by nodrog » Sun Aug 22, 2004 2:05 pm
Right, this will probably be the my last submission I'm afraid, due to pressures of real work & being away from Weds.
Anyway, thought I'd try something a bit more general that covers a bit more space but not in much detail, rather than focussing on one thing in particular. It may or may not be useful depending on the eventual route selected!
Gordon
If we had something about the Grand Hotel Charing Cross / Motorway devastation at Charing cross ??
then
Walking round towards the rear of Charing Cross Mansions, we come to Renfrew Street. Walking up Renfrew Street, look to your right, and spot the old F. W. Woolworths sign painted on the wall. Look down from this, and note the intriguing worded sign about 'Everything in window glass' !
Just up from this, and on the cornice of a building marked out by the remains of two cast iron lampposts, is a large bust of Beethoven. This marked the back door of famous music shop Hepburn and Ross.
Just beyond this, also on the right, is the high peaked roof of a building dear to generations of Glaswegians - the auditorium of what was originally the Charing Cross Electric Theatre (Glasgow's first purpose built cinema), later and better known as the Locarno Ballroom.
Carrying on up the hill we pass the 1930s frontage of the original part of the Glasgow Dental Hospital - now relegated to being a back door! Passing under the fetching 1960s building extending across the road, we turn down into Scott Street. Look to your left at the back of the Sports Bar, where a red brick archway is visible, partially covered by another part of the building. This is part of the oldest part of this complex building, dating from when it was used as an ice-skating rink, before later becoming Henglers Circus (complete with high wire acts and elephants), and was eventually extended and rebuilt in the 1930s as the ABC Regal cinema.
From here we rejoin Sauchiehall Street, and [....wander somewhere else....???]
"I'd just move on to the 'hot-air ballooning vigilante' stage of my career earlier than planned"
www.scottishcinemas.org.uk
www.twitter.com/scottishcinemas