The Glasgow Bell

Glasgow's budget day: 'La La Land' or democracy at its best? Tax rises, rent controls, and free school meals. What the budget means and how it happened.

Calum went along to the City Chambers to find out how it all went down.

Come for analysis of council spending, stay for the La La Land and Willy Wonka references.

www.glasgowbell.co.uk/glasgow-coun...

Council tax goes up, free school meals get made, and why Glasgow could be "one catastrophe away from bankruptcy".

The city's budget has been set for the next year. So what? Is it tinkering at the edges or a victory for cooperation and democracy?

Yet another exciting update: We're launching a sister paper in Leeds. Check it out and pledge support for Leeds getting its own quality local newspaper.

Proxy war in Possil? Glasgow's heritage bigwigs are clashing over a cinema Plus, People's Palace purgatory and e-bike hot pursuits

In the briefing this week:

🎞️ Heritage high heid yins clash over an art deco cinema
🍻 Taps on/taps off at Overtone; a new business makes a move
😶‍🌫️ The People’s Palace is in its purgatory phase

👉 www.glasgowbell.co.uk/vogue-cinema...

The cult book that claims to unlock prehistoric Glasgow What on earth is ‘sacred geometry’? And does it have legs?

Interesting piece, published by @glasgowbell.bsky.social, on "Glasgow's Secret Geometry" and Harry Bell's leyline theory. www.glasgowbell.co.uk/glasgow-sacr...

Thanks for reading Peter, do you discuss any of this in your recent book?

The cult book that claims to unlock prehistoric Glasgow What on earth is ‘sacred geometry’? And does it have legs?

www.glasgowbell.co.uk/glasgow-sacr...

Forty years on, Bell's theories are still pored over. His cult book sells for up to £100 online and it's inspired films, BAFTA-winning multimedia projects. But what is sacred geometry, and can it really unlock prehistoric Glasgow?

But he had a warning: “Unless people discuss the idea, visit the sites, and tell their children about them, the Glasgow Network of Aligned Sites could be forgotten before it is properly understood. Don’t let this happen.”

Bell identified 70 of sites connected by 'ley lines' stretching across this part of Strathclyde, from Dumbarton Rock in the west to the Bar Hill Roman Fort on the Antonine Wall in the east.

🌀 In 1984, a man called Harry Bell published 'Glasgow's Secret Geometry' outlining his theory of a hidden networking connecting the city's sacred spaces and ancient buildings 🧵

leughadh math

The motorway drove two friends apart. Half a century on, they reunited Long lost pals, the M8’s destructive path and a drunken punch up

Read the full beautiful story about the motorway, miscommunications and male friendship on our website now.

Brian & Robin have rekindled a life-changing friendship. Brian takes Robin - "a bit of a recluse" out walking. Last year, Robin swam in the sea for the first time.

"I was like, 'What the fuck am I doing? What have you done to me?’ I hadn’t been down that way for 25 years, since the kids were wee".

In 2020, Robin Bans' daughter, Rosie, got a message on Facebook. By this point, Robin was a widower, living on Vincent Street, working as a driving instructor.

The message was from Brian Lyons. Was Rosie related to Robin, by any chance? Brian had never forgotten his friend.

Brian and his family were rehoused in the north of the city, and Robin lost his best friend. Years later, they met one more time for a night out, but physical distance had caused tension.

They ended up trading punches and were arrested. The two never spoke again. Until...

"It was almost overnight. I lost a lot of pals, never saw them again". - Robin Bans

When the M8 began being constructed, the two friends at first treated the building sites as an exciting new place to explore. But then the displacement started.

In 1965, Robin Bans was barely 15 and living on North Street, in Anderston. Just a few doors down was his best friend, Brian Lyons.

The friendship was a light amid a turbulent childhood for Robin, who was kept in the dark about his Sikh heritage for much of his youth.

🧵The M8 is Scotland's busiest motorway, and its most controversial. Its construction split Glasgow and saw big swathes of the historic city demolished.

But it wasn't just buildings that were destroyed. This is story of two friends, parted by the M8 & reunited years later.

We’re hiring: Staff writer on The Bell Come and work with a team that’s changing journalism Role details Location: Glasgow (we need someone who lives full-time in the area, or is willing to relocate) Salary: Dependent on experienc…

🚨We're hiring!🚨

The Bell is hiring another full-time staff reporter to join our team. We're looking for someone ambitious & tenacious, who is willing to knock lots of doors. Our journalism is in-person & on-the-ground.

Click the link below for more details.

A £12m shortfall at the People’s Palace renovation, or just a fundraising target? Plus, meet the millionaire drummer fighting Salmond’s legal case, and an end to the Mackintosh tea rooms stooshie

Anyway, this week, the 'Mackintosh at the Willow' announced another name change, this time to 'The Mackintosh Tearooms'.

Kept up with all of that?

Get more stories like this by signing up to our weekly Monday briefing. It's totally free.

So the Sauchiehall Street tea rooms settled on the name 'Mackintosh at the Willow' instead. In 2024 though, Mulhern sold The Willow Tea Rooms to Princes Restaurant Group.

Which is why there's now a Willow Tea Rooms in erm... Edinburgh.

Anne Mulhern also opened a Buchanan Street location and trademarked the rights to 'The Willow Tea Rooms'. She built a very successful business.

When Celia Sinclair, via the Willow Tea Rooms Trust, tried to trademark The Willow Tea Rooms in 2015, Mulhern opposed her - and won.

In 2014, a woman called Ceila Sinclair bought the Sauchiehall Street premises, where the original Willow Tearooms had opened in 1903. The building was closed for a £10m renovation.

But another Willow Tea Rooms *had* been operating at the site since 1983, run by Anne Mulhern.

☕️ Ever wondered why Glasgow has two Mackintosh-themed tearooms - with different names?

Or why the original Willow Tea Rooms on Sauchiehall Street are now called the 'Mackintosh at the Willow' while there's a Willow Tea Rooms on Buchanan Street?

Here's why...

🔔 Oh, and did we mention we’re hiring a new staff reporter? 👀
millmediaco.uk/2026/02/15/w...

A £12m shortfall at the People’s Palace renovation, or just a fundraising target? Plus, meet the millionaire drummer fighting Salmond’s legal case, and an end to the Mackintosh tea rooms stooshie

🔔 It's a busy Monday at The Bell 🔔

💸 A disagreement over finances of the People's Palace refurb
🥁 Meet the millionaire drummer fighting Salmond’s legal case
🫖 An end to the stooshie at the Mackintosh tea rooms
🍻 What went wrong at Overtone brewery?

www.glasgowbell.co.uk/peoples-pala...

Fernhill School owed a parent £1.8m. Then its accounts stopped being filed The £20k a year Rutherglen private school, overseen by two Scottish hospitality titans, is closing amid a ‘misconduct’ probe

🗞️ Why does an exclusive private school in Rutherglen owe a parent £1.8m? Why have its accounts not been filed for 3 years?

And what does one of Glasgow's biggest restauranters have to do with it?

Read our digging into Fernhill School's closure, now.

Our sister title is launching in Leeds - if we get 500 pledges. Please share with anyone in West Yorkshire who wants incredible local narrative journalism for their region.

Fernhill School owed a parent £1.8m. Then its accounts stopped being filed The £20k a year Rutherglen private school, overseen by two Scottish hospitality titans, is closing amid a ‘misconduct’ probe

These two men should know a thing or two about filing accounts.

So why have the financial statements for the debt laden school they oversee been missing for the last three years?

Read the full story now.