naturally!’ The full uncensored history of The Thick of It

🎧 Young Warriors: Glasgow podcast flips the script on youth culture across the UK (shameless plug from producer Robbie)

Catch up and coming up: 

• If you missed Moya’s heartfelt foray into her family history over the weekend, we strongly recommend catching up here. “Dinnae fret about being at the wrong side of gentrification or not feeling welcome by some… Haste ye back, with or without a good story,” wrote Steven in the comments.
• There’s been some debate surrounding Robbie’s Garnethill graffiti piece, centering on the age-old binary between graffiti (bad) and murals (good), even if the boundaries are a bit more blurred in reality. One mural, however, has come in for criticism: Jeks’ Mary Barbour tribute, described as “ahistorical and bland” by one reader. 
• This Wednesday, Calum’s got an intriguing yarn about how one man’s plight to protect the peregrines at Glasgow University went sour.
• We’re still on the hunt for your questions about this city. What burning mysteries do you wish us to resolve? Drop them in the comments or email them to editor@glasgowbell.co.uk.
• Reminder: The Bell is hiring an editor. This, if we say so ourselves, is a very exciting opportunity to lead us into our next phase of reporting, with an expanded team and big backing from our readers. Salary is between £33k - £37k and the application deadline is 31 May. More details here.

Just a perfect day

Every week, one Glasgow resident runs us through their ideal way to spend a day in the city.

Just a perfect day: Sadia Sikandar, artist, 27

Every week, one Glasgow resident runs us through their ideal way to spend a day in the city.

DAWN: I’d first do coffee or tea at home. If I’m doing a photography project, I’ll head to Queen’s Park. The flagpole has a beautiful sunrise view that I love to capture. Then I’ll grab a coffee from a cafe, wherever’s open. 

MIDDAY: I’d invite friends over for biryani, and a salad with yoghurt, mint sauce and chickpeas. My friends have different backgrounds, one from Afghanistan, one from Yemen, one from Syria, some from Sudan. So to agree on something mutual it would be tea with some baklava, which I know how to cook. I’d get some gulab jamun from Strawberry Garden or Sweet Centre. 

AFTERNOON: I’d spend time with myself to worship and reflect on my day, to calm myself from a busy life. I’d do some yoga. It’s a nice physical exercise that makes me feel fit. For the inside it’s prayer and reading the koran, which is very helpful. But for the body it’s yoga. 

Then I’d do a barbecue in the park. First you need to marinate everything — chicken tikka masala, add some yoghurt, lemon, and some red paprika, and leave it for several hours. Then you are ready to put on the charcoal. I’d play with my friend’s kids who’d be on the seesaw. Then we’d cook the chicken on the barbecue. 

DUSK: I’d just chill at home and relax. I’d eat some snacks, I’m always craving salty snacks and nimko. Maybe I’d have some friends around. And if we wanted to go back out we’d go to Damasqino for mixed chicken with rice and fruit juice. 

AFTER HOURS:  I’d read some articles to learn about what’s happening in the world, before going to sleep. That’s it! 

Unconstructive critique - Ho Lee Fook, 1 McFarlane St

We can’t lie, menus that describe items as “viral” don’t exactly get our taste buds tingling in excitement, but such is Ho Lee Fook’s pull on the influencer set that they seemingly must mention it. We’ll save you watching all the videos, just picture a slow mo of someone with a really annoying accent brandishing noodles and tonkatsu sandwiches towards the camera for close-ups, and banging on about “Glasgow’s best hidden gem”.  Anyway, we digress. Lee and Johnny Chung have been running this postage stamp takeaway spot across from the Barras since 2023, having run a chippy in Airdrie previously. The ‘biang biang noodz’ are good, yes, but missing an umami quality. We enjoyed the crispy fried tofu, but found the Korean yum yum sauce too much on the sweet side (others may disagree), ditto the chasu rice box with pork belly. TLDR; we like Ho Le Fook, we’ll be back, but on three separate occasions we’ve been left with a lingering taste in the mouth: FoodTok has oversold it. - Robbie

Glasgow calendar: Tron Theatre hosts a story of resilience and self-acceptance 

“Here’s what you need to know… I am Hamzeh. My favourite shisha flavour is double apple. I love dancing.” 

So begins the introduction to the award-winning play, Penguin, which tells the story of disabled Syrian refugee Hamzeh Al Hussein, and his journey from Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan to Gateshead. After touring the UK in 2023, Penguin returns to the Tron for two nights this week. Thursday tickets are sold out but you can still snaffle some seats on Friday 23 May for £14.50 each. 

Other dates for your diary:

🪕Do a double-header of funk and country at On the Green Festival
Glasgow Green, 24 May to 25 May, 2pm-10pm both days. Tickets from £34.50

✒️Remember poet Gerry Loose with readings at the Botanic Gardens
25 May, 3.30pm, free entry (but donation suggested)