Firebombing, the Big Yin and a Gazan student's plight

Dear readers, welcome to another Monday briefing, a missive which is fast becoming Glasgow’s essential start to the week. If you know anyone who might appreciate these newsletters, feel free to forward this on so they can try before they subscribe. 

Summer is slowly drawing to an end, which means something shiny and life-giving is also disappearing from view; on brand as ever, Calum was up and out on the west coast at the crack of dawn on Saturday, in search of some silvery mackerel before they head south again in the coming months. Safe to say he landed a good haul.

Robbie, meanwhile, was gallivanting around Cork, mainly drinking creamy pints and eating his weight in carbs. He did find time for a bracing dip in the Irish Sea. No fish were spotted, unfortunately. Returning home on Sunday, he managed time for an eye-popping walk around the Southside, more anon. 

Here’s your Glasgow in Brief.

Glasgow in Brief

🎓 Palestinian scholars accepted into university courses in Glasgow face an uncertain couple of weeks. 500,000 people in the enclave are gripped by an “entirely man-made” famine, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (backed by the UN), and Israel is preparing for a major ground invasion of Gaza City — bombing civilians, journalists and health workers. Meanwhile, scholars waiting for the UK Government to arrange their evacuation so they can attend university courses remain in the dark.

We spoke to the mentee of one man who soon hopes to be Glasgow-bound. Mahmoud grew up in Gaza City, but since October 2023, when Israel began its relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas 7 October attacks, he and his large family have been displaced countless times. Nearly two years later, Mahmoud goes to fetch water every morning. But when he’s back in his temporary home he uses solar panels and wifi from bomb-damaged cafes to practice computer programming. 

Mahmoud is 19 now, and he has been accepted to study for a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Glasgow starting this month. Speaking to The Bell, Mahmoud’s UK-based mentor Concepta Cassar said that he has “overcome every obstacle”, except for the last and most important one — leaving Gaza. 

Back in March, upon learning he had been accepted, Mahmoud and Cassar set up a fundraising page to crowdsource tuition fees and living expenses. Since then, all of Mahmoud’s “Eids came at once” when UoG offered to cover tuition, travel and visa expenses, and provide a stipend through their Sanctuary Scholarship. Cassar said UoG has been “kind, generous, and unwavering” in its support, but that the same can’t yet be said of the UK Government. 

The government has committed to evacuating Gazan students who’ve been given a Chevening scholarship. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told The Bell that the situation on the ground makes this “extremely challenging”. But it has been reported that the government is also planning to include around 40 students on private scholarships to attend UK universities. Mahmoud and Cassar have no idea whether he is included on this list, and say that, despite contacting Cassar’s local MP in England, they have received no communication from the Foreign or Home Offices, or anyone in government. 

The Gaza 40, a group that advocates for students in Gaza who’ve been accepted onto UK university courses, demands the FCDO communicates “directly” with scholars. But they also welcome announcements that the government will extend biometric referrals (which are required to get a visa) to more students. The Bell has contacted the FCDO for a further response to specifically address Mahmoud’s status. 

For Mahmoud, he says that “surviving genocide” has given him an “unshakeable purpose”, and that he recently set up a portable wifi hotspot for people to use thanks to an eSim donor. Cassar told us that Mahmoud has even survived a bomb which dropped only metres away from him while he was standing on a cliff by the sea to get better signal for his computer work. She concluded by saying that, should Mahmoud successfully reach Glasgow, she hopes the city welcomes and supports him and all Gazan students coming here who’ve been through unimaginable horror.

🚶Robbie was stravaiging about the Southside yesterday evening (some might go so far as to call him a flâneur), where he encountered three notable scoops (pun incoming). After a quick pitstop for an ice cream at La Gelatessa, he wandered along Kenmure Street. Close to the junction with St Andrews Drive, he found the charred remains of a car which had been firebombed in the early hours of Saturday morning. One video we’ve seen, filmed from inside a ground floor home only metres away, shows the fire engulfing the car, the flames climbing high above. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but Police Scotland are treating the fire as “wilful”, with enquiries ongoing. In June, three vehicles were also firebombed outside Strawberry Garden, only two streets away from this weekend’s attack. It was interesting to note that the car was a private hire taxi, but such was the strength of the fire there was little left to discern in the wreckage (the fire had been so strong as to melt the front of the car next to it). One thing was discernible, however, the burnt remains of a glove left in the boot … 

A little later, strolling through Queen’s Park, Robbie noticed the appearance of several more mosaic artworks from the mystery artist whom we interviewed last week. (“I don’t ask for the council’s permission for some things, I just do it myself as a citizen”, he told us). The vigilante has been keeping busy, continuing to take matters into his own hands. And just a stone’s throw from the new artworks, a couple were happily enjoying the view from another of the artist’s public pieces, the felled-tree-cum-bench with a view over the pond. Wholesome much? 

Robbie was less heartened to notice the recent and extensive damage to Langside Halls. Most notably, several sections of the outer decorative columns had been smashed to pieces. When he approached the piles of rubble and hoardings to inspect further, he accidentally triggered the new motion sensor alarm systems, several of which began to robotically warn him that “this is a restricted area, please keep away”. The graffiti has also grown significantly worse, much of which is the “work” of a writer called Cast, part of the FA Crew, whom we have written about before. 

One of the Southside’s most notable buildings is in a truly parlous, perilous, and entirely avoidable state — not to mention its eighth year of closure. Why public money was spent on essential repairs to the A listed building only to let it then lie empty and decline once more is anyone’s guess. And as with any prominent abandoned building, there is surely a real risk of not only further vandalism, but wilful fire raising to boot. The council ought to act now, or we might see it go the way of too many of the city’s finest buildings. 

👕 If we engaged in click bait we’d probably take this opportunity to write something like “exact date announced for opening of THIS hotly-anticipated Japanese store”. Instead, given Calum is well aware that people love Uniqlo, but can’t understand why, we’ll simply inform you that it is opening on Argyle Street next to St Enoch Shopping Centre on 2 October. Happy shopping, when it comes.

🍜 Few stories reverberated around the Glasgow hospitality world as much as the 2022 sale of the Ubiquitous Chip to the Metropolitan Pub Company, or MPC (which is Greene King by another name). The Chip has been closed for the past two months for a multi-million pound restoration, but is set to reopen in the coming weeks, or so we hear. The 2022 purchase also included the Clydesdale family’s other venues: Stravaigin and Hanoi Bike Shop. The latter was the city’s first Vietnamese restaurant (or at least Vietnamese-inspired). Then in July, MPC sold Hanoi and the nearby Bothy Restaurant to Stefan King’s Scotsman Hospitality Group (formerly G1), transferring ownership last month. We’ve heard some gossip that a significant amount of cash has been spent renovating the Bothy as it increasingly focuses on wedding bookings in the “beautiful settings” of Ruthven Lane. According to rumours, they had been receiving complaints about the wedding photos having a ramshackle Vietnamese restaurant in the background. Pho money, faux problems … 

Stories you might have missed: 

⚓ Clyde shipyards to build five more Type 26 Frigates for Norway’s navy, BBC

⚽ Hamilton Accies given wind-up order under insolvency act, Daily Record

🎢 Showpeople in legal case against council to stop eviction from Govan-Partick bridge site, BBC

🚨 ‘White racism’ councillor joins Reform, STV

🚂 Scotrail peak rail fares scrapped for good, BBC

🍏 Glasgow Greens rebels snubbed for party co-leader positions as Greer and Mackay elected, BBC

🏅 Glasgow Commonwealth Games mascot hit with health and safety fears, Scottish Sun

🥐 Posh Byres Road patisserie Valaria closes, Glasgow Times

Read/listen/watch - Salutes Mix: Optimo

“From the sublime to the ridiculous,” is how JG Wilkes introduces his 6 Music mix dedicated to his DJ partner, JD Twitch/Keith McIvor. Together, Jonnie Wilkes and McIvor have played over 3,000 sets across three decades to local and international acclaim. Earlier this year, McIvor was diagnosed with an untreatable brain tumour. This then, is Wilkes’ salute to his creative collaborator; a joyful celebration of their musical partnership. “The tracks featured all make me think about Keith. All moments in time. Some I discovered through him, some of them I already knew well but heard entirely differently when we played together… This is me thinking about our time together in a thousand DJ booths across the world.”

Catch up and coming up - 

• With the recent news that temporary repairs on the M8 Woodside Viaduct are expected to last a further two years, we highly recommend giving Calum’s piece another read. The central question of whether it will ever be fixed still stands.
• In what is now essential reading for anyone who enjoys a cheeky curry (which is everyone), Robbie chowed down with “The Hector” of Curry-Heute — the most prolific curry critic you’ll ever meet. Yes, he does give us his top ten curries in Glasgow. And yes, Councillor Jon Molyneux reveals in the comments he was once Hector’s “curryspondent”.

Is this Glasgow’s — nay the world’s — most prolific curry critic?

Curry-Heute has reviewed over a thousand curries across the city — here are his favourites

The BellRobbie Armstrong

• Relive a wild weekend in the hot and chaotic summer of 1995, as T in the Park came to Strathclyde Country Park while six murders unfolded on the streets of Glasgow.
• After many inquiries from readers, we can now share that Neil Smith from Invisible Cities is available for walking tours and taking bookings, filling in for their Alternative Glasgow tours. His own personalised tour will launch at the end of the year.
• Later this week, Calum goes to some bowling greens, not as a player but merely as a means to an end (pun intended). Greens across Glasgow are being sold off, but who’s benefitting? As ever, he’ll be following the money.

Headline of the week

🌭 Ex-Cineworld Glasgow employee cashes in hot dog voucher before closure

Re:view - Boca, 674 Pollokshaws Rd

The best kept secret in Strathbungo right now is a wee sandwich shop tucked away down the Cooperage, just off Pollokshaws Road. For coming on a year now, Boca’s been serving up doorstopper-sized focaccia sandos out of their welcoming wee shop. The place has a distinctly Latinate feel to it, from a ‘Boca Juniors’ football scarf from Buenos Aires and Brazilian singer Cláudya’s ‘Pois É, Seu Zé’ playing out over the speakers, to the waiter and co-owner (Danny from nearby Lobo restaurant) chatting away in Spanish together as I made fast work of the harissa roasted squash number with dukkah, hummus and pickled cucumbers. Punchy flavours, perfectly poised. Prices are punchy an’ aw (£8 for mine, rising to £10 for a beef shin belter), although you could easily eat half for lunch, half for dinner, such is their gargantuan size. Deliciosa!—Robbie

Glasgow calendar: The Big Yin Weekend

Take your pick of ways to revel in Sir Billy Connolly’s legacy of laughs and music as Glasgow 850, the year of celebrations to mark Glasgow’s 850th birthday, dedicates a weekend to The Big Yin. There’s free pop-up music from Mànran at The Park Bar, walking and cycling tours from Gallus Pedals Tours, a screening of Big Banana Feet — the wonderful documentary which follows Sir Billy’s 1975 tour of Ireland — and a comedy showcase of past winners of the Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow award. 

The Big Yin Weekend | 6 & 7 September | Various venues | Free - £8.50 (£25 for bike tour including bike rental)

Other dates for your diary:

🎨 Glasgow School of Art postgraduate degree show | 29 August - 7 September | various locations | Free

🌋 Volcanoes in our Neighbourhood | 6pm-8pm Monday 1 September | Hunterian Gallery G12 8QQ | Free