TRNSMT arrests, collapsing tenements and sending up the Glasgow Uni accent

Dear readers, have you cooled down yet? Perhaps the torrential downpour this morning helped, it certainly soaked the writers of this edition on their way into the office earlier. Despite the rain, we’re still basking in the afterglow of our first ever members’ event on Thursday. Thank you so much to all who came along, chatted to us and asked some great questions — not to mention supporting us to do what we do at Bell HQ. We covered all sorts of Bell-related ground, from its genesis in a pub to successes investigating the Easdale’s purported fortune. The people of Castlemilk and their fight for a supermarket got a good round of applause, and Calum enjoyed energetically gesticulating at his map of Glasgow’s fires. Parveen’s snacks were popular (too popular perhaps?) and the vintage vino went down well an aw. If you weren’t able to make it, take a gander at some photos below, it was good honest fun. 

Now, time for your Monday briefing.

Glasgow in Brief

💷 Glasgow City Council has sold off nearly £22m in publicly-owned property over the last five calendar years. In data obtained by The Ferret and analysed by The Bell, the council sold a total of 88 properties, mainly to housing associations and developers between January 1 2020 and December 31 2024. Notable sales include a plot of land worth £1.9m, located at the former Meat Market, which went to a housing association, and the sale of Govanhill Baths to the local community trust for £1. The council has long opted to dispose of assets to fast-track new building and development, and in recent releases it claims the money can be reinvested into public services. However, a recent audit of GCC’s finances casts doubt on whether the sales will improve services, or simply plug a massive funding gap. The audit by the Scottish Government’s accounts commission found that Glasgow City Council has the largest cumulative funding gap of all Scottish local authorities (totalling £116m across the next two financial years). Rising costs, inflation, and stagnant funding from the Scottish Government puts pressure on the council to raise funds to match its spending where it can — but what’s the long term solution to the shortfall? Budgetary suggestions on a postcard.  

🔊 It was a busy weekend for Police Scotland at TRNSMT, although arrests were actually down by half on last year. Over the entire weekend, 19 arrests were made, with suspected offences including a range of assaults, “culpable and reckless behaviour”, hate crimes, and the possession of weapons. Bearing in mind Scotland’s biggest festival attracts well over 100,000 attendees across three days, and last year’s arrest numbers hit 40, this seems like everything sailed pretty smoothly.

We did run the data through The Bell’s crime conspiracy model and found some surprising results. Arrests appear to have spiked on the day Snow Patrol headlined, rather than when 50 Cent played — putting to bed spurious theories about the links between “gangster rap” and violence once and for all. Conclusions are hard to reach, however, given Snow Patrol’s music is enough to drive even the most committed pacifists to heinous acts of brutality (editor’s note: this is the opinion of a single staffer and Chasing Cars is a great song). 

🏚️ A derelict, B-listed Pollokshields tenement collapsed over the weekend, having lain vacant since a fire gutted it in 2020. It’s the second building to collapse at Albert Cross, the first having burnt down after a mini-market fire in 2019. Actor Tom Urie, who lives nearby, was on his way home from a party when he started hearing “weird noises” emanating from the burnt-out shell. He dashed across the street just in time to see the façade of the building collapse. An anonymous architect has now made a formal report to Police Scotland, calling for an investigation into the council’s alleged inaction, and failing to issue a dangerous buildings notice for the tenement, reports the Times. Greens councillor Jon Molyneux has said work had been going on behind the scenes to take control of the two sites at Albert Cross, using compulsory purchase orders if necessary. Molyneux explained that there had been “intensive work over the past year with the council, who were close to reaching a deal with Southside Housing Association to purchase the site. Alas, it all came too late for what was once an architectural cornerstone of the East Pollokshields conservation area. 

“It is gutting that this collapse happened potentially just weeks from that all being signed-off,” Molyneux wrote on Substack. It is a curious situation where a building like the O2 ABC was demolished, despite not being at risk of immediate collapse, while a structurally unsafe tenement can be left to collapse of its own accord.

Stories you might have missed:

🚨 The killer of 21 year-old Phoenix Spencer-Horn has been jailed for life for the murder which took place in East Kilbride in 2024 (BBC)

✊ Strikes loom at the Village Hotel near Pacific Quay (The Herald, £)

🥀 Tragic death of a 15 year-old boy in the River Kelvin near Maryhill Road on Saturday (BBC) 

Read/listen/watch: Good for Her 

Zara Gladman’s pithy Insta sketches are painfully close to the bone for most middle class Glaswegians — so much so they tend to elicit audible cringing sounds and extended periods of self-reflection as much as laughter. Having mastered the wee screen with the likes of ‘Glasgow West End mum’, ‘Scottish person in London’ and ‘Glasgow southside cafe owner’, she’s now turned her attention to the small screen. Having bagged her first writing credit last October, Good For Her has now dropped. It’s described as a “fast-paced mix of sketches, music, social media send-ups and keenly observed characters” from writer/director/actor Gladman. We’ve seen a few bits already, and can confirm it’s wincingly funny. Plus, no one satirises the Glasgow Uni or Pacific Quay accent quite like her (although Paul Black gives her a good run for her money). It’s an acerbic 20 minutes that captures the ennui and existential dread of modern urban living. Cameos come from the likes of Kirsty Wark, Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat and Julie Lin.

We also rec:

🎡 The Glasgow Fair Fortnight documentary in the BBC Archive  

🌊 Clyde Reflections by Chris Leslie 

✍️ What's it really like inside UK's first drug consumption room in Glasgow?

Catch up and coming up: 

• Take a walk with tour guide and former rough sleeper Neil Smith as he stravaigs through the East End
• Our weekend read on the culture and future of North Laurieston: “it’s bones are beautiful”
• Dive into Eve Livingston’s investigation of the conspiracy theories in Royston that led to smashed windows and far-right protests

How fake news and an anti-immigrant agenda rocked Royston

The anatomy of a false rumour in the Garngad

The BellEve Livingston

Unconstructive critique - Colbeh Restaurant, 82 Centre St

Nestled behind the towering Barclays campus, Colbeh is a Persian eatery very much in keeping with modern Tradeston’s multicultural culinary offering. These days, when I enter a new restaurant, I have one and one thing only on my mind: is it Humble Yum™️? Initially, it felt like the answer would be a decisive ‘yes’. The atmosphere’s friendly, the clientele mixed, and everyone seemed happy with their food. I got a table for one and pored over the menu, opting for mirza ghasemi (smoked aubergines with egg and garlic) to start. Very tasty, with freshly-baked bread to boot. Joojeh torsh, a northern Iranian dish of marinated chicken with pomegranate molasses and walnuts, was next up. I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t a colossal amount of dry chicken breast with a paltry amount of saffron rice scattered on top of a mound of very plain white rice. Meh. I really, really wanted Colbeh to be a new Persian discovery for me. I suspect their kebabs grilled over coals are better than what I ordered. But for £26 in total for my grub – Humble Yum™️ this wasn’t. —Calum.

Glasgow calendar: Merchant City Festival 

Expect arts, circus, dance, live music and street theatre at this year’s Merchant city knees-up, coinciding with the fair fortnight. There’s lot of free events and activities, as well as market stalls, street food, and performances from the likes of Sacred Paws, Lezzer Quest, Alice Faye, kitti, Brass, Aye? and Federation of the Disco Pimp. 18–20 July. Info here.

Other dates for your diary:

• Sufi Festival: Tramway and the Hidden Gardens. 19–20 July. Tickets from £20. 
• An evening of the music of Radiohead at Glasgow Cathedral. 19 July. Tickets from £27.75.
• Govan’s Glasgow Barons music charity present Tchaikovsky Re-discovered. 17 July. Tickets from £1-£5.