North by Laurie Presswood

North

To the north of Great Western Road lie several different neighbourhoods, strung together down the Forth and Clyde canal. To the south-west, packed between the canal and the River Kelvin lie Maryhill and North Kelvinside, land historically owned by literal Mary Hill and today a residential area frequented by students and locals alike.

East of the canal you’ll fi nd Port Dundas, a 19th-century industrial hub which in recent years has given birth to many exciting cultural projects, with organisations ranging from National Theatre of Scotland to members of the Glasgow Canal Co-operative residing in the vicinity.

From the Botanics, you can latch onto the Kelvin Walkway for a leafy amble over the Ha’Penny Bridge and up towards Maryhill. Across the river, walk along to the Children’s Wood and North Kelvin Meadow (76 Kelbourne St), to visit the last wild space in Glasgow’s West End. As outdoor spaces go, Ruchill Park has a bit of everything. Feeling sporty? Head over to the Disc Golf Course (and watch out for flying discs). Fancy a jog? There are plenty of routes to take, from the pleasant and flat to the torturously uphill. Want to get your bearings? Go up to the flagpole and see what you can make out from its vantage point; bonus points for doing more than just pointing at the Hydro then getting your east and west mixed up.

Things to do

If you like being high off the ground but don’t care so much about the views, The Climbing Academy’s Prop Store (24 Craigmont St) is a varied selection of bouldering walls crammed into the BBC’s old prop warehouse (hence the curious name). After another way to get active indoors? Check out the Loading Bay skatepark (Borron St) – a state of the art park with bowl and street skating layouts, modular ramps, a trampoline room for practising your tricks, and a cafe. In a similar vein, Pinkston Watersports (75 N Canal Bank St) is Scotland’s only artificial whitewater course, with tubing, paddle boarding and canoeing all on offer.

For a dive into the city’s cultural past, the historic Queen's Cross Church (870 Garscube Rd) can be found just round the corner from a four-storey-high mural of the sun that closely resembles local team Partick Thistle’s magnificent mascot Kingsley (Northpark St). One is a site of worship and iconography that has left its mark on Glasgow’s art world; the other is the Charles Rennie Mackintosh church.

The banks of the canal north of the M8 are home to a huge array of creative folk. Many of them can be found in The Whisky Bond (2 Dawson Rd), a hub of creative workspaces, events spaces and artists’ studios, which also incorporates the Glasgow Sculpture Studios. Round the corner, Carnival Arts Yard and Grey Wolf Studios (124 and 131 Craighall Rd) are well worth a look – Grey Wolf’s Christmas market in early December is always fantastic.

Civic House (26 Civic St) is a community-minded arts space, host to exhibitions, film screenings

Photo: Dave Sowerby

The Loading Bay

and events that’s set to reopen its doors shortly after a pandemic-enforced hiatus. Nearby, The Glue Factory (22 Farnell St for studios, 15 Burns St for events) is home to a host of artists’ studios, as well as serving as an occasional music venue, particularly during all-dayers and festivals such as this November’s Great Western.

Food and drink

For cultural tourists on the Trainspotting circuit, the streets around Maryhill Road may be of some interest. Cafe D’Jaconelli (570 Maryhill Rd) with its jukebox and red leather booths was one of a number of the film’s Glasgow locations, while The BrewHaus, fka Crosslands (182 Queen Margaret Dr), was the scene of one particularly iconic Begbie bust-up.

The Botany (795 Maryhill Rd) is ideal for a pint or cocktails and some hearty food, while during the day North Star Cafe and Comet Pieces (108 and 150 Queen Margaret Dr) provide much in the way of sandwiches and Big Tasty Rolls. Back down at the base of the canal you’ll find Ocho (8 Speirs Wharf), an all-day cafe sat within one of the area’s 1850s buildings.

Alternatively, if you feel like cooking, you could hit one of a number of independent shops in the north. Society Zero (162 Queen Margaret Dr), is a zero waste shop and social enterprise with a great selection of cupboard necessities. SeeWoo (29 Saracen St) hosts 60,000 square feet of ingredients from China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and across east and south-east Asia. For reference, 60,000 square feet is roughly the area of a full-size football pitch. It’s very big – the biggest Asian supermarket in the country.

Image Courtesy of Ocho

Radio Buena Vida

Suz O’Neill and David Fleming are the co-founders of community internet station Radio Buena Vida, currently celebrating its first year of broadcasting out of Govanhill record shop Some Great Reward

What do you like about Govanhill? The buzz. There is always something happening. There are loads of great small independent businesses in the area who really support one another and it feels like a real hub for creativity.

How important is community? As a community radio station, it is vitally important for us. We broadcast from the window of Some Great Reward, our local independent record cafe and them offering a home for the station means we can connect with the local community every day we are on air. About half of the residents and guests on the station live within about a one- mile radius so although we can be listened to online around the world, we are really engaged with our immediate local geographic community which is bursting with great music.

Image courtesy of Radio Buena Vista

Suz O’Neill and David Fleming

How has the Glasgow music scene influenced you? In so many ways. We feel lucky to have lived in a city that has always welcomed local and international talent across so many genres of music and with a real DIY ethos. This ethos has inspired and influenced how we run the station and how we programme the music and artists.

Do you have a favourite Glasgow artwork? We are really loving the boldness and brightness of Molly Hankinson’s murals. There’s one on the wall of Shawlands Continental that’s part of the Shawlands Mural Trail but they can be found across the whole city. Check out her work @mollyhankinson.studio spontaneity and of course how much it rains…

What are you working on right now? Birthday party planning! It’s been a year since we first started broadcasting and we are throwing a party to celebrate across two venues in Glasgow on Saturday 27 November. It’s a two-part party starting in The Old Hairdressers from 6 to 10pm and then moving across to Stereo from 11pm to late feat- uring a selection of the local, national and international guests who have been on the station over the past 12 months including a B2B from DJ Fett Burger and Telephones, Edinburgh-based DJ/selector Hiba, Glasgow-based DJ/ Producer KTAB and Radio Buena Vida residents Hot Towel, Cùrlach, Optimistic Soul and Farnaz. Tickets are available via the link in our bio @radio_buena_vida.

We are also delighted to be working on a programme of music with The Landing Hub, a COP26 Fringe Festival, where the climate and social justice movements can meet the arts.

What makes Glasgow unique? The people and their buenavida.co.uk