All Points East

The Barrowlands is an impressive sight in the heart of Gallowgate, with the large neon sign which was erected in 1985 during the Ballroom’s renaissance.

It may not be as busy as it once was, with ever increasing competition with other venues across the city but the best bands know that the Barrowlands is a must play. Oasis and Metacilla are just two bands to have named it as one of their favourite venue around the world. David Bowie played the Barrowland in 1997 and took a ceramic star from the ceiling away with him as a souvenir.

The Barrowlands is known for its excellent sound and atmosphere. The ballroom is spacious with plenty of room to find a good spot for the gig.

Lynsey C on Yelp Glasgow says “It's a reasonably large venue with capacity of 2100 yet manages to feel intimate and creates a great connection between band and audience. The acoustics are excellent and the atmosphere is rare to find elsewhere. A legacy of its original purpose as a dance hall is the sprung floor, making gigs that little bit bouncier! I quite like to perch at the sides where the little step up gives my short self a better view.”

With lots of great acts lined up for this year, visiting the Barrowland Ballroom should definitely be on your to do list. Pete Doherty is playing in May, Jamie Lawson is playing there in October, and Deacon Blue in Decemeber. Singer Amy MacDonald even wrote a song about the famous Ballroom, including the lyrics “oh nothing beats the feeling of the high Barrowland ceiling when the band starts to play.” To listen to the song please click here.

To see more upcoming events at the Barrowlands then you can follow them on Twitter, or Facebook, or visit their website. 

WEST is a fantastic bar and restaurant located at the far side of Glasgow Green. It specialises in artisan lagers, wheat beers and traditional German food. Its beer hall’s dark wood-panelled walls, seats and floors also feel very German, but the German-style lager and beers, which are brewed on-site, have been given Glasgow-inspired names (King Tuts and St. Mungo feature).

Some of its German specialities include currywurst and weiner schnitzel.

One of the best things about WEST is their dog friendly policy. This means you are almost guaranteed to bump into a cute four legged friend on any visit there. West has a large beer garden with lots of benches which makes it the go to place for many people on a sunny day.

WEST is situated in the former Templeton Carpet Factory Building, a beautiful building which was modelled on the Doge’s Palace in Venice. The building was built as a carpet factory in 1892 for James Templeton and Son Carpet Makers. The design of the building was based on a palace as the wealthy people living around the area where it was to be built did not want to look out on to a factory.

Debs M on Yelp Glasgow gives a great review of the brewery side of WEST:

“The main thing about West is, of course, the brewery - I love that you can look down and see all the...brewing stuff (technical term) and I also like that they brew different seasonal beers throughout the year, it means you can't really get bored of their offerings! (As if I would anyway, pfft.) All West products adhere to the German Purity Law of 1516, or Reinheitsgebot (bless you) which means the only ingredients are hops, barley and water - no rubbish and tasty beer as a result. I went to their Day of Beer last year with some pals to learn a bit more about the brewing process and beers themselves, which was really interesting!”

Visit WEST brewery in the Templeton Building on Glasgow Green.

Tennents has been produced at the Glasgow Wellpark Brewery since 1885, however beer has been produced on the site since 1556 making it Glasgow’s longest active business venue. Tenants is now the biggest-selling lager in Scotland. They were originally known for their strong export ales and stouts, before they changed tack and started focusing on lighter beer. Until 1991 Tennents cans were printed with photos of pretty women or ‘lager lovelies’ as they were known. Tennents now have 6 lines which are all very popular. They recently launched their first ale with their Caledonia Best line.

The Tennents Wellpark Brewery tour takes you behind the history of the brand as well as the production processes that are still used today. The tour starts at the origins of brewing at Wellpark, to present day support of and passion for Scottish football and music. The tour also delves into the branding of Tennents with a collection of vintage packaging as well as adverts from across the decades. There is also a shop to buy exclusive Tennents merchandise. The tour finishes with a pint of Scotlands favourite beer as well as samples of other Tennents brews. The tour takes around an hour and the post tour tasting takes around half an hour.  Some people recommend visiting during the week while most of the work is going on, as this allows you to see the beer being bottled. However, if visiting at the weekend there is opportunity to get closer to the machines.

 Visit the brewery at 161 Duke Street, Glasgow

St Luke’s is a converted church turned music and arts venue. The former disused 19^th century church on Bain Square in Calton is thought to be one of the oldest churches in Glasgow. Originally built in 1837, the church has been restored and modernised to high standards. One wall of the church is even covered in a mural of Saint Luke with a record in hand and headphones around his neck. However, many of the original features have been left intact, including the beautiful stained glass windows.

The restaurant area – the Winged Ox – hosts an American diner-style menu, with ribs, steaks, burgers, sandwiches and pizzas making up most of the menu.

The venue hosts many events of all different types from comedy nights to theatre and music.

If you are interested in seeing the transformation of this beautiful building into the thriving, modern venue it has become, please click here to watch a video of the transformation.

The Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery to the East of Glasgow Cathedral. In 1651 the area was known as Fir Park due to the grounds being covered in fir trees. In 1831 city merchants decided that the park would be better suited to being used as Glasgow’s version of the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Over 50,000 people were buried at the Necropolis with 3500 tombs of varying size and stature.

Many wealthy merchants and noble people were buried here, and tombs were built to represent each person’s importance and wealth. Many major architects and sculptors of the time created tombs for the dead, including Charles Rennie Macintosh, Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson and JT Rochead.

John Knox has the tallest and earliest monument; others are not far behind in height. Undiscovered Scotland recommend viewing the mausoleum of Major Archibald Douglas Monteath.

“This is a highly ornate 30ft diameter structure modelled on the Church of St Sepulchure in Cambridge. The level of detail is amazing, with every window-arch on the lower level bearing a different pattern. Perhaps the most imposing monument in terms of its combined location, bulk, height and detail is the 35ft high William Gavin Monument shown in the header image. Others are much more modest in scale, like the memorial erected by public subscription to William Miller, author of the nursery rhyme "Wee Willie Winkie".

Today the Necropolis is a great place to visit, with spectacular views over the city of Glasgow from the top. Once within the Necropolis the winding paths can seem confusing. However, there are walking guides on sale in the nearby St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, and walking tours are also available. However, if you just keep following the path uphill you soon find yourself at the top of the Necropolis which hosts the largest tombs.

For more information about the Necropolis visit their website http://www.glasgownecropolis.org/ or visit the site itself, just off Castle Street, Glasgow. 

Drygate, the UKs first ‘experiential craft brewery’ has been a welcome addition to the brewery quarter of Glasgow’s East End. The former box factory now holds a brewery, restaurant, beer hall, events area, sun deck and bottle shop.  

The Beer hall offers 24 different beers on tap, including three of Drygates own beers; Bearface Lager, Outtaspace Apple Ale and Gladeye IPA. One of the things which sets Drygate apart as ‘experiential’ is the floor to ceiling window from the restaurant through to the factory. Here you can see the beer you are drinking being brewed before you. You can also take a guided tour of the brewery on Sundays at 10am or 5pm. The tour will give you a history of brewing in Glasgow, a tour of the brewery and a tasting of the Drygate beers with one of their bottle masters.

Another unique feature of Drygate is that you can hire their studio brew kit and brew your own beer. This opens up the brewing process to the public and is a new market for Drygate.

The restaurant with 120 covers, serves food which focuses on fresh local Scottish produce. The restaurant is highly recommended on TripAdvisor with many praising its high quality ‘pub grub.’ The Drygate shop, which has beer bottles as walls, offers more than 200 different beer bottles to purchase and take home.

The brewery make full use of their events space with regular comedy nights, quiz nights and gigs. They also host the Urban Market on the 1^st and 3^rd Sunday of every month. The market has stalls from artisan food and drink producers, designers and artists.

The brewery is very easy to get to, a 20 minute walk from Glasgow city centre, with plenty of buses running past it throughout the day.

To find out more about Drygate click here.