By Emma Taylor
On a Saturday in late spring, a number of ADSUK members and Art Deco lovers met up to tour some of the architectural gems of Glasgow and its surrounds. Following a walking tour of the city centre, the group boarded a vintage bus to see some of the more outlying buildings. Emma Taylor tells us more.
For the second half of our epic exploration of Glasgow’s art deco treasures, we boarded a fabulous Leyland Tiger Cub Coach from 1960, with Professor Bruce Peter as our expert tour guide.
This coach has been beautifully restored by Donald and Gavin Booth from the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust (gvvt.org). We are indebted to them for our fabulous transport and using their impressive their vintage driving skills to whisk us around the city and beyond.
While the city’s parking restrictions meant that some of our architectural appreciation stops were brief, we descended rapidly, like deco paparazzi, with our phones at the ready. Each time our skilled driver negotiated a safe parking spot, the rallying cry went up from the back of the bus, ‘Charge!’
Our tour included a trio of handsome thirties cinemas.
The façade of the former Ascot cinema in Anniesland from 1939 has still retained it’s deco charm, despite the residential conversion.
Perhaps we should have struck a pose outside the Vogue Cinema in Riddrie, (1938)?
The former Lyceum Cinema in Govan, 1937.
Kelvin Court (1938) could be mistaken for a well-healed dwelling in London’s West End, but you’ll find it in the West End of Glasgow.
The striking 26 metre tower of the former Luma Lamp factory in Renfrew, was used to test lightbulbs. It must have been an extraordinary sight, like a beacon of interwar commerce. It was designed to coincide with the 1938 Glasgow Empire Exhibition by the rather flamboyantly named architect, Cornelius Armour.
The Former Weir Pumps building in Cathcart also features a lovely, light-filled 1937 Streamline addition.
The Palace of Art at Bellahouston Park was built for the 1938 Glasgow Empire Exhibition and survives today as a sports centre.
Then we headed out of the city to visit the former India Factory in Inchinnan, built by Thomas Wallis of Wallis, Gilbert and Partners in 1930. The wonderful entrance is fit for any pharaoh who was unfortunate enough for find themselves reincarnated as a 1930’s office worker.
And of course, there was also time for a group photo with our gorgeous transport! Thank you to all who came along, and we look forward to organising more tours like this.
