The most through analysis of the story - from The Glasgow, Bell, of course.
09.03.2026 15:57
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The most through analysis of the story - from The Glasgow, Bell, of course.
Excellent stuff from The Bell. Glad to have curious and invested journalists working hard in and for the city - a rarity these days, and worth treasuring.
This is a good piece which also addresses the disinformation online
What about the ownership of Union Corner?
There's two main landlords at the centre.
One is Afton Estates Ltd, who own the unit the vape shop is located in.
The other is an offshore company with a trail to Tel Aviv. They own most of Union Corner. 👇
Sweeny's entire studio went down with Union Corner's east facade. He doesn't have contents insurance and has already calculated £11,000 of losses. His fundraiser to cover costs joins that of scores of others - 111 Union Street was peppered with small independent businesses.
Dozens of small businesses are impacted. We spoke to Duncan Sweeny, founder of Hundred Demons tattoo studio. He was at The Stand when a customer messaged him to ask if the studio was ok.
Sweeny wasn't initially worried but then headed to Union St.
The fire service were called out at 3.45pm. Between 6pm and 8pm, the blaze became uncontrollable. Steven Mackenzie, a fire safety consultant, told us that if lithium batteries - found in vapes - were involved in the fire, all fire fighters could do is keep it contained.
Media reporting has it that the fire began in a vape shop at 105 Union Street - the BBC spoke to an eye witness who saw a "small fire under the counter".
The Bell happened to photograph the shop in question in August 2025 - here it is.
There's only one story dominating Glasgow: the destruction of Union Corner.
How did it start? Why did it escalate so much between 6pm and 8pm? Who owns the buildings affected? What happens now?
👉 www.glasgowbell.co.uk/union-street...
Why are there SO many fires destroying historical buildings in Glasgow? Tonight’s tragedy is just the latest.
@glasgowbell.bsky.social mapped them. ‘With every conflagration there are whispers that there’s slightly more to things than meets the eye’.
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/tinderbox-fi...
My feed is already awash with Glasgow fire conspiracy theorists talking mince. For some actual facts about the prevalence of conflagrations in the city, it’s well worth reading this brilliant, long-in-the-making analysis with map from @glasgowbell.bsky.social www.glasgowbell.co.uk/tinderbox-fi...
For an independent pub operating on “a knife’s edge at the time,” that kind of publicity could not be ignored."
Read more about Glasgow's 'Guinnfluencer'.
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/girl-drinks-...
🍺“I recognised her face right away,” my coworker tells me about the night she ordered at our workplace.
A busy shift and a dodgy cooler earned us a 2/10 rating, alongside a description of “monstrous head.”
So excited to have a sister paper in Leeds! Please share to West Yorkshire people you know, or even just pledge your support if you think there should be more of our journalism across the UK.
Read our weekend story about the world of Humanitarian Operations, its self-proclaimed “multi-millionaire” director Darren Adler, the talking racoon Ziggy, and a £1 million debt owed to Glasgow City Council.
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/humanitarian...
🥰 “This is mental!!!!! Needs a Netflix special!!!”
“This article needs to be enshrined for all time on a plinth in the Mitchell Library.”
Langdon says the lease City Property asked him to sign was "four times" GMAC's current rent. Other tenants of Trongate 103 include Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, Glasgow Print Studio, and Street Level Photography.
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/trongate-103...
Seven arts organisations at Trongate 103 have been told by council-owned City Property to sign new leases or get out. They were given 28 days notice.
Mark Langdon, chair of Glasgow Media Access Centre's board, said this "massively" threatens his charity.
🔔 Another major arts hub faces peril, accusations of 'cultural vandalism' 🧵
Also in today's briefing:
✝️ Co-founder of Homeless Project Scotland dies aged 47
🛣️ Is this the end for the M8 at the Woodside Viaduct? Or just a new beginning?
Photo: GMAC
The story I'm about to tell has its origin in a modernist cuboid office block that straddles the M8 at Charing Cross. When I started my investigation, I didn't think it'd take me surfing online in the Bahamas and Barbados or put me on a train to Wester Hailes. I didn't think I'd come across 11-year-old company "directors," talking raccoons, and a self-made candy millionaire. I didn't think I'd be casually threatened shortly before playing an augmented reality go-kart game. And I didn't know I'd uncover a £1million tax bill owed to Glasgow City Council.
Not sure I'll read a better opening paragraph this year - it's got it all!
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/humanitarian... @glasgowbell.bsky.social
Great work by @glasgowbell.bsky.social
A recommended read, particularly for Glasgow’s residents. It’s about your money:
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/humanitarian...
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.
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...
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?
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.”
