Baird Hall - Beresford Hotel

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Postby Fossil » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:40 pm

Whos the builder?

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Postby glasgowken » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:38 am

Here's a nice pic from the book "Streets of Glasgow" 8)

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Postby viceroy » Tue Feb 14, 2006 10:44 am

Brings back memories GK. A 32 bus from Keppochill Road in Springburn to Earl St. in Scotstoun. Used to be one of my routes - operated out of Partick Garage [actually one of the shorter routes on the GCT timetable]. Probably drove that very bus on many an occasion. Can't read the fleet no. but the reg no. [CYS572B] shows LA226 in my handbook of Glasgow Corporation buses. By the way, I'm not a transport anorak, honestly.
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Postby glasgowken » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:14 pm

viceroy wrote:By the way, I'm not a transport anorak, honestly.

Nothin wrong wi that :wink:

Glad I stirred a few memories viceroy :D
I think my earliest memory of the Baird Hall, was when I cut down Elmbank Street heading for the ABC to see Star Trek the Motion Picture with my mum. I asked her about the building, she said it was used by US servicemen during the war. I thought it looked great even then.
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Postby viceroy » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:56 pm

Your mum was right about the US servicemen GK. Apparently the hotel bar was notorious for the number of prostitutes who plied their trade in there. The GI's didn't just have plenty of money [unlike our poor Tommies], they also had scarce goodies such as nylons, chocolates and fags which could be sold on the black market. The bar eventually became a pub in its own right [i.e. the Beresford Bar] but - whether deserved or not - retained its sleazy reputation for many years after the war.
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Postby Socceroo » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:55 am

The Beresford Hotel was indeed a bit of a wild place during the war years, here is a wee bit from an article about one sailor accidentally shooting another sailor during a few days leave in Glasgow :

From 28th February 1940 :

MIDSHIPMAN NOT GUILTY
-------------------------------------
HOMICIDE CHARGE DISMISSED
---------------------------------------------
GLASGOW SHOOTING SEQUEL


A 19 – years – old midshipman, William Donald Heath Eaves, was found not guilty of culpable homicide, and was discharged at a sitting of the High Court of Justiciary at Glasgow yesterday, after he had described how, as a joke, he pointed a pistol at Midshipman John Llewellyn Lloyd –Mostyn, second son of Lord Mostyn.

He said that he removed the cartridge clip from the pistol, and he thought it was safe, but the weapon went off, and shot the other midshipman through the heart.

Eves was found not guilty of firing the pistol recklessly through the window of a Glasgow hotel. He was found guilty of possessing a firearm and ammunition without a firearms certificate, and was admonished on this charge by Lord Aitchison the Lord Justice Clerk…….


In case anyone is wondering, he shot the deceased in a room on the 6th floor, whilst fooling around. The charge of firing a pistol recklessly from the hotel window arose from another shot which was taken from the hotel at the church across Sauchiehall Street before the accident.
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Postby deBuitléir » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:21 am

I lived on the 6th floor when I stayed in Baird Hall during my first year at Uni. Room 609. I doubt anyone was shot dead in that room but spooky none the less.
:twisted:


Charing Cross has always been known to be a rautious part of town especially during the war when the locarno Club was 'swinging' - the American GI's loved the place apparently.

Is it true that the Beresford Hotel's bar was called the Blue Oyster Lagoon and that some of the famous people who stayed there during it's short live as a hotel included people such as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as well as Frank Sinatra? I was told this by an old friend of my mum's who grew up in Glasgow during the 1930s and 1940s.

I wonder if Strathclyde University Archives has any records from the Hotel days or if ICI destroyed them all.

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Postby red_kola » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:32 pm

Two of the rooms in Baird Hall received makeovers in an episode of Changing Rooms:
before and after pictures can be found Here.

They are, of course, an abomination, but this fact alone should have ensured Grade One listing don't you think...?

The crew spend most of the two days getting pissed up in the Variety Bar...
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Postby Socceroo » Wed Feb 15, 2006 1:37 pm

Emmm...deBuitléir, i think it was room 609, i'll check the full article and confirm.
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Postby mooshimooshisan » Wed Feb 15, 2006 1:50 pm

I used to work with someone who told me that her boyfriend a long time ago had committed suicide by jumping from the top of the Baird Hall - my memory may be playing tricks on me, but any reports on anything like this happening?
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Postby nodrog » Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:03 am

red_kola wrote:

They are, of course, an abomination, but this fact alone should have ensured Grade One listing don't you think...?


Sadly it only merits Grade B!
http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/porta ... BNUM=33195
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Postby deBuitléir » Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:26 am

mooshimooshisan wrote:I used to work with someone who told me that her boyfriend a long time ago had committed suicide by jumping from the top of the Baird Hall - my memory may be playing tricks on me, but any reports on anything like this happening?


I don't know about someone jumping from the window to his death, but I know someone who in a drunken state attempted to absail down the side of the building from the fifth floor by tying a piece of rubber around his waist. Thankfully, he only broke his back - due to the fact that he was so relaxed by the alcohol. Silly boy.

Edited 11.34am - doh
Last edited by deBuitléir on Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby red_kola » Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:28 am

deBuitléir wrote:know someone who in a drunken state attempted to absail down the side of the building from the fifth floor by tying a piece of rubber around his waste. Thankfully, he only broke his back - due to the fact that he was so relaxed by the alcohol. Silly boy.

What a senseless waist... :wink:
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Postby deBuitléir » Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:33 am

opps - I'm ill, I have an excuse. Actually I don't and I feel so ashamed :roll:
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Postby Socceroo » Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:01 pm

I know someone who made a successful descent of Baird Hall whilst under the influence of Alcopops. 8O

What is it with students and gravity defying acts whilst under the influence?
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