Welcome to my gallery, where I will present my environment in watercolours and sketches. I am a swiss artist living in Glasgow, Scotland; painting is my way of exploring my surroundings. Stay tuned, comment and give me inspiration on where to go.
All my pictures are available as signed prints or framed in various sizes. Send me a message if you like to know more. 
Samuel@sambronx-photo.ch
Caledonia Road Church
There are many derelict structures in Glasgow, but non so elegant as this, the first church built by Alexader "Greek" Thomson. It is also Grade two listed. Although his work is now published throughout the architectural press, his work was little appreciated outside Glasgow during his lifetime. As a member of the Caledonia Road Church, he was trusted to design his first cathedral to his trademark style, mixing Italian, Greek and oriental details onto very crystalline volumes. The church fronted Caledonia Road, flanked on either side by tenements, also designed by Thomson as part of a new development. The banded masonry of the church tower was extended into the adjoining tenement blocks to give an eye-catching horizontality to the completed design scheme.
The church doors were opened in 1857 after just a year of building work. With the demise of the Gorbals community,  the congregation abandoned the building in 1962. An arson attack in 1965 nearly entirely destroyed the substance of the masterpiece and pushed it beyond repair. 
Today it is situated lost between dual carriage roads — one of the most iconic traffic islands of the town. It remains the last stone of the Gorbals, once home to many of Glasgow's proud working class. 
With the roof gone inside the walls, activists and artists have used an open space, giving birth to a new society in the shade of a great architectural icon of his city.
The Beefcake; Anniesland
Menu: Proof that cafes are often where the real cooking and baking are taking place these days; simple dishes, done right.
Service: Very relaxed and comfortable with the customers, refreshingly no over the top patter either. No patter at all.
Atmosphere: Bright and airy double height Victorian shop front with a mezzanine and a proper crammed and bustling kitchen felt good.
A Big breezy main courses of fish cakes or Shakshuka are very affordable, cakes and buns mouth watering.
Food: Lovely crumbly fish cakes, properly dressed crunchy salad, everything made freshly and with care and baked bread. But never leave this place if you did not have the cinnamon buns these are a game changer!
An exciting independent bar on Old Dumbarton Road in the West End of Glasgow, offering an eclectic selection of drinks and unadulterated banter.
Nice N' Sleazy's legendary doorman 'Big John'
The "beloved doorman" worked at the iconic Glasgow venue on Sauchiehall Street for 30 years. Speaking to NME, Ariki Porteous, proprietor at Nice N Sleazy, described him as a "massive part" of the venue's family.
John worked here since nearly the first day when Nice'n'Sleazy first opened its doors. Sauchiehall Street looked rather different: The Garage was yet to set up shop across the road, the CCA was a year away, and ABC was still a cinema. Twenty years later, the shabby-chic saloon has come to inhabit a significant role in Glasgow's aft-music scene.
"Touring bands playing the Barrowlands or ABC tend to drop in after - when Sonic Youth played Daydream Nation, they came by."
The Bellgrove Hotel - UK hotels top 100 
The Bellgrove is the largest homeless hostel in Scotland; it makes Tripadvisor's top 100 UK hotels after mock reviews which lauded its "crystal chandeliers" and "spa and leisure facilities." 
A homeless hostel in central Glasgow has surged its way into the country's top 100 hotels on travel website Tripadvisor after fake reviews of "travellers" which lauded its "crystal chandeliers" and "spa and leisure facilities." The Bellgrove Hotel was category B listed on 3 August 2004.
Unlike Tripadvisor reviewers, the 2014 Bellgrove resident called this hotel: the Soviet gulag of Parkhead. A government enquiry in 2014 described it as having conditions "worse than a prison". MSP John Mason, the initiate of the parliament motion to close this embarrassment, commented: "When I visited Shotts prison and Low Moss prison recently, I found conditions in both prisons to be much better, with en suite facilities. That is something to which residents of the Bellgrove can only aspire; they must make do with a single filthy communal shower room, which I suspect many members would refuse even to think of using."
On Tripadvisor, in the meanwhile, the headline was: "Pure Joy", friendly staff and a very warm welcome. Excellent food and room service with a smile. Nothing was any trouble for the awesome staff. Reviewers acknowledged: "At arrival, the hotel did look a bit shabby on the outside. However, appearances can be deceitful. Luxurious rooms, spas and leisure facilities are a real gem."
The owners, Ron Barr and Kenneth Gray, certainly agreed, banking the housing benefit payments through their firm Careside Hotels, after buying the run-down building for £65,000 in 1988 and making £800 a person a month on Housing benefit payments, totalling the landlord a whopping £1.5million a year in this Dickensian poorhouse. 
It took Holyrood another seven years to revoke the license with Ron Barr and Kenneth Gray. Today the doors to the crystal chandeliers remain closed, awaiting refurbishment. 
Òran Mór

Formerly Kelvinside Parish Church, Òran Mór,
oloGaelic for ‘great melody of life’ or ‘big song’, is a thriving art & entertainment venue in the heart of Glasgow’s West End.

Welcome to this channel, where I will present my environment in watercur and sketches. I am a swiss artist living in Glasgow; painting is my way of exploring my surroundings and events. Stay tuned, comment and give me inspiration on where to go. 
All my pictures are available as signed prints. Send me a message if you like to know more.
NARDINI's OF LARGS. 
Scotland's most famous cafe, restaurant & ice cream parlour re-opened in December of 2008 following a multi-million pound refurbishment it returned to its former glory.
The MacKinnon's Pub murder
There's been a pub near Mercat Cross since at least 1815 known as the Crown Tavern. In the 1880s, the pub was well known as the Royal Military Rendezvous and was frequented by veterans to reminisce about the Crimean War. Today it is named MacKinnon's Pub, the only pub on the Gallowgate with an 8 am license.

On Tuesday, July 2 1929, Douglas Petfield, a sailor, entered the Calton Arms public house through the front door as the MacKinnon's Pub was known then. The sailor walked over to Agnes Young, a young girl standing in the Launch, produced a revolver, pointed it at her, and fired twice. The girl instantly dropped to the floor. 
Douglas Petfield, trenched in the girl's blood, turned, rushed to the exit, and dashed along the London Road. Daniel Owens caught up and challenged the assailant, only to be shoot in his head. Alerted by the pistol sound, more joined the man-hunt. One more chaser got shot by Petfield before he was overwhelmed and handed to the police.

Douglas Petfield was born in 1907 in Aberdeen, and the court documents showed he had a troubled history. In his youth, he had been detained for two years for reasons not apparent. Later he was sent to a mental hospital after witnessing his mother die from asphyxia in their kitchen. 
After being discharged from the hospital, the accused went to sea. His ship, the S.S. Eastway, foundered off Bermuda, and Petfield was one of 9 survivors of the 33-strong crew. It is said the wireless operator remained at his post sending out S.O.S. messages until the wave closed over his ship.

The medical officer at Duke Street Prison, Glasgow, said Petfield did not appear to appreciate the difference between right and wrong. Therefore, the High Court of Justiciary, Sheriff Robertson, decided that Douglas was a moral imbecile and could not plead guilty to his actions. The court determined that he posed no public danger if he were kept under suitable care. He could not be tried under that indictment. On August 26 of the same year, the High Court ordered the accused to be detained at His Majesty's pleasure. 
Nothing more is known about him or why he shot Agnes Young that night.
Breaking Point, Bin-man Strike / Partick, Glasgow
The film poster The Breaking Point is a 1950 American film noir crime drama directed by Michael Curtiz. It is an adaptation of the 1937 Ernest Hemingway novel To Have and Have Not. The novel portrays Key West and Cuba in the 1930s, and provides a social commentary on that time and place. When writing, Hemingway was heavily influenced by the Marxist ideology he was exposed to fighting in the Spanish civil war. Hemingway depicts Harry as an ordinary working man of the Depression Era, forced by dire economic forces into the black-market activity. 

Surprising then, that UKIP and the Tories adopted Braking Point in their final push of this Taking Back Control poster campaign. Maybe it is the start of reclamation of slurs such as take back control. Channelling collective action into a force for change, levelling to playing field between big companies and cronyism politicians towards a fairer and compassionate society.

Bin strikes affect two-thirds of Scotland's 32 councils, with rubbish building up in many town and city centres as waste workers demand better pay. With tripling fuel costs skyrocketing and 10% inflation, industrial action is getting more sympathy than employers feared.
In addition, other services will also be affected by the industrial action, with hundreds of schools and nurseries scheduled to close for three days next week due to strikes by support staff and caterers. Is this the start of Enough is Enough?

Welcome to this channel, where I will present my environment in watercolour and sketches. I am a swiss artist living in Glasgow; painting is my way of exploring my surroundings and events. Stay tuned, comment and give me inspiration on where to go. 
All my pictures are available as signed prints. Send me a message if you like to know more.

E VIII R Pillar Boxes
The Post Office introduced the idea of a street collection in 1852 during the rain of Queen Victoria. This democratised the practice of sending letters to everyone. The boxes are inscribed with the initials of the Royal Mail for Victoria Regina. In keeping with this practice, pillar boxes erected in 1936 were inscribed EVIIIR, however, as King Edward the VIII abdicated in December of the same year, only 161 of a total of 115’000 Boxes were erected, making EVIIIR a curiosity. 20 of these are in Glasgow today. 

For a compact trail of some follow from this one, at 64 Great George St, passed another at 9nCrown Rd. South and on to a third at Hyndland Road.

Anniesland Court Glasgow, 
Crow Road, Anniesland Court (Main Tower Block) by Jack Holmes 1968. The building is unusual in that despite 22 storeys, the lift only has seven stops. The design was meant to echo the structure of a traditional Glasgow Tenement lying on its side. Each of the seven levels comprises 18 homes - 6 upstairs two-bedroom flats, six downstairs two-bedroom flats and six single one-room flats with level access off the main corridor — a design adopted by the 1972 Trellick Tower, n the Brutalist style in Kensal Town, London. Glazed stair linked to tower at enclosed access deck on every third floor. Mosaic faced pre-cast concrete cladding strips alternate with horizontal glazing, gables red brick faced. 
Roots & Fruits Finniston 
Glasgow Florist, Wholefoods & Organics Store, Delicatessens & Fruit & Vegetable Merchant. 
The Shop, which was set up in 1980, specialises in organic produce and was voted the Best Independent Food Store by BBC Good Food. 
The Winds,
This Bar was reconditioned in 2013 but still retains its traditional flair. 
This Bar was formally known as The Westering Winds; before that, it was called The Ambleside Arms. Then owned by the Hurrel family. The founder Daniel Hurrel took over this old established pub in 1892.

The Hurrel's also owned some of the best pubs in Glasgow, including Betty's Bar on the Gallowgate and Lancefield Quay, Finnieston, Rutherglen Road, Crown Street, Adelphi Street, all in the Gorbals area and Green Street Calton. All of their establishments have gone since. 

The Winds is situated opposite a big open car park the location has an alone feel. Going through the door, the scene changes to a welcoming wooden bar area primarily caters for locals and regulars. A nice seated area with sofas and chairs, and further on, at the back, is an area for karaoke and live music. 
As it has always been a traditional good, the Glasgow bar is hitten behind the modern-looking white facade.

Whiteinch Library, Victoria Park
opened in 1926, the housing estates built in Glasgow after the First World War had to wait a while to get their own libraries. This was not helped by the economic depression of the inter-war years. However, the big challenge came with COVID 19 when the Council closed it and tried to sell it under cover of the pandemic quickly. 
After 22 months of closure and relentless campaigning by local groups, the building was finally reopened to the public in January this year, but campaigners and local residents say major repairs are required to help transform the library into a community centre and a place to meet.
Royal Navy Air Wrecks, Meikle Bin
The Meikle Bin is a towering peak in the Campsie Fells north of Glasgow. Raising out of the bleak moorland, it can be a pretty desolate and featureless place. This weather-exposed ridge is the second-highest of the group at 570 metres (1,870 ft), and with its prominence of 270 m (890 ft), it is classified as a Marilyn. 
It was the site of a fatal accident 8th January 1950, when a Fairey Firefly of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm crashed meters below the summit. The crew lost radio contact with the base and missed over RNAS Abbotsinch due to the low cloud base. It is assumed they lost orientation in the approach of the Glasgow airfields and miss judged their altitude. This particular aircraft had a history of landing accidents and left several pilots bruised and battered. Both crewmen fling that day were killed on impact. The bodies of the two occupants Lieutenant John A. ROBERTSON, (pilot) and Volunteer Reserve Airman John SMITH RNVR, aged 24, were found near the wreckage. 

Today, a few big pieces of each aircraft are left at the site, including the mighty Rolls-Royce Griffon V12 aero engine. A 2,300 hp liquid-cooled piston engine achieves a maximum speed of 367–386 mph (591–621 km/h, 319–335 kn). Higher up the slope, part of the Wingspan: 41 ft 2 in (12.55 m) wing raises out of the moorland bog. Most other remains had moved to Andrew Hawkins at Newton Abbot, Devon, in the hope of combining these remains along with several other Fairey Fireflies into one complete airframe.  
The Fairey Firefly aircraft was a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter and anti-submarine aeroplane. During the post-war era, it was soon superseded in the fighter role by the arrival of more modern jet aircraft. Thus the Firefly was adapted to perform in other roles, including strike operations and anti-submarine warfare. 
OS Grid Ref: NS 66463 82319 / Altitude: 500 m
A heron at The Forth and Clyde Canal 
Just a short walk from Glasgow city centre are miles of Canals, looks and even a seaport. The water network was started in 1768 at Grangemouth and completed in 1790 as a convenient route across Scotland for seagoing vessels. Saving sailors the 540 nautical miles to navigate the treacherous northern route around northern Scotland. The Forth & Clyde Canal was the world's first man-made sea-to-sea canal and the most significant single-construction venture undertaken in Scotland at the time. 
While it was initially a success as quickly as it was built, it eventually became disuse and disrepair as the increased speed, and efficiency of road and rail grew in popularity. The canal management was taken over and then superseded by the Caledonian Railway in 1853. 
Today, the engineering masterpiece is an important heritage site. The waterway is now a traffic-free, green open wildlife space that cuts through Glasgow's urban structure.
The lonely 172-year-old Argyle ash tree
The tree of Argyle Street Tree is over four storeys tall. No other tree is Lining this long straight road. The Franklin Terrace was built around 1850 and appeared for the first time in the Glasgow Directory of 1851, alongside a mention of the tree that is in front of number 1223. It is rammed up against the tenements on the north side of the road. 

The isolation of this Ash might have protected it from the Ash dieback, which killed around 80% of its kind across the UK. Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) is a fungus which originated in Asia. Its introduction to Europe about 30 years ago devastated the European ash because our native ash species did not evolve, with the fungus having no natural defence against fungus. The disease-producing microorganism grows inside the tree, eventually blocking its water transport systems and causing it to die.

James Cowan's 1935 book, From Glasgow's Treasure Chest, explains the roots of the Argyle Street tree as unusually graceful for an Ash, its slender trunk almost being as straight as a ship's mast, and there are no heavy side branches to spoil its symmetry. This slenderness is no doubt owing to the shaded position causing the tree to stretch up to the light. It is quite the most graceful Ash I have seen.
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