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www.westendermagazine.com | 1<br />

JAN/FEB


2 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

N o w o p e n o n H y n d l a n d R o a d<br />

T h e n e w h o m e o f<br />

l u x u r y k i t c h e n s i n G l a s g o w<br />

181 h y n d l a n d r o a d | g l a s g o w | g 1 2 9 h t<br />

0 1 4 1 3 3 9 6 5 8 2<br />

w w w . b a u e n d e s i g n . c o . u k


www.westendermagazine.com | 3<br />

Contents<br />

Image I Gregor Reid<br />

Regulars<br />

Contents<br />

4 Editor’s Letter<br />

49 Mum’s Notebook<br />

28 Community Pages:<br />

6 Sirens Fashion Netball pages<br />

westender<br />

underwear Fashion, beauty shoot & health<br />

13 A Jian London<br />

8 Fashion on the Moor<br />

Christmas<br />

20 WIN! A Month’s Pass at<br />

14 West End Live<br />

Sweat! Glasgow!<br />

with Greg Kane<br />

22 Fun Fitness<br />

19 A west end<br />

33 WIN! At Rainbow<br />

Christmas gift guide<br />

Room International<br />

28 Up Front<br />

50 Health Matters<br />

gypsy brewing<br />

30 Restaurant review<br />

31 Shopping WIN! A 3 course meal<br />

with 37 Valentine wine at Rio Gift Cafe Guide &<br />

WIN! A weekend<br />

at The Bruce Arms<br />

Going out<br />

32 Sweet Liberty recipe<br />

34 16 West Author’s End Bookgroup<br />

Live<br />

meets with Greg Phil Kane Differ<br />

39 18 Top Jingle Things Belles at<br />

Kennedy + Co<br />

40 Art WIN! & culture A style<br />

makeover at Rainbow<br />

Room<br />

30 Writer’s<br />

International<br />

Reveal:<br />

41<br />

Gill<br />

Festive<br />

Sims<br />

Offers<br />

at<br />

34<br />

Esteem<br />

Cover to<br />

Beauty<br />

Cover<br />

42<br />

38 Artist<br />

100 years<br />

Interview:<br />

of<br />

Erskine<br />

Pascale<br />

celebrated<br />

Steenkiste<br />

at The Hunterian<br />

44 Food Health & drink Matters<br />

47<br />

43<br />

Mum’s<br />

Restaurant<br />

Notebook<br />

Review:<br />

49<br />

Gather<br />

Top<br />

by<br />

Things<br />

Zique<br />

52<br />

44<br />

Interiors<br />

Sweet Liberty<br />

article:<br />

Christmas<br />

47 Bar Review:<br />

in colour<br />

Roosevelts<br />

55 Country comforts<br />

56 Hygge at home<br />

Westender living<br />

58 Atlas kitchen<br />

makeover 54 The Velvet Touch<br />

66 59 Twist Legal of Matters Tweed with<br />

Mitchells 61 In the Nude Roberton


4 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Editor’s<br />

Letter<br />

Don’t write in. We know. Wily, or wiley?<br />

That was the big debate in the office<br />

this morning. Placing the fashion<br />

pages for each edition is a great pleasure of<br />

mine – a fab reminder of a fun and creative<br />

day out on the shoot. However, the sticking<br />

point this edition involved lyrics rather than<br />

images. With reference to Kate Bush’s<br />

Wuthering Heights the title to the fashion<br />

pages pays homage to Bush’s spelling in the<br />

original song. If it’s good enough for Kate…<br />

Our take on mixing tweeds with knits and<br />

thicker fabrics for those cold days ahead<br />

starts on Page 8.<br />

Start off 2019 with a drum roll by booking<br />

yourself in to the biggest world music festival<br />

at Celtic Connections. With numerous West<br />

End venues and a wide choice of musicians<br />

on offer, Greg Kane makes his choice<br />

selection on Page 16.<br />

Just maybe you fancy a new challenge<br />

for the new year? Pick up a new language or<br />

crafting skill listed in our Top Things pages<br />

(Page 18). Last year my family and I learned<br />

Spanish at The Language Hub on Keith Street<br />

in Partick. It was a bonding experience with a<br />

tangible benefit – maybe we can order dinner<br />

in our hosts’ language this summer?<br />

Or perhaps you’re thinking of fun things to<br />

do this winter that cunningly burn those extra<br />

calories left from the overindulgence that is<br />

December? Then read new Westender writer<br />

Pamela Palongue’s fun fitness article on Page<br />

22. Learning circus arts, or starting ballet<br />

class, is open to all ages, body shapes and<br />

genders at these two West End businesses.<br />

If it’s fun it’s easier to stick with, and how can<br />

learning the trapeze be anything but!<br />

Loraine Patrick is back for the Jan/Feb<br />

edition interviewing local West End author,<br />

Gill Sims. With a successful blog and now<br />

two bestselling books to her name, Sims<br />

explains how it all came about, from an<br />

unconventional start, on Page 30.<br />

This unconventional theme continues<br />

with artist-in-residence Pascale Steenkiste’s<br />

interview on Page 40. Why so? Because it’s<br />

in Partickhill Bowling Club and Community<br />

Centre. It’s a novel way to diversify and invite<br />

local Westenders along to see what classes<br />

they hold in their newly refurbished centre.<br />

2019 you’re about to get interesting.<br />

Suzanne Martin


www.westendermagazine.com | 5<br />

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN WESTENDER<br />

Book advertising space in the Mar/April 2019<br />

Westender by Friday 25th January.<br />

OUT IN WEST END LOCATIONS FROM MONDAY 18TH FEBRUARY.<br />

// 10 Years in the West End<br />

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// Great editorial features: fashion, dining out, health & beauty,<br />

what’s on, local authors & artists, interiors & more<br />

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for a media flyer, or call: 07905 897238


6 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

EDITOR<br />

SUZANNE MARTIN<br />

PHOTOGRAPHER<br />

GREGOR REID<br />

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS<br />

EMILY DONOHO, AMY GLASGOW,<br />

MICHELE GORDON,<br />

GREG KANE, PAMELA LEGGATE,<br />

NICOLA MAULE,<br />

TRACY MUKHERJEE,<br />

PAMELA PALONGUE,<br />

LORAINE PATRICK<br />

SUSAN ROBERTSON, BRIAN TOAL,<br />

LIBERTY VITTERT,<br />

HANNAH WESTWATER<br />

HAIR & MUA<br />

TERRI CRAIG<br />

STYLIST<br />

JACKI CLARK<br />

WESTENDERMAGAZINE.COM<br />

INFO@WESTENDERMAGAZINE.COM<br />

07905 897238<br />

WESTENDER MAGAZINE IS ON<br />

FACEBOOK, TWITTER<br />

& INSTAGRAM<br />

Publisher: Westender Magazine<br />

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the data in this publication is accurate, neither the publisher nor its editorial<br />

contributors can accept, and hereby disclaim, any liability to any party to loss or damage caused by errors or omissions<br />

resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause.<br />

Westender Magazine does not officially endorse any advertising material included within this publication.<br />

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form – electronic,<br />

mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the publisher.


www.westendermagazine.com | 7<br />

gregorreidphotography.com<br />

PORTRAITS CORPORATE<br />

FASHION


86 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

out on the<br />

wiley<br />

Windy<br />

moors<br />

photography<br />

Gregor Reid<br />

stylist<br />

jacki clark<br />

MAke up<br />

terri craig


www.westendermagazine.com | 97


10 8 | | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

trousers, jasmine. jumper, fat face. boots, daniel footwear. hat, nancy smilLie. scarf, finnieston@CCW<br />

opposite page - dress, hat & scarf, jasmine


www.westendermagazine.com | 11 9


12 10 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

coat, monsoon. skirt, topshop. cardigan, jasmine. boots, office. scarf, finnieston@CCW. ring, house of cashmere


jacket & dress jasmine. jumper, finnieston@CCW. bag, house of cashmere<br />

www.westendermagazine.com | 13 11


14 12 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

coat, monsoon. snood, jasmine. boots, office. bangle, house of cashmere<br />

opposite page - top, jasmine. trousers, topshop. boots, daniel footwear


www.westendermagazine.com | 13 15<br />

MUA terri craig, terricraig.co.uk<br />

model aimee logan @colours agency<br />

stylist jacki clark, jackiclark-stylist.co.uk<br />

photography gregor reid, gregorreidphotography.com


16 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

LIVE<br />

January<br />

Wolf & Moom<br />

Monday 7th January 7.30pm<br />

The Hug and Pint, thehugandpint.com<br />

Stefany and Dennis are Wolf & Moon,<br />

a nomadic duo who met at a house<br />

party in the Netherlands. Shortly<br />

after meeting they journeyed across<br />

the US on a full tour with only a<br />

small traveling guitar and a Casio<br />

keyboard. The Dutch duo have set<br />

out to conquer the world with their<br />

minimalist electro folk. It’s all a<br />

bit Euro crusty new agey, but there’s<br />

definitely something here to keep an<br />

eye on. Enjoyed listening to them.<br />

Choice Tracks:<br />

Wolf & Moon 'Getaway'<br />

From the Jam<br />

Friday 11th January 7.30pm<br />

QMU, qmunion.org.uk<br />

A tribute band – but with a difference<br />

– one of its members is tributing<br />

himself here.<br />

Bruce Foxton (The original bassist<br />

with The Jam) leads From The Jam and<br />

he still has all the charisma and<br />

energy of his youth. We often play<br />

Summer festivals with them and they<br />

are just so amazing to watch, drawing<br />

from a seemingly endless pool of<br />

great songs (Paul Weller is a prolific<br />

songwriter) that made The Jam one of<br />

the most popular bands of their time.<br />

This’ll be a great Friday night out.<br />

Oh and if you like your Weller a bit<br />

more blue eyed soul’d then The Style<br />

Councillors are playing Oran Mor on<br />

the same night. Weller’s ears will be<br />

burnin’ that night.<br />

Choice track:<br />

The Jam ‘Eton Rifles’<br />

Celtic Connections<br />

17th January to 3rd February<br />

Various venues, celticconnections.com<br />

Here’s my pick from the biggest world<br />

music festival on the planet.<br />

19th Jan. – The Como Mamas<br />

– Makintosh Church 7:30pm.<br />

Gospel trio from Mississippi backed<br />

by the Daptone guys. The real deal.<br />

Choice Track: The Como Mamas<br />

'Move Upstairs'<br />

23rd Jan. – CAKE – QMU 7:30pm.<br />

Californian alternative rock band that<br />

epitomised the postmodern, ironydrenched<br />

aesthetic of '90s geek rock.<br />

Choice Track: CAKE 'Sinking Ship'<br />

24th Jan. – Rachel Newton – Mitchell<br />

Theatre 7:30pm. This Scottish harpist<br />

and singer is building on the success<br />

of a SAY Award nomination last year<br />

for her album Here’s My Heart Come<br />

Take It by promoting her new 2018<br />

album West.<br />

27th Jan. – Dori Freema – Oran Mor<br />

7:30pm. Female singer/songwriter<br />

from Virginia born into a family<br />

of Bluegrass musicians with<br />

such an amazingly creamy voice.<br />

Her beautifully tender song You Say<br />

is on repeat in my car.<br />

Choice Track: Dori Freeman 'You Say'<br />

31st Jan. – JP Ruggieri – Hug & Pint<br />

7:30pm. JP is a young, uber talented<br />

singer/songwriter from Nashville<br />

and must also be one of the best<br />

guitarists around. He’s blessed with<br />

a beautifully soulful voice too. A<br />

must see every time he comes to town.<br />

He’s out promoting his new album<br />

'Waiting On You'.


www.westendermagazine.com | 17<br />

by Greg Kane<br />

February<br />

The Murder Capital<br />

Thursday 7th January 7pm<br />

SWG3, swg3.tv<br />

Seemingly these guys are Ireland’s<br />

best new Rock band but with only one<br />

song made public to date from this<br />

fledgling Dublin five-piece, you could<br />

be forgiven for thinking it’s just hype.<br />

But said song More Is Less is a track<br />

that makes an immediate impression<br />

with its punk energy and intense<br />

delivery.<br />

Live, The Murder Capital’s energy is<br />

more palpable as the members embody<br />

the twists and turns of their songs<br />

that are indebted to 1980s new wave,<br />

punk and garage. It’s all pretty good.<br />

Choice track:<br />

The Murder Capital 'More Is Less'<br />

Post Malone<br />

Sunday 17th February 6.30pm<br />

SSE Hydro, thessehydro.com<br />

Billie Eilish<br />

Thursday 28th February 7pm<br />

SWG3, swg3.tv<br />

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell<br />

is an American singer/songwriter<br />

and teenage superstar. Her songs<br />

garner over 20 million streams<br />

every month making her one of the<br />

most popular artists in the world.<br />

Her music is ambient Emo pop with<br />

slow fragmented grooves, usually<br />

with strings and lots of drama. Eilish<br />

was raised in Highland Park, L.A.<br />

by a family of actors and musicians<br />

with Scottish/Irish ancestry and she<br />

co-writes her songs with her 21-yearold<br />

brother Finneas O'Connell.<br />

Her concerts have been described<br />

as genius, bewitching and powerful,<br />

not only because of her talent, but of<br />

the devotion, love and passion of all<br />

the fans in the room. The O’Connell’s<br />

are your classic over achieving<br />

all-American family.<br />

Choice track: Billie Eilish<br />

'Ocean Eyes'<br />

My partner’s 17-year-old plays Post<br />

Malone a lot. I’m not sure what to make<br />

of it. Sure it’s poppy but there’s also<br />

an adult contemporary attitude in his<br />

slick productions. Post really knows<br />

what he’s doing in a recording studio.<br />

Old garage band indie refs, soul/pop<br />

refs, Reggae refs, EMO refs, even Trap<br />

refs are all in here too – a hotch potch<br />

of music, but a very, very successful<br />

one. At only 22-years-old and judging<br />

by his streaming numbers he has the<br />

world at his feet.<br />

Choice Track: Post Malone<br />

'Better Now'


18 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Top Things To Do<br />

in the West End<br />

by Tracy Mukherjee<br />

Top for Burns Night<br />

We are somewhat spoilt for Burns supper<br />

shenanigans this New Year. Over in Cottiers, the<br />

national day of the bard will be celebrated with<br />

a lavish three course meal (with dram of course)<br />

followed by full highland dress/black tie ceilidh.<br />

For a truly luxurious Burns Night supper The<br />

Finnieston, as one would expect of this venue,<br />

has put a seafood spin on the traditional haggis<br />

theme. With sumptuous whisky flights and<br />

whisky cocktails to put hairs on your chest, it’s a<br />

great choice for real foodies.<br />

Just along Argyle Street in Lebowskis, The<br />

Bard Abides. These guys make an effort every<br />

year to put their own mark on 25th of January.<br />

Previous years have seen Rabbie Burns themed<br />

White Russians and rather special burgers.<br />

This year there are even rumours of a food-free<br />

supper! Of course with the ever present spirit of<br />

The Dude surveying the proceedings, the final<br />

menu is sure to pack a punch.<br />

And finally, for a theatrical take on Burns, Oran<br />

Mor present The Ghosting of Rabbie Burns.<br />

This comic tale gives a supernatural spin on<br />

our Rab. Featuring Burns poems and songs, the<br />

production shows that, in matters of the heart<br />

little has changed in 200 years.<br />

Cottiers Burns Supper and Ceilidh 2019<br />

cottiers.com Friday 25th Jan<br />

The Finnieston<br />

gfthefinniestonbar.com<br />

Lebowskis Glasgow West<br />

lebowskis.co.uk<br />

The Ghosting of Rabbie Burns<br />

Oran Mor, Tuesday 29th January<br />

oran-mor.co.uk/whats-on<br />

Top for Music<br />

How lucky a city are we that in January<br />

each year we are privileged to host Celtic<br />

Connections. A music festival like no other,<br />

Celtic Connections embraces all forms of music.<br />

This year the theme is Passing Traditions<br />

Between Generations and one of the standout<br />

events is Brave in Concert. Bringing Disney’s<br />

flame haired Scots’ heroine to life will be the BBC<br />

Scottish Symphony Orchestra, in association<br />

with Disney Concerts. This event really will<br />

traverse the generations. Becoming a firm<br />

favourite, the National Whisky Festival will<br />

return to SWG3 for a day likely to, quite literally,<br />

warm your cockles. Staying in the west, our local<br />

venues of Oran Mor, The Hug and Pint and The<br />

Mitchell Theatre return as firm favourites for<br />

performances.<br />

Celtic Connections<br />

Thurs 17th January – Sun 3rd February<br />

celticconnections.com<br />

Top for Film<br />

The 2019 Glasgow Film Festival returns in<br />

February and it’s looking like a goody! With<br />

Hollywood classics, anniversary screenings<br />

and highly acclaimed Belgian cinema, there is<br />

bound to be a film to suit the most specific of<br />

tastes. One of the highlights of the festival is<br />

the first official 20th anniversary screening<br />

of 'The Matrix'. The show is being held in the<br />

subterranean caverns of The Arches. This<br />

atmospheric venue, underneath Glasgow<br />

Central, will also be filled with immersive<br />

installations to capture the mood for the<br />

screening and the after show party. With a black<br />

shades (actually black from head to toe) dress<br />

theme, watch out Neo and Trinity.<br />

Staying in the realms of Sci-Fi, this year also<br />

celebrates the 40th anniversary of the original<br />

Alien. This screening will coincide with the<br />

release of a 4K restoration print of the film,<br />

premiering in cinemas on 1st March. Along with<br />

the screening during the film festival, which is<br />

being held in an enormous warehouse, there<br />

will be laser tag adventures, comic books and<br />

themed cocktails.


www.westendermagazine.com | 19<br />

Top Things To Do<br />

in the West End<br />

Rounding off the run down of this year’s film<br />

festival there will be a retrospective event<br />

entitled The Age of Innocence. The films within<br />

this category are all from American cinema<br />

in 1969. The 10 films are from an age where<br />

censorship laws were being relaxed and a new<br />

cinematic counter-culture was emerging. Among<br />

the classics are Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy<br />

and the iconic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance<br />

Kid. Amazingly, the films are all FREE to view.<br />

Quite simply a fantastic line up and a great<br />

reason to leave that ever beckoning sofa on a<br />

cold February night.<br />

The Glasgow Film Festival<br />

20th February – 3rd March<br />

Full program to be announced 23rd January<br />

glasgowfilm.org/glasgow-film-festival<br />

Top for New Year Resolutions<br />

I’m going to lose weight, stop drinking, give up<br />

chocolate; the resolution war cry on the 2nd<br />

of January. A much more fun and achievable<br />

resolution? Learn something new. Learning<br />

a language is a great example. The Language<br />

Hub in Partick is a one stop shop for all your<br />

language needs. Teaching all age groups, you<br />

also needn’t learn alone. Children can learn a<br />

language through song, rhyme, toys, crafts and<br />

games. Adult classes focus on individual needs<br />

in a small class setting. There are even family<br />

sessions where you can learn alongside your<br />

children. With all levels of language abilities<br />

being catered for – beginners, post beginners,<br />

intermediate – find your language level and go<br />

for it! With German, Spanish, Italian and more to<br />

choose from, there is also an on-site cafe at the<br />

Hub to relax and practise your conversation over<br />

a coffee and some tasty bites. Take some time to<br />

visit the shop too and stock up on some learning<br />

aids to enhance your linguistic knowledge.<br />

Language learning a little too academic? Why<br />

not try some crafts instead? The Landsdowne<br />

House of Stencils offer classes on up-cycling<br />

furniture, distressing, using chalk and crackle<br />

paint techniques. Why not try eco-printing<br />

Scottish leaves? This fabulous craft venue<br />

on Landsdowne Crescent heavily focuses the<br />

materials used on natural flora and fauna or<br />

indeed on recycling old into something grand and<br />

'up-cycled'. Classes are added regularly so keep<br />

your eye on the website.<br />

For needlepoint lovers, Sew Confident teaches<br />

sewing to the absolute novice who has never<br />

threaded a sewing machine right through to the<br />

more advanced skills of lampshade making and<br />

machine doodle. A great way to meet new friends<br />

too, Sew Confident provide all equipment in their<br />

Hidden Lane headquarters.<br />

Lastly in our resolutions run down, Strictly has<br />

sadly come to an end for another year and yet<br />

the joy of watching others dance has left you<br />

with a warm fuzzy feeling. You know what’s next.<br />

Try it out for yourself! Dance with Attitude offer<br />

classes for young and old in every form and style<br />

of dance. From Ballroom to Bollywood, Tap to<br />

Tango, there is something for everyone in their<br />

Scotstoun studio. To entice you even more, after<br />

a fun dance class why not drop in for dinner at<br />

the on-site tapas bar La Bodega. This Spanish<br />

owned venue not only serves up fantastic<br />

flavours but has live music and entertainment<br />

throughout the week. With a weekly Salsa club,<br />

live jazz on Sundays and Tango Milongo, you’ll be<br />

lighting up the dance floor in no time.<br />

The Language Hub<br />

thelanguagehub.co.uk<br />

Landsdowne House of Stencils<br />

landsdownehouseofstencils.com<br />

Sew Confident<br />

Dance with Attitude<br />

dancewithattitude.net<br />

La Bodega Tapas Bar<br />

labodegaglasgow.com<br />

sewconfident.co.uk


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20 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

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TRAINING<br />

SESSION<br />

Skypark, 54 Finnieston Square, Glasgow, G3 8EP<br />

GLASGOW


22 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Adventure calling!<br />

Aerial or en-pointe?<br />

WORDS PAMELA PALONGUE<br />

At the start of every fresh year we promise ourselves the same things, lose<br />

weight, exercise more blah blah… How long does that last? But what if?<br />

What if we challenge ourselves to have fun. Simply that. Would having fun<br />

physically, be the glue needed to building a stronger body whilst learning a<br />

new skill? New Westender writer, Pamela Palongue, heads along to two West<br />

End based classes to find out more.<br />

One of the biggest reasons people give<br />

up an exercise regimen, is that it’s<br />

just not fun. It seems there’s a reason<br />

they call it a ‘work’-out.<br />

But what if there was an activity that<br />

combined fitness with creativity and passion?<br />

What if you actually looked forward to a little<br />

physical exertion in your week? This type of<br />

thinking has led to alternative fitness routines,<br />

that actually have people longing for more.<br />

One great way to get in shape and have<br />

fun while you’re doing it, is to practice circus<br />

arts. Fortunately, you won’t have to run away<br />

to join the circus to participate. There’s a<br />

school in the West End that has instruction in<br />

flying trapeze, aerial hoops, aerial silks and<br />

acrobatics. Aerial Edge offers classes in all<br />

of these disciplines and more for adults of all<br />

skill levels that range in age from uni students<br />

to those in their seventies!<br />

In case you’re wondering right about<br />

now…the trapeze is perfectly safe! And it just<br />

happens to be the only full-time, indoor flying<br />

trapeze in the UK.<br />

Students are ‘in lines’ meaning that they<br />

are in a type of harness and are clipped to<br />

cables with an instructor who ensures that<br />

there are no involuntary falls. Students can<br />

frequently be caught (swinging from one<br />

trapeze bar to be caught by the catcher on<br />

another) from the first class. It all depends<br />

upon individual ability and comfort level. Even<br />

though it’s quite safe, the perceived danger<br />

can help to greatly increase confidence<br />

levels, and the physical activity will lead to<br />

greater core strength, flexibility and balance.<br />

For those who prefer to stay a bit closer to<br />

the ground, the aerial hoops and aerial silks<br />

are much lower and can be performed while<br />

just a couple of metres off the floor. Aerial silk<br />

artists were made famous by Cirque du Soleil<br />

where individuals form different spins and<br />

poses while hanging from long pieces of silk<br />

fabric. It’s beautiful to watch, and it requires<br />

every muscle to perform.<br />

Aerial Edge also offers floor acrobatics,<br />

flexibility classes, and conditioning classes<br />

where individuals can strengthen the muscles<br />

needed for circus arts – while reaping the<br />

rewards of a finely-toned circus body. Some<br />

individuals train in these classes exclusively,<br />

and do not train on the trapeze or silks. Many<br />

students however, come with the intention<br />

of attending the conditioning classes only,


www.westendermagazine.com | 23<br />

Image I Richard Walker


24 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

INTERNATIONAL<br />

Hairstylist & Colourist<br />

Norman McLeod<br />

returns to his home town<br />

after running his own salon<br />

in Hong Kong and Italy.<br />

For a free consultation call<br />

Beti Reilly Salon at 75 Bath Street<br />

Tel. 0141 332 3637 or call Norman<br />

on Mobile 07368 265868.


www.westendermagazine.com | 25<br />

Images I lottiephotography<br />

but soon find that with increased confidence<br />

levels, they want to try the different aerial<br />

arts, taking their instruction to the next level.<br />

All the classes are taught by highly<br />

trained instructors, and many degreeeducated<br />

circus instructors and professional<br />

performers, one of whom is a former Cirque<br />

du Soleil coach.<br />

The classes are held in historic Kelvin<br />

Hall, the original site of the 1920s circuses<br />

which came to Glasgow. Many of the<br />

building’s features still surround the area<br />

where classes are held, and it lends a<br />

bit of charm and nostalgia to the overall<br />

experience.<br />

Classes are designed to be inclusive,<br />

in a friendly, non-competitive atmosphere.<br />

It’s all about doing your best and improving<br />

your own personal skills.<br />

Another fun way to improve your fitness<br />

levels while exploring your creative side is<br />

dance. If you ever attended ballet classes<br />

as a child, or perhaps just stared at a Degas<br />

painting and wondered what it would be like<br />

– the ballet classes at Dance Glasgow may<br />

be for you!<br />

The upstairs studio on Ruthven Lane<br />

has been seasoned with character;<br />

its slightly worn, hardwood floors tell the<br />

tale of thousands of dancers who have left<br />

their mark on them in search of the perfect<br />

pirouette.<br />

The adults who come here for instruction<br />

are both young and mature, serious and<br />

playful. They eagerly line up at the barre in<br />

front of the mirrored wall and practice their<br />

positions, creating beautiful moving pictures.<br />

More than just creating pretty movements<br />

though, they’re developing their core and<br />

leg strength, improving their balance, and<br />

gaining confidence. The instructor watches<br />

each student carefully and makes gentle<br />

corrections when needed, which leads<br />

to better form and more amplitude in the<br />

movements – and a better stretch.<br />

The familiar practice piano provides music<br />

throughout the one hour and 15 minutes<br />

lesson, although the songs are popular<br />

recognisable tunes, such as Candle in the<br />

Wind, and the Atomic Kitten song, The Tide


26 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

is High. The instructor, Marion Baird, who<br />

is a dance master, keeps the atmosphere<br />

light-hearted with a joke now and then,<br />

in between giving commands in French.<br />

She explains that learning the commands in<br />

French is important, because some of her<br />

students will return to their hometown after<br />

uni, while others may move to a new area or<br />

country for work. By learning the commands<br />

in French, they can study ballet anywhere<br />

and easily know the universal language of the<br />

movements.<br />

After the barre work is finished, the<br />

barres are removed from the centre of the<br />

room and dancers begin the floor section<br />

of their training. They take the movements<br />

they’ve practiced on barre and begin to put<br />

them together into small, choreographed<br />

segments.<br />

Dance Glasgow has classes for absolute<br />

beginners who have never danced a step,<br />

and classes for adults who are more<br />

advanced and want to continue to learn<br />

more. The classes are drop-in, and can be<br />

joined at any time so that there’s no waiting<br />

for weeks for a class to begin. And I’m<br />

happy to report that several men attend the<br />

classes and find it thoroughly enjoyable.<br />

It also bears mentioning that many adults<br />

also find the belly dance and Zumba classes<br />

a great experience, depending upon your<br />

own personal preference.<br />

So take the ‘work’ out of your workout,<br />

and start having fun instead!<br />

aerialedge.co.uk<br />

danceglasgow.com<br />

Image I Richard Walker


www.westendermagazine.com | 27<br />

Join from<br />

33p<br />

p/day*<br />

RESOLUTIONS<br />

START HERE<br />

students / staff / you<br />

glasgow.ac.uk/sport<br />

*UofG Sport memberships start at 33p a day.


28 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Sirens for Success<br />

WORDS Hannah Westwater<br />

Mention netball to some and they might<br />

shudder as they’re hit with semitraumatic<br />

school PE memories.<br />

But the sport deserves better, with a thriving<br />

netball culture in swing across the UK – and<br />

Glasgow knows women and girls can be<br />

the first to be shut out of professional sport.<br />

That’s why the Strathclyde Sirens team was<br />

launched by Netball Scotland in 2016 with<br />

Claire Nelson at the helm as CEO.


www.westendermagazine.com | 29<br />

The Sirens women – based in Glasgow<br />

but hailing from New Zealand, Australia<br />

and Jamaica, to name a few – have the<br />

opportunity to come up against the<br />

best players across England and Wales.<br />

It’s the only Scottish women’s sports team<br />

to have a Sky Sports deal, making regular<br />

appearances on the channel as part of the<br />

Vitality Netball Superleague.<br />

Gail Parata of Scotland’s national squad<br />

also coaches the Sirens, and the team sees<br />

support from the Scottish Institute of Sport.<br />

It’s also the only professional netball team in<br />

the entirety of Scotland. That means worldclass<br />

strength and conditioning training<br />

and physiotherapy, plus video analysis and<br />

lifestyle support.<br />

The team, based at the £113m Emirates<br />

Arena, consists of ten professional and<br />

semi-professional players plus five training<br />

partners, with a game each weekend. Home<br />

games are plentiful, giving fans the chance to<br />

head along and support the team (and meet<br />

the players post-match in the fan zone).<br />

Young players are supported through the<br />

selections process from district and national<br />

level, and wider outreach efforts are a core<br />

part of the team’s operation with engagement<br />

programmes run in collaboration with local<br />

schools. Think masterclasses, coaching<br />

sessions and even Sirens camps. But it’s not<br />

just about getting the best players on side<br />

for league games – the team was set up with<br />

the intention of using netball as a vehicle for<br />

greater good.<br />

‘Netball’s played mainly by women in<br />

Scotland, which gives us a unique platform<br />

for women to challenge gender stereotypes<br />

and succeed competitively,’ says Sirens<br />

player and part-time administrator Ella<br />

Gibbons. She adds, ‘to be strong, confident<br />

and inspire others.’ When she’s not playing or<br />

training for netball games with the team, Ella<br />

is studying a Masters degree in Equality and<br />

Human Rights at the University of Glasgow or<br />

volunteering with gender equality groups, like<br />

Women’s Aid in the east of the city.<br />

The Sirens For Success programme<br />

targets young girls in the first few years of<br />

high school who are disengaged from sport<br />

and physical activity. Netball is the name of<br />

the game, but it takes a back seat to issues<br />

which could be holding girls back from taking<br />

part, either in sport or other areas of their<br />

life. They help girls tackle issues affecting<br />

their demographic which, if gone unchecked,<br />

could follow them through the rest of<br />

adolescence – body image, confidence,<br />

resilience, plus physical and mental health.<br />

‘Women’s sport receives less<br />

media coverage, less sponsorship and<br />

endorsement. We’re trying to challenge this<br />

with Sirens, reaching new audiences and<br />

trying to inspire the local community,’ says<br />

Ella, a self-described advocate for a fairer,<br />

equal society. That being a professional<br />

netballer is now an option for young girls is<br />

exciting, she adds, which she would have<br />

only dreamt of when growing up. ‘Being a<br />

Siren for me means pushing the sport to new<br />

levels, to give the next generation of players<br />

even more opportunities for the future than<br />

what I’ve had. And I’ve been incredibly lucky!’<br />

The people behind the Sirens hope that<br />

the pressures and setbacks of elite sport<br />

(such as injury, disappointing performances<br />

and non-selection for the team) will help<br />

develop resilience and the ability to overcome<br />

adversity in young women. And it works. Ella<br />

says, ‘Playing sport has improved my self<br />

confidence, my ability to approach and talk<br />

to new people, has helped me make many<br />

close friends. Exercising and being active are<br />

generally great ways to look after both your<br />

body and your mind.<br />

‘Sirens Netball aim to inspire other women<br />

and girls to be active, to feel confident<br />

with their bodies, and have the confidence<br />

to achieve their goals.’ The team is also<br />

partnered with leading children’s charity<br />

NSPCC Scotland to help deliver their<br />

groundbreaking campaign Speak Out Stay<br />

Safe, which teaches children what abuse is,<br />

how to identify it in all its forms and helps<br />

develop their confidence in speaking to a<br />

trusted adult who can help.<br />

A sports team with a cause, the Sirens<br />

carry the girls and young women of Glasgow<br />

on their shoulders through every win and<br />

more importantly, every loss.<br />

The first home game of the new season<br />

is Friday 11th January 2019 versus<br />

Team Bath, at the Emirates Arena, with<br />

tickets up for grabs online now. They’re<br />

Strathclyde Sirens – are you with them?<br />

sirensnetball.com


30 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Writer’s Reveal<br />

meets Gill Sims<br />

WORDS LORAINE PATRICK<br />

Glasgow based writer Gill Sims is the<br />

best-selling author of Why Mummy<br />

Drinks and Why Mummy Swears,<br />

both Sunday Times bestsellers. The books<br />

are based on her hilarious (if rather sweary)<br />

parenting blog Peter and Jane. The mum of<br />

two was an engineerining consultant before<br />

being approached by HarperCollins to<br />

publish her musings on family life. She now<br />

writes full-time.<br />

Gill thanks for taking time out to catch<br />

up with Westender magazine. I have to<br />

put in a bit of a disclaimer here – I am a<br />

mum of three and your descriptions of<br />

family life have me in stitches. Take us<br />

back to why you started up the Facebook<br />

blog – was it a way of sharing your<br />

experiences with friends or did you think<br />

at the time it could be something much<br />

bigger?


www.westendermagazine.com | 31<br />

It just really started as a joke with a friend.<br />

I was a chronic oversharer on Facebook<br />

anyway and friends kept telling me I should<br />

start a blog. Maybe they were just bored with<br />

my long rambling status updates and thought<br />

I should take it somewhere else!<br />

I was always quite sweary and one day a<br />

friend sent me an article, I think it was about<br />

why wome n shouldn’t swear, and she said<br />

‘You really should do that blog!’ I had a bit<br />

of spare time so I threw something together,<br />

mainly to make her laugh. I started the public<br />

Facebook page because friends wanted<br />

to share it, and posting in there saved me<br />

having to change my privacy settings all the<br />

time.<br />

Do you remember your first post? What<br />

was it about?<br />

I think it was about a Mummy who tries very<br />

hard to make everything #soblessed but<br />

who is constantly thwarted by her children<br />

– by their inability to find their shoes, by<br />

their illicit consumption of Haribo leading to<br />

them bouncing off the walls, by the eleventy<br />

billion letters from the school that she can’t<br />

keep track of, or she is only handed twenty<br />

minutes before leaving the house that tell<br />

her that her precious moppets are to go into<br />

school today dressed as French mimes, or<br />

spacemen, or trees…<br />

I think I am that mum! But you have<br />

clearly struck a chord with several<br />

thousand of us. There are around 400,000<br />

followers on your Facebook page. When<br />

did you realise the enormity of what you<br />

were doing?<br />

I don’t think it really has sunk in yet. It’s a bit<br />

mind boggling really! I’m always amazed and<br />

so grateful that so many people do take the<br />

time to read my ramblings.<br />

The most popular post is still the one that first<br />

went viral, about a long day in the summer<br />

holidays when everything goes wrong despite<br />

Mummy’s best intentions, but when her<br />

husband comes home from work, because<br />

she hasn’t been at her actual paying job that<br />

day, he assumes she must have spent the<br />

day with her feet up enjoying her ‘day off’.<br />

When in reality she had spent her ‘relaxing<br />

day off’ doing endless loads of laundry and<br />

taking kids to the doctors and playdates and<br />

refereeing fights and trying to juggle endless<br />

balls and hadn’t actually sat down all day,<br />

and so she did not take such comments well.<br />

I think a lot of other people must have had<br />

similar experiences.<br />

Is everything you write based on true life<br />

experience?<br />

The books are fiction. I’m not Ellen, my<br />

husband isn’t Simon and my kids aren’t Peter<br />

and Jane, though Judgy Dog in the books<br />

is based very closely on my own Border<br />

Terrier. The blog and some of the situations<br />

in the book are about the general everyday<br />

experiences most of us go through as<br />

parents – lost shoes, aversions to vegetables,<br />

forgetting how to read. Mummy is a<br />

fictionalised mum to, she gets to say out loud<br />

what we are all shouting inside our heads.<br />

Your tongue-in-cheek take on family life is<br />

the polar opposite to the picture-perfect<br />

images we are often fed on social media.<br />

I am sure most commend you for your<br />

honesty but do you ever get any criticism?<br />

I’ve been really lucky and most people realise<br />

it is hugely exaggerated for comic value.<br />

There is the odd person who doesn’t realise it<br />

is meant to be humorous and takes umbrage.<br />

There are others who get that it is supposed<br />

to be funny, but don’t think that it is funny,<br />

which is entirely their right to do so, humour<br />

is very subjective.<br />

When you hear about the hideous things<br />

some people get sent, or the threats made<br />

to them, I’ve really been very lucky and<br />

the criticism is mild in the grand scheme<br />

of things. When everything first took off, it<br />

wouldn’t matter how many nice comments<br />

there were, if there was one negative one<br />

that would be what I would focus on. But you<br />

learn to shrug it off and grow a thicker skin.<br />

You have to really.<br />

Your writing is very sweary – would it be<br />

the same without the cursing?<br />

Personally, I am a big fan of swearing!<br />

I was sent a book recently called Swearing Is<br />

Good For You, about the therapeutic effects


32 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

of swearing which I would definitely agree<br />

with. Sometimes ‘Oh fudge!’ just doesn’t<br />

cut it. I think my writing would lose a certain<br />

something without the swearing, though<br />

others disagree. Someone did leave a one<br />

star review on Amazon for Why Mummy<br />

Swears because she felt there was too much<br />

swearing in it. Though I would argue that if<br />

you don’t like swearing, the clue is somewhat<br />

in the title, and I’m not entirely sure what she<br />

was expecting from it.<br />

‘Daddy’ works away a lot and thinks he is<br />

very important. How do you all get along<br />

in real life?<br />

‘Daddy’, like ‘Mummy’ is a fictional character,<br />

of course. I don’t think Daddy comes across<br />

terribly sympathetically because the books<br />

and the blogs are written from Mummy’s<br />

point of view. We see her frustration that<br />

Daddy gets to swan off being Busy and<br />

Important while she holds the fort at home.<br />

If it was written from Daddy and Simon’s side,<br />

it would probably look quite different, as they<br />

come home exhausted after a long journey<br />

on top of a hard week, happy to see their wife<br />

and kids only to be greeted with resentment<br />

and a refusal to make a ‘nice simple lasagne’<br />

for dinner. In real life, we get along like most<br />

people – we have been married long enough<br />

that we know exactly how to annoy each<br />

other, but at the same time, we probably<br />

wouldn’t want to be annoyed by anyone else.<br />

Can you share a little of your background<br />

with us? Are you from Glasgow? What do<br />

you like about the West End?<br />

I’ve lived in Glasgow since I was 11. Before<br />

that we lived in Kenya and Tanzania. I went<br />

to school in the West End, so it has lots<br />

of happy memories. From hiding from our<br />

teachers in the old Underground Gallery,<br />

using dodgy fake ID to buy vodka and cokes<br />

in Curlers, and trips to the Grosvenor Cinema<br />

long before it was posh and had nice sofas<br />

and sold wine. I love how much is always<br />

going on in the West End and am a great fan<br />

of charity shops, so I love a good mooch<br />

around them.<br />

Your story is very much one of forging a<br />

successful writing career in the social<br />

media age – you were approached by<br />

HarpersCollins to publish your blog.<br />

Both books subsequently went on the<br />

best seller list and you have just published<br />

a Why Mummy Drinks journal. Had you<br />

any notion when you started out that<br />

you would end up becoming an internet<br />

celebrity and a full-time writer?<br />

I’m not sure I would call myself an internet<br />

celebrity. I am a very small fish in an<br />

enormous and ever expanding pond in<br />

internet terms. I think Celeste Barber put it<br />

best when she said that being famous on the<br />

internet is like being rich in Monopoly. I had<br />

no idea at all that any of this would happen,<br />

especially not to write a book published<br />

by HarperCollins, let alone more than one.<br />

I certainly never thought they would end up<br />

on the bestseller lists like they did. When<br />

my editor at HarperCollins called to tell me<br />

Competition!<br />

We have two copies of<br />

Why Mummy Drinks:<br />

The Journal to give away.<br />

Visit westendermagazine.com<br />

and click on competitions<br />

by the 28th of February 2019.<br />

Why Mummy<br />

Drinks<br />

£3<br />

OFF<br />

*<br />

RRP £9.99<br />

*Exclusive offer for WESTENDER readers<br />

at Waterstones 351-355 Byres Road<br />

branch only, by 28th February 2019.


Why Mummy Swears was number one on<br />

the Sunday Times Bestsellers list I burst<br />

into very loud, unattractive sobbing. Which<br />

was unfortunate as I hadn’t realised I was on<br />

speaker phone with the rest of the office and I<br />

was making snorting noises.<br />

I believe your background is in<br />

engineering – have you left your other job?<br />

I was working for an engineering consultancy<br />

but I’m now writing full-time. There were not<br />

enough hours in the day if my children were<br />

to ever eat anything other than frozen pizza.<br />

So in the interests of them not getting scurvy<br />

something had to give!<br />

What kind of demands are on you now as<br />

a full-time writer?<br />

Mainly managing my time and not wasting<br />

the day on procrastination. The internet is<br />

a great tool but it is also a black hole down<br />

which hours can vanish as you pretend you<br />

are just quickly going to google something<br />

and then find you have spent two hours<br />

watching videos about otters. I do love<br />

videos about otters but I can’t really claim it<br />

is a constructive use of my time. So I’m not<br />

very good at the whole structuring my day<br />

thing and tend to end up in a bit of a panic as<br />

deadlines approach – and I’m still watching<br />

otter videos…<br />

RRI<br />

R<br />

Westender www.westendermagazine.com Magazine Competitions | 33<br />

by John Parker<br />

ainbow Room International is now<br />

Scotland’s largest salon group and<br />

has an incredible academy and Artistic<br />

Team. From the beginning, owners Alan<br />

and Linda Stewart wanted to create a real<br />

community and that they have certainly done.<br />

We are thrilled to start 2019 at the Great<br />

Western Road Salon with a new Stylist,<br />

Tyler Porter, who has worked his way up<br />

from being an assistant/trainee. Tyler worked<br />

Saturday’s at the Academy whilst at school in<br />

fourth year to do his level 1 and is now 18 and<br />

a qualified Stylist.<br />

To celebrate Tyler’s new role, we are<br />

offering 100 FREE HAIRCUTS for new<br />

clients with Tyler starting from the end of<br />

February/start of March. All you have to<br />

do to claim your free appointment is call<br />

us at the salon on 0141 337 3370 and<br />

quote ‘Westender Magazine Tyler’*<br />

when booking.<br />

*100 Haircuts Terms & Conditions – 100 free appointments<br />

only valid for new clients with stylist Tyler. Appointments will<br />

be offered on a first come first serve basis. Appointments<br />

are subject to availability. Must quote ‘Westender Magazine<br />

Tyler’ when booking appointment.<br />

What next for you Gill? Do you ever think<br />

you will run out of material as the children<br />

get older? Would you like to tackle any<br />

other kind of writing?<br />

I’d love for there to be some more books,<br />

but all of this has been so unexpected and<br />

amazing, that if this is all there is, then it has<br />

still been an astonishing thing to happen and<br />

I am delighted. A few people have asked if I<br />

have ever considered writing children’s books<br />

or young adult books, which I haven’t really,<br />

there couldn’t be any swearing!<br />

I think whatever I wrote it would still have a<br />

humorous edge as life is short and we might<br />

as well laugh while we can.<br />

follow – Rainbow Room GWR<br />

Alan and Linda Stewart<br />

Rainbow Room International<br />

607 Great Western Road G12 8HX<br />

0141 337 3370<br />

rainbowroominternational.com<br />

WIN! Rainbow Room International<br />

are offering one lucky reader a hair<br />

makeover in their Great Western Rd<br />

salon. For your chance to win go to<br />

westendermagazine.com and click<br />

on competitions by the 28th Feb ‘19.


34 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

1<br />

The Shadow of<br />

the Black Earl<br />

by Charles E. McGarry<br />

BY BRIAN TOAL<br />

WESTENDER’s<br />

COVER TO COVER<br />

Tartan Noir with a twist. Leo Moran is a private<br />

investigator but not the archetypal super-sleuth,<br />

using his genius or his dogged determination to catch<br />

the killer.<br />

He is plagued by brief visions<br />

of violent crimes which come<br />

to him during an unconscious<br />

state. He has been invited to<br />

stay with friends in Biggnarbriggs<br />

Hall in the beautiful environs<br />

of Kirkcudbrightshire,<br />

and whilst there, a young local<br />

girl disappears. Leo tries to help<br />

the police but their scepticism<br />

and his notoriety from a previous<br />

case causes them to spurn his<br />

advances.<br />

Undaunted, he investigates<br />

anyway and gradually begins to<br />

uncover a tale of witchcraft and<br />

satanic rituals going back years.<br />

When he discovers that another<br />

girl disappeared from the same<br />

location on exactly the same day<br />

thirty years before, Leo is more<br />

convinced than ever that there<br />

is a ritualistic element to the<br />

disappearance.<br />

The plotline is rather<br />

complicated and keeps you<br />

guessing right to the end.<br />

It contains loads of intrigue, local<br />

gossip, infidelity, Wiccan rituals<br />

and establishment cover-ups.<br />

I particularly enjoyed the way<br />

in which McGarry interwove<br />

the death of the eighth Baron<br />

of Biggnarbriggs in the 18th<br />

century with the disappearance<br />

in the 70s and the more recent<br />

disappearance. Knowing that all<br />

the narratives will converge is one<br />

thing, but it’s still enjoyable finding<br />

out how. The descriptions of the<br />

Galloway countryside are brilliant and very evocative, with the<br />

glorious Biggnarbriggs Hall described in fine detail.<br />

The crime is always at the forefront of the reader’s mind,<br />

but it’s also enjoyable to read of the sumptuousness of the<br />

food, the stunning countryside and architecture, the flora and<br />

fauna of Galloway, and the range of alcohol being consumed!<br />

The characters are skilfully drawn, avoiding the obvious clichéd<br />

descriptions of rural denizens which other writers rely on. The<br />

close-knit community is also sympathetically depicted, reeling<br />

from the loss of one of their own.<br />

This is my first encounter with Leo Moran, having missed ‘The<br />

Ghost of Helen Addison’. However, I shall now seek it out. Moran<br />

is an intriguing character: a heavy drinker, unlucky in love and<br />

a staunch Catholic with a moralising streak. At times he may<br />

get up your nose, just as he gets up the noses of most of the<br />

characters in the novel at one point or another. But that’s what a<br />

good detective does. McGarry’s first Leo Moran mystery, alluded<br />

to above, was praised by The Herald and The Daily Record, quite<br />

rightly. I consumed this one in two days and I’m not even a major<br />

fan of crime. Tartan Noir lover or not, you’ll enjoy this book.


www.westendermagazine.com | 35<br />

Killer T<br />

by Robert Muchamore<br />

2<br />

Muchamore will be very<br />

familiar to most teenagers as<br />

his ‘Cherub’ series is extremely<br />

popular. This latest book deals<br />

with issues which are more<br />

adult in nature – killer viruses,<br />

death, sex, drugs both legal<br />

and illegal, body confidence<br />

and body image – which makes<br />

this a perfect book for those<br />

teenagers who have grown<br />

up with ‘Cherub’ and are now<br />

young adults.<br />

The setting is Las Vegas<br />

and the plot revolves around<br />

the two heroes, Harry and<br />

Charlie, whose lives become<br />

increasingly entangled through<br />

the machinations of big<br />

business and pharmaceutical<br />

companies ruthlessly exploiting<br />

vulnerabilities and fears in<br />

order to increase their profit<br />

margins. The action begins<br />

with an explosion in Harry’s<br />

high school and the science<br />

whizz Charlie gets the blame<br />

as she has been known to<br />

dabble with explosives and<br />

chemicals. However, her evil<br />

sister has set her up and she<br />

has to serve time in prison for<br />

a crime she didn’t commit.<br />

There are four sections in<br />

the book and each section<br />

skips ahead years so that<br />

Muchamore can covers<br />

more ground. The strategy<br />

really works because we get<br />

a better understanding of<br />

the long-term impact of the<br />

‘modifications’ which many<br />

people undergo in order to<br />

feel better about themselves<br />

and to compete physically<br />

and mentally. We also get a<br />

better understanding of how<br />

big corporations play the long<br />

game in order to maximise<br />

their share of the market. It’s a<br />

sobering, terrifying book which<br />

all young adults should read.<br />

This is a book I’ve picked up<br />

and put down in Waterstones<br />

many times because I knew<br />

it would be uncomfortable<br />

reading, and I was right.<br />

Nevertheless, I’m glad I’ve<br />

now read it, uncomfortable<br />

as it was at times, because<br />

the searing honesty and<br />

McGarvey’s unwillingness to<br />

pull any of his punches make<br />

this a polemic which everyone<br />

should read.<br />

The book won the Orwell<br />

prize in 2018 and the judges<br />

commented that it was the<br />

book which Orwell himself<br />

would have wanted to read.<br />

It’s ‘The Road To Wigan Pier’<br />

for Glasgow and anyone<br />

who cares about poverty in<br />

Glasgow should feel compelled<br />

to read this book.<br />

McGarvey spends the<br />

earlier part of the book<br />

detailing his early life growing<br />

up in Pollok, including the<br />

premature death of his<br />

mother due to alcoholism,<br />

his estrangement from the rest<br />

of his family, and his descent<br />

into a life of alcohol, drugs and<br />

homelessness.<br />

However, this is not<br />

‘misery lit’, as McGarvey<br />

himself is keen to point out.<br />

It’s instructive and illuminating<br />

and demonstrates how easy<br />

it is for a life to spiral out of<br />

control, but all the more so if<br />

it’s a life of poverty. For those<br />

on the left looking for an anti-<br />

Tory rant, you’ll be not only<br />

disappointed but will be forced<br />

to confront the complacency<br />

and complicity of the left when<br />

it comes to dealing with the<br />

complex issue of poverty.<br />

This book is uncomfortable,<br />

honest and essential reading.<br />

Poverty Safari<br />

by Darren McGarvey<br />

3


36 | www.westendermagazine.com


www.westendermagazine.com | 37<br />

valentine treats<br />

Shop local this 14th of February and source the best gifts from our<br />

amazing array of independent gift retailers. Here’s a few tempting<br />

ideas to get you started!<br />

Dansk Smykkekunst Necklace &<br />

Bracelet from £24.90, Cassiopeia<br />

Valentine Bouquets from £35, approx. £50<br />

as shown, Hyacinth House Floristry<br />

Glossy Lips Notebook by Nuuna of Germany<br />

£27.50, CoLab Store<br />

Rose & Champagne Diffuser<br />

£32, Spirito<br />

Harris Tweed Hip Flask and Cuff Links<br />

£29.99, Cassiopeia<br />

West End Suppliers<br />

Cassiopeia, 165 Hyndland Road<br />

0141 357 7374 cassiopeiaonline.co.uk<br />

CoLab Store, 11-13 Dowanhill Street,<br />

0141 570 1766 colabstore.co.uk<br />

Hyacinth House Floristry, 950A Crow Rd<br />

0141 571 3517 hyacinthhousefloristry.com<br />

Spirito Gifts, 317-319 Crow Road<br />

0141 337 3307 spiritogifts.com


38 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Artist-In-Residence<br />

Pascale Steenkiste<br />

WORDS NICOLA MAULE MAIN IMAGE GREGOR REID


www.westendermagazine.com | 39<br />

An Energetic Day at the Studio<br />

©Pascale Steenkiste<br />

Standing in the light filled clubroom of<br />

Partickhill Bowling and Community Club,<br />

the sandstone tenements of Crown<br />

Mansions on North Gardner Street<br />

overlooking the pristinely cut grass, I think of<br />

a bygone age – when the dress code for lawn<br />

activities such as tennis was white ‘slacks’ for<br />

the gentlemen and ankle length skirts for the<br />

ladies. Indeed the clubhouse and grounds<br />

developed in 1905 were also originally home<br />

to a couple of tennis courts, now the row<br />

of windows along the length of the building<br />

offers pristine viewing of the deep green lawn<br />

that proudly facilitates bowling as its primary<br />

sporting pursuit.<br />

While admiring the open space beyond<br />

the glass a bride and groom sweep past<br />

the gates towards the top of Gardner Street<br />

for photographs. ‘That happens quite a<br />

lot,’ I am informed by Margaret Renwick,<br />

a member of the club and it serves to remind<br />

me not only of how iconic this particular<br />

street is but also that this part of Glasgow<br />

with its grid patterned arrangement of roads<br />

and rising tenements, against the autumn<br />

colours displayed in the trees and light of<br />

that moment makes for a pretty and romantic<br />

scene.<br />

The purpose of my visit is to meet with<br />

painter Pascale Steenkiste who has taken<br />

up the position of artist-in-residence -<br />

something that is perhaps very unique in<br />

the wider workings of a bowling club but<br />

according to community convener Michael<br />

Hough, a natural progression from previous<br />

activities and relevant in their wider ambition<br />

to encourage the community to use and<br />

engage with the club facilities. ‘The idea<br />

of involving the club in art started with a<br />

collaboration with Hyndland Secondary<br />

School Art Department, which resulted in<br />

the display of over 20 drawings and painting<br />

by S2 pupils all depicting various aspects<br />

of bowling in a local setting. Soon after that<br />

we had the idea that others might also like to<br />

display their work,’ he tells me.<br />

Steenkiste was born in Ostend, Belgium<br />

but moved to Glasgow in 1986 to work as<br />

an au pair for two young children before<br />

marrying and raising her own family in the


40 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Maelstrom ©Pascale Steenkiste<br />

city’s West End. She attended art classes<br />

at The Glasgow School of Art and became<br />

fascinated with texture, colour and through<br />

the workings of imagination uses both<br />

elements to create energetic pictures – not<br />

only through her physical working of the paint<br />

on the canvas and the layers of thick impasto<br />

often evident but there is a dynamism in the<br />

colours applied.<br />

‘It is always tortuous covering the blank<br />

canvas, so I begin with a colour. That first<br />

covering never reveals the work, it is all about<br />

making space to allow the emerging feelings<br />

and emotion that will not arrive until the<br />

second, third or even fourth layering of that<br />

original work. It seems that first work always<br />

is about removing the ‘noises’ inside me,<br />

of finding a way to quieten the voice –<br />

the critic, the judgement, the superficial.<br />

The work itself only emerges to me through<br />

layers of complexity in colour, and texture,<br />

seeking a space to reveal the authentic<br />

“voice” within,’ she explains.<br />

Art that is abstract in form is by its very<br />

nature a journey between the artist and<br />

the medium in which they are working –<br />

only reaching a point of completion by the<br />

artists own determination – the process in<br />

between and the resulting piece generally<br />

independent from any visual references to<br />

the world beyond. Steenkiste knows the<br />

point of completion to be when she has ‘an<br />

overwhelming sense of peace,’ although<br />

admits to questioning that final brushstroke in<br />

the light of a new day.<br />

The titles of the work also reveal some<br />

of those initial ‘noises’ – An Energetic Day<br />

At The Studio expresses the vigour of the<br />

finished piece – a mixture of warm, earthy<br />

colours merging and rising with cooler tones<br />

of blue, purple and ice white. Interestingly<br />

there is a definite progression and movement<br />

within the picture towards a settling –<br />

lightness moves up the canvas, which I<br />

see again in Maelstrom and this parallel<br />

between a whirling unease and turbulent<br />

energy of uncertainty and disruption eases<br />

off through a purer white tone, in ascendance<br />

from the chaos below. Steenkiste’s latest<br />

work including, Summer 2018 moves away<br />

from one of sharpness to a softening,<br />

both in colour and texture – still remaining<br />

abstract but slightly looser in its effect. It’s<br />

this, together with more of this new body of<br />

work that was exhibited in the clubhouse in<br />

October of last year – a two person show<br />

alongside fellow artist, Jackie Henderson.<br />

Traditionally it would be that the artist-inresidence<br />

is taken away from their ‘normal’<br />

working environment to experience a different<br />

space for reflection and engagement.<br />

It seems that with further exhibitions planned<br />

and a series of continuing art classes<br />

facilitated by Steenkiste within the clubhouse,<br />

the role of the resident artist is playing out<br />

very well in this setting. A positive move in<br />

attempting to engage the wider community<br />

in the practice of artistic endeavor while also<br />

introducing them to an environment that may<br />

spark an interest in the pursuit of playing the<br />

sport to which the club was intended.<br />

pascalesteenkisteart.com<br />

partickhillbowls.co.uk<br />

Summer 2018<br />

©Pascale<br />

Steenkiste


www.westendermagazine.com | 41<br />

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42 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

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@ Gather<br />

by Zique<br />

Reviewed by Amy Glasgow<br />

The Partick food scene has come on<br />

leaps and bounds in recent years, but<br />

there are some spaces that have<br />

become an institution. One of those places is<br />

CafeZique, straddling that fuzzy border with<br />

Hyndland and known for providing one of the<br />

best brunches in the west end. So, when it<br />

was announced that they were turning their<br />

deli next door into an upscale restaurant, it<br />

was bound to cause a stir.<br />

And cause a stir it did. When Gather<br />

by Zique first opened earlier this year the<br />

positive reviews flooded in, so when I made<br />

my way there one dreary Friday evening, my<br />

hopes were high.<br />

The interior is immediately inviting, with<br />

soft grey tones, plush cushions and cosy<br />

window seats. The staff were welcoming and<br />

attentive, quickly showing us to our seats and<br />

explaining their modern European menu.<br />

The food at Gather is designed to be<br />

shared, as the name suggests, the ethos<br />

of the restaurant is about creating a space<br />

where friends, family or colleagues can<br />

‘gather’ to enjoy each others company while<br />

dining on a range of seasonal dishes.<br />

Guided by the staff, we decided to start<br />

with a platter of canapés, following this with<br />

four small plates between two. The menus<br />

change regularly, but expect offerings<br />

like crispy pigs head with potato terrine,<br />

langoustine broth with razor clams, burrata<br />

with grilled plums and venison ravioli with<br />

Jerusalem artichoke puree and chicken jus.<br />

Highlights included butternut squash and<br />

almond cappelletti (‘little hat’ shaped stuffed<br />

pasta), with cider and apple brown butter and<br />

parmesan. It was beautifully nutty and heavy<br />

with the distinct flavour of parmesan.<br />

www.westendermagazine.com | 43<br />

One thing I did notice though was that<br />

every dish we ordered came adorned with<br />

crispy sage leaves, which is not exactly a<br />

problem, but it did become a tad repetitive.<br />

Every dish we tried was delicately plated<br />

and it was abundantly clear that this was an<br />

autumn/winter menu, filled with seasonal<br />

produce and rich, warming flavours. The real<br />

magic came though with our final course.<br />

Based on recommendations from our<br />

knowledgeable server, we ordered the<br />

chocolate fondant tart with peanut butter ice<br />

cream and the doughnuts with coffee cream<br />

and chocolate sauce for dessert and they<br />

were by far the stand out dishes of the night.<br />

To put a chocolate fondant inside a<br />

buttery tart case is surely a stroke of genius,<br />

and no small feat considering how perfectly<br />

gooey the centre of this dessert hybrid was.<br />

The doughnuts too were beautifully soft on<br />

the outside and coated in cinnamon sugar.<br />

Dipped in the accompanying chocolate sauce<br />

and coffee cream, they were nothing short of<br />

heavenly.<br />

Despite the growing competition in the<br />

promising Partick area, Gather by Zique is<br />

surely here to stay. An ever-changing menu<br />

means you’ll never eat the same meal twice<br />

(although I’d happily eat that chocolate tart<br />

all over again) and the relaxed, low-key<br />

atmosphere is a recipe for a lasting legacy.<br />

Gather by Zique<br />

70-72 Hyndland Street G11 5PT<br />

0141 339 2000<br />

gatherbyzique.com<br />

Image I Brodie Reid


44 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Image I Gregor Reid<br />

Guilty Pleasures from<br />

Westender’s American<br />

Guilty in Glasgow<br />

Pleasures from Westender’s American in Glasgow


y Liberty Vittert<br />

K<br />

Shopping List<br />

www.westendermagazine.com | 45<br />

morning glory<br />

muffins<br />

Ooooooooft. That has been a lot of eatin’. Parties,<br />

holidays, more holidays, booze, more booze.<br />

My body is ready for a bit of a break. But I’m<br />

a picky eater and I like what I like, so all that<br />

green juice and chia seed palaver is not for me.<br />

But I do need to stop eating cake for breakfast,<br />

lunch, and dinner. But I like cake. This is a serious<br />

conundrum. But no fear! Momma Vittert is here!<br />

My mother makes these muffins all the time and<br />

they are THE BEST. They taste like cake but have<br />

carrots in them. For real. So if you want to fit into<br />

your pants, but still want to eat cake, these babies<br />

are for you. Packed full of oats, spices, carrots,<br />

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Just maybe skip the butter that I<br />

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180g carrots,<br />

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100mL vegetable oil<br />

80g apple sauce<br />

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46 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

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www.westendermagazine.com | 47<br />

@<br />

Roosevelts<br />

bar & kitchen<br />

Reviewed by<br />

Emily Donoho<br />

Roosevelts Bar & Kitchen is a new<br />

Woodlands gastropub on Park Road,<br />

occupying the space that used to be<br />

Tribeca. It opened in October, and it’s pretty<br />

much the same sort of place Tribeca was – a<br />

New York City themed bar and restaurant<br />

offering a mix of Scottish and American style<br />

food and drink.<br />

You can eat hot dogs or black pudding<br />

and haggis. It has a light, modern ambience,<br />

with the bar in the middle of the restaurant<br />

and a few sections of bare stone wall<br />

showing, perhaps as a nod towards the<br />

famous Bitter End of Greenwich Village.<br />

The walls are covered in New York City<br />

paraphernalia, artsy photos of NYC streets<br />

and yellow taxi cabs, shelves with little<br />

sculptures and toys, and the occasional<br />

license plate. Roosevelts has named dishes<br />

after presidents, like The Clinton, The Lincoln,<br />

or The McKinley, or presidential scandals,<br />

like, The Watergate, or The Lewinsky<br />

(please, can they name a burger after Paul<br />

Manafort?). The place feels a little like a<br />

cross between a cocktail bar and an IHOP, a<br />

24-hour American diner chain known for its<br />

pancakes.<br />

Roosevelts does in fact sell fat, fluffy<br />

pancakes, and while this isn’t a food review,<br />

I have to say that the pancakes are decent,<br />

American style ones. They got that right.<br />

While having alcohol with pancakes is a bit<br />

strange, they have burgers, hot dogs, and<br />

salads as well, for more traditional ways to<br />

accompany your drink. Or it would be great<br />

for brunch.<br />

If you like cocktails, Roosevelts is the bar<br />

for you. They have an extensive selection,<br />

and the bar staff seem to know what they<br />

are doing. I tried a margarita, and I was<br />

happy with it, but I’m the first to admit I am<br />

not a cocktail connoisseur. They also have<br />

an extensive range of American bourbons<br />

and wine. However, their beer selection was<br />

limited.<br />

On tap, they had Pabst Blue Ribbon,<br />

an American lager that I would not describe<br />

as good, and they had bottles from several<br />

breweries, including the Brooklyn Brewery<br />

and Bru Dog. While I’m happy to drink Bru<br />

Dog, I would have liked a greater choice.<br />

Every state in the US (and very much New<br />

York) is full of fantastic microbrews, and<br />

it would be brilliant to see some of them<br />

appearing in American-themed bars in<br />

the UK.<br />

Roosevelts Bar & Kitchen<br />

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48 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

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www.westendermagazine.com | 49<br />

Endmum’s<br />

West<br />

notebook<br />

by Michele Gordon thelanguagehub.co.uk<br />

Another year has passed, almost in a<br />

flash. Time to think about the new<br />

year. I don’t know about you, but I<br />

have never been one for making New Year’s<br />

resolutions. There are always the obvious<br />

ones like living more healthily, giving up bad<br />

habits or taking on new challenges. However,<br />

I always thought that you should make<br />

changes right away and not wait if you really<br />

feel like a change.<br />

This is probably why I have never really<br />

made any, or is it? I know a few people who<br />

make resolutions every year, some stick with<br />

them and some give up on them along the<br />

way, sometimes sooner than later. Personally,<br />

I have tried to make some but never quite<br />

succeeded. Each year, I merely wait until<br />

December to see if my current state of affairs<br />

needs any adjustments which never really<br />

seems to be the case.<br />

Maybe I deliberately don’t look for any in<br />

case they seem impossible to achieve? Why<br />

head for a massive disappointment. There is<br />

also the aspect of admitting to yourself that<br />

some things really should change.<br />

And why do we feel the need to make<br />

changes? Why is it we want to improve what<br />

we have or who we are? Apparently, the<br />

tradition dates all the way back to 153 B.C.<br />

and is by no means a modern invention. This<br />

would explain why New Year’s resolutions are<br />

on so many minds every year.<br />

January is named after Janus, a mythical<br />

god of early Rome. As you know, Janus<br />

had two faces — one looking forward and<br />

one looking backward, looking at the past<br />

and the future at the same time. The 31st<br />

of December became a symbolic time for<br />

Romans to make resolutions for the new<br />

year and forgive enemies for troubles in the<br />

past. The Romans would give gifts and make<br />

promises, believing Janus would see this and<br />

bless them in the year ahead.<br />

It is easy to see that the start of a new year<br />

feels like the start of something new, thinking<br />

about all the possibilities and changes you<br />

could and should make. Improving lifestyles,<br />

changing habits and striving to do better for<br />

yourself and others. I guess it is a bit like a 12<br />

months plan of where you want to be at the<br />

end of those 12 months. And once you have<br />

achieved your goals you can possibly make<br />

new resolutions for another year.<br />

With regard to children, I dare say this is<br />

what parents and families do rather naturally<br />

all the time anyway. We want to try our best<br />

for our children, be better at parenting,<br />

improve their opportunities and hope they<br />

forgive us all the things we got wrong. These<br />

are nice resolutions to have. And who would<br />

have thought? I seemingly HAVE been<br />

making New Year’s resolutions for the last<br />

12 years all along! They just so happen more<br />

subconsciously, at various times and are not<br />

necessarily only made in January.<br />

And the more conscious ones? I do<br />

have them too. My resolutions last year,<br />

however, were made in March when deciding<br />

we wanted to move The Hub into bigger<br />

premises for example and in October when<br />

deciding to open a new café two doors up<br />

from it two months later. Achieving both<br />

in such a short time is great and…very<br />

tiring. So, I thought I’d go for it and make a<br />

conscious New Year’s resolution for 2019:<br />

work less and free up more time for doing,<br />

well, absolutely NOTHING. At least every so<br />

often. It will be a hard battle to stick to this<br />

resolution and if I fail, well, there is always<br />

next year or somewhere in between. Guten<br />

start ins neue Jahr!


50 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Health Matters<br />

GP Dr. Pamela Leggate, of Glasgow West Medical Practice,<br />

looks at heart health in young people. Normally associated<br />

with ageing, heart problems can be devastating for the<br />

young and raise all sorts of important questions.<br />

‘The trouble is we think we have time,’<br />

Buddha may have said…<br />

As doctors, we are always encouraging<br />

people to improve their lifestyles – eat less<br />

fat, do more exercise, drink less alcohol,<br />

don’t smoke. All very true, for our future<br />

health we should do all these things.<br />

My problem is, I’ve never quite got to the age<br />

where I feel old. I always think, tomorrow I’m<br />

going on that diet; tomorrow I’m going to get<br />

fitter. Plenty time to sort myself out.<br />

So it’s quite scary when someone who<br />

seems relatively fit, reasonably healthy and<br />

younger than I am has a heart attack. Heart<br />

disease is commonest in older people.<br />

In men the average age for a heart attack<br />

is 66 and in women it’s 70. Often there are<br />

lifestyle factors, but in younger people there<br />

may not be anything obvious. You can be<br />

doing all the right things and genetics can let<br />

you down. So how can we prevent this type<br />

of premature heart disease?<br />

Well, if you have a strong family history<br />

of heart disease, ask about cholesterol<br />

and blood pressure checks. If we can pick<br />

up on these risk factors early on we can<br />

improve them with lifestyle changes and/or<br />

medication. It goes without saying that you<br />

should never even contemplate smoking!<br />

Sticking to a low fat diet and exercising that<br />

bit more could make all the difference.<br />

On the positive side, recovery can be<br />

quicker in a younger, fitter person. Surgery<br />

(bypass or stenting) might be an option.<br />

There is often a chance to change lifestyle<br />

early on and live a long and healthy life.<br />

There are, however, all sorts of questions a<br />

younger person might have after suffering<br />

any serious cardiac event. Why me? What did<br />

I do wrong? There is often a lot of associated


www.westendermagazine.com | 51<br />

guilt and anxiety, as well as questions about<br />

what to do next, which might not be so<br />

relevant for an older person. When can I<br />

go back to work? When can I drive again?<br />

What if I get chest pains? Can I ever have sex<br />

again?!<br />

With modern treatments and preventative<br />

medicines, all these things are possible!<br />

When you return to work will very much<br />

depend on the type of work you do. Discuss<br />

with your employer or with occupational<br />

health. DVLA rules state you can return to<br />

driving a week after successful treatment of<br />

a heart attack. Further chest pains should of<br />

course ring alarm bells and urgent medical<br />

attention should be sought. Sex is fine<br />

whenever you feel ready.<br />

What is even more scary is when children<br />

are affected by heart disease. Don’t panic,<br />

childhood heart disease is rare, but there<br />

are some conditions that babies can be born<br />

with that affect the heart valves and/or blood<br />

vessels. Sometimes an abnormality will be<br />

picked up in the womb when the mum has<br />

a scan, sometimes a problem will be picked<br />

up when the baby is born, if they are unwell,<br />

failing to thrive or<br />

struggling to<br />

breathe. In<br />

many cases<br />

where the problem is mild, it may not be<br />

noticed till teenage years or adulthood. Most<br />

congenital heart disease can be treated with<br />

medication or surgery. Mild cases may need<br />

no treatment at all.<br />

And what about the footballers I hear you<br />

ask? No? Well occasionally we hear about<br />

a super fit individual, usually a footballer in<br />

my experience, who collapses on the playing<br />

field and needs a defibrillator to get going<br />

again. This is usually due to Cardiomyopathy.<br />

Basically the heart muscle is thickened and<br />

doesn’t function as well. It is an inherited<br />

condition which rarely causes serious heart<br />

rhythm abnormalities during exercise.<br />

Most people with cardiomyopathy can<br />

lead a normal active life but you might be<br />

advised not to take part in competitive sport.<br />

In high risk individuals a small automatic<br />

defibrillator can be implanted to ‘reboot’<br />

the heart if the affected person collapses.<br />

As there is a definite genetic component,<br />

family members should be tested.<br />

So, although heart disease mostly affects<br />

older people, there are some conditions that<br />

can affect younger people like myself (ahem).<br />

Healthy diet starts<br />

tomorrow!


52 | Westender www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Magazine Promotion<br />

Legal Matters<br />

I’m so sorry<br />

Words from Donald Reid, chairman at Mitchells Roberton:<br />

If Donald can help please email him at –<br />

dbr@mitchells-roberton.co.uk, or call 0141 552 3422.<br />

Some years back I had a wee shunt in<br />

my car. I was turning left into Byres<br />

Road. I looked right and saw it was clear,<br />

turned left and went into the rear of the car in<br />

front of me thinking it had moved on when it<br />

hadn’t. Just a tap but a visible scrape on both<br />

bumpers.<br />

The other driver emerged and as I got out<br />

of my own car I was thinking that insurers<br />

always tell you never to admit liability on the<br />

spot as it could spoil your insurance claim.<br />

‘I’m very sorry,’ I said. ‘My fault entirely.’ She<br />

smiled, looked at the bumpers and said:<br />

‘Och it’s nothing, just forget it.’<br />

Being the outstanding lawyer that I am,<br />

I insisted we exchange addresses and phone<br />

numbers and said I would call her later that<br />

day just to check that after thinking about it<br />

she didn’t want to take it further. So I called<br />

her, apologised again, she assured me she<br />

had no wish to pursue the matter and we<br />

parted with friendly banter. I sent her some<br />

roses.<br />

Now suppose I hadn’t apologised.<br />

Suppose, stony faced, I had said we would<br />

need to exchange particulars and call our<br />

insurers. I expect she would have chewed<br />

me up for carelessness, maybe called the<br />

police to the scene, got her insurers involved,<br />

sent her car to the Mayfair Rip-off Repair<br />

Company, trashed my no-claims discount,<br />

and generally fried me. I took a risk in saying<br />

sorry, but it paid off.<br />

Well here’s some legal advice that might<br />

interest you. It’s the Apologies (Scotland)<br />

Act 2016. It says that if you apologise that<br />

can’t be used against you later if court<br />

proceedings are started. It’s the first piece<br />

of legislation I’ve come across in a long time<br />

which actually encourages people to be nice<br />

to each other. Try it.<br />

It might surprise you to know that<br />

solicitors sometimes make mistakes. If it’s<br />

a serious enough thing a complaint can<br />

be taken to the Scottish Legal Complaints<br />

Commission. I have spoken with senior<br />

officials of the SLCC. They say that in a lot of<br />

cases all the client was wanting was for the<br />

solicitors to admit their error and apologise,<br />

but they never did. If only they’d said sorry,<br />

the client would have been satisfied and<br />

might even have been happy enough to stay<br />

with the same solicitor.<br />

But instead of an apology they got<br />

the brush off, leading to the whole thing<br />

escalating, a formal complaint being pursued,<br />

months of hassle as the SLCC deal with the<br />

matter, and general misery. So the advice I<br />

give to my fellow lawyers has to be to think<br />

about apologising if it is right to do so.<br />

It can’t hurt and it might even heal. Speaking<br />

for myself of course I am perfect. I just don’t<br />

make mistakes.<br />

Mitchells Roberton Solicitors<br />

& Estate Agents<br />

George House<br />

36 North Hanover Street G1 2AD<br />

0141 552 3422<br />

www.mitchells-roberton.co.uk


Accountancy<br />

Matters<br />

by Bruce Wilson & Simon Murrison<br />

Westender www.westendermagazine.com Magazine Promotion | 53<br />

2019 is the beginning of the end<br />

of the tax return as we know it<br />

From April 2019 VAT registered businesses<br />

turning over more than £85,000 pa will<br />

be required to submit their first quarterly<br />

return using software and keep their records<br />

digitally. This leaves very little time to make<br />

changes to accounting processes.<br />

Surprisingly not everyone is digital<br />

ready.<br />

Make it your new year’s resolution to get<br />

your financial affairs in order. With the right<br />

digital software you can resolve to fulfil your<br />

financial promise to HMRC and keep your<br />

business on track all year round.<br />

How will quarterly tax returns work in<br />

practice?<br />

Instead of filling in your quarterly totals using<br />

HMRC’s online portal your software must<br />

talk to HMRC systems and upload your<br />

quar terly records to HMRC automatically.<br />

The accuracy of your submission still<br />

depends on you inputting all information<br />

correctly. The advantage gained by updating<br />

quarterly is you effectively manage cash flow<br />

throughout the year and accurately calculate<br />

your next VAT bill.<br />

Will quarterly tax returns affect SMEs<br />

and the self-employed?<br />

Quarterly VAT reporting is phase one. Over<br />

time HMRC will roll out Making Tax Digital<br />

to all taxes (currently scheduled for April<br />

2020). Companies, certain landlords and the<br />

self-employed will be required to submit tax<br />

returns quarterly.<br />

Here are 7 reasons to go digital now:<br />

• Smoother transition, less stressful<br />

• Automation saves time<br />

• Increase accuracy, no mistakes<br />

• Manage cash flow all year round<br />

• Know tax bill in advance<br />

• Avoid HMRC penalties<br />

• More time reduces fees<br />

Murrison & Wilson, CA is a full service<br />

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business and tax planning. Get in<br />

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0141 290 0262<br />

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muwca.co.uk


54 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Homes & Interiors<br />

Farrow & Ball<br />

by Susan<br />

Robertson<br />

the<br />

Velvet Touch<br />

A very current interior trend just now is using velvet<br />

across various complementary themes. The sumptuous<br />

fabric has become one of the most sought-after textiles<br />

of the season and has the power to change the ambience<br />

of any room with just a touch.


www.westendermagazine.com | 55<br />

Velvet has really had a revival recently.<br />

My memories of the fabric are normally in dusty<br />

maroon or burgundy, often in the form of an old<br />

tasselled armchair or dark, heavy curtains, and<br />

somehow tinged with a smell of pipe tobacco, but<br />

now it’s so much more. The colours and prints<br />

available make it a great choice for adding a<br />

touch of luxury to any part of your home, and the<br />

wonderful sift texture adds a depth and a warmth<br />

to any look.<br />

In particular, you will see velvet used in bed<br />

heads, indented with soft covered buttons. This<br />

looks lovely in a pale warm grey, coupled with<br />

dark, floral printed wallpaper and crisp white<br />

linen. Top it off with a couple of contrasting,<br />

small print cushions, and a silky throw to make<br />

a simple bedroom into a sumptuous boudoir.<br />

Or bring that into your living room in the<br />

form of a muted soft, cosy velvet sofa. Punctuate<br />

this with some bright contrasting cushions to<br />

create a comfortable and inviting warmth that<br />

impresses, as well as envelopes its guests.<br />

This is the key area we see lots of velvet<br />

just now as it works really well for sofas and<br />

armchairs. It has an approachability to it,<br />

and that wonderful tactility that just makes you<br />

want to kick off the shoes and snuggle in. At the<br />

same time – it has an elegance and a glamour<br />

that can create a truly stunning effect. These<br />

statement sofas look amazing in deep, dark tones<br />

and beautiful in inky navy or rich teal. Not only<br />

are these super-soft to lounge on, but they add<br />

a striking touch of wow factor to the simplest of<br />

rooms. This effect works really well as a contrast<br />

against natural woods and crisp whites.<br />

Alternatively – there are some fabulous bold<br />

tones available too. You can access all the colours<br />

of the rainbow in furniture now. I recently saw<br />

a lovely combination of rosy pink velvet, with<br />

sage green wood – this was quite unusual and,<br />

accessorised with creamy marble side tables and<br />

light, floral prints created a lovely fresh look.<br />

Firm colour favourites for me though are<br />

rusty vibrant orange, and bright bottle green.<br />

Use these as bold statement pieces in a minimal<br />

room. Add a touch of metallic sheen to pull out<br />

small features, like using warm copper lamp<br />

details in accessories throughout the room.<br />

Pick this out in a lamp, or a candle holder for<br />

example, and this just sets off the luxury of the<br />

velvet beautifully.<br />

This velvet look is so versatile and impactful,<br />

it’s really prevalent in several key trends this<br />

season. Its luscious statement quality means that<br />

you can merge it boldly into various seasonal<br />

trends. One of these is an ‘Under the Sea’ theme.<br />

This circles around scalloped shapes which work<br />

particularly well in velvet furniture, again bed<br />

heads and chairs in particular. Then, reflecting<br />

this wavy, sea theme are the curves of shiny


56 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

Homes & Interiors<br />

scales and shells which can be brought through<br />

subtly in fabrics and prints on cushions and<br />

curtains. Scalloped tub chairs in blues and<br />

turquoises work beautifully as a starting point<br />

to hang the entire theme together and have a<br />

classic touch of ‘art deco’ to them.<br />

This looks lovely accessorised with little<br />

golden seashells and mixtures of blues and<br />

greens, or pale rose and warm coppers. Look<br />

out for the new fan-shaped tiles available to<br />

use in bathrooms or halls for a real mermaid<br />

touch. Think about the pearlescent radiance of<br />

the inside of a seashell, and pull that into the<br />

accents of your room, to add a touch of mermaid<br />

shimmer to your living room.<br />

Another look of the season reflects this<br />

through a theme of ‘stars and constellations’.<br />

Touches of gold, suggestions of planetary<br />

activity in your accessories come together to<br />

complement your white backdrop, and subtle<br />

starry symbols bring a sense of fun and interest<br />

into your fabrics.<br />

All of these have a sense of a common theme<br />

running through them of bold, art deco<br />

influences, velvet statements and shiny accents.<br />

You can have great fun picking and choosing<br />

bits from all of these looks to create an opulent<br />

retreat, or focus on a starry or a seashell theme<br />

and make sure everything travels together<br />

down this route.<br />

Nancy Smillie<br />

Farrow & Ball


www.westendermagazine.com | 57<br />

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58 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

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Homes & Interiors<br />

www.westendermagazine.com | 59<br />

Twist of Tweed<br />

In the colder months, it’s natural to warm towards thicker fabrics,<br />

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heritage and there are many ways to marry this with modern style, and<br />

intersperse them into our homes and handbags.<br />

Thistle Cushion,<br />

£75, Cassiopeia<br />

Stag Head Doorstop,<br />

£15,<br />

The Store Interiors<br />

Harris Tweed Chair,<br />

£235 each, The Store Interiors<br />

Tweed Footstool,<br />

£178, Nancy Smillie<br />

Harris Tweed Notebook,<br />

£16.99, Spirito<br />

Cassiopeia, 165 Hyndland Road, 0141 357 7374, cassiopeiaonline.co.uk<br />

Nancy Smillie, 53 Cresswell Street, 0141 334 4240, nancysmillieshop.com<br />

Spirito, 317-319 Crow Road, 0141 337 3307, spiritogifts.com<br />

The Store Interiors, 26 Munro Place, 0141 950 1333, thestoreinteriors.co.uk


60 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

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www.westendermagazine.com | 61<br />

Homes & Interiors<br />

Seasonal trends in the home, like those<br />

on the catwalk, touch on all aspects of<br />

the time of year and the societal psyche<br />

finds Susan Robertson.<br />

In the<br />

Farrow<br />

& Ball<br />

by Susan Robertson<br />

Mirrors are another<br />

great option, pick<br />

frameless battered<br />

mirrors from charity<br />

shops and make a shape<br />

on the wall with them!<br />

If we’re feeling bold and daring, this will<br />

show through in our sense of style in our<br />

homes, lifestyles and our wardrobe.<br />

The same also goes if we feel in need of a rest,<br />

a bit of a detox perhaps. That’s why often, we<br />

can have totally different trends ongoing at<br />

the same time, reflecting different elements of<br />

ourselves and the season we’re in.<br />

At the same time as the bold and vivacious<br />

velvets and golds are welcome in our homes,<br />

there is also room for the complete opposite,<br />

the blank canvas of rooms, the nude palette.<br />

This look is like a breath of fresh air to those<br />

easily worn our by the chaos of the Christmas<br />

season, and – depending on your home, it can<br />

always be a good option to always have just a<br />

touch of this, at least in one room, or a hall or<br />

entrance area, as a respite from the busyness<br />

of life.<br />

The nude palette is exactly what it says,<br />

think of nakedness as colours and textiles,<br />

layered and draped in an appealing manner


62 | www.westendermagazine.com<br />

and there you have the starting point.<br />

The colours should not be cold, they should<br />

have warm undertones of milky white, peachy<br />

cream and creamy grey. This creates a sense of<br />

calm that is also cosy, and makes a wonderful<br />

look for a bedroom retreat or a soothing<br />

bathroom.<br />

The way that you move from bland to<br />

beautiful in this type of look, is to think in<br />

layers, zones and textures. Use a few varying<br />

tones of creams and warm greys on different<br />

walls for example as a starting point. In<br />

alcoves, and behind shelves – add extra interest<br />

and depth with some patterned wallpaper,<br />

go for something that is still very understated<br />

in colour but just adds an interest to the eye<br />

in a space. This means that the design of the<br />

wallpaper, serves to add extra texture, without<br />

detracting from the sense of understated calm<br />

that you are creating.<br />

Another option for wallcoverings, if you<br />

choose an accent of any type, along with your<br />

layers of nude, consider an old faded map.<br />

Something that just has the faintest sense of<br />

what it used to be, merged with that lovely<br />

pale tea-stained edging and this looks great in<br />

behind a shelf or in a desk alcove or under the<br />

stairs. Make sure it’s of somewhere relevant<br />

and dear to your family, it’s your home after all.<br />

Create pieces of art, simply by layering<br />

painted shapes on the wall and hanging some<br />

appealing objects, use kitchen gadgets or old<br />

wooden tools to create an interest for the eye<br />

that’s a little bit different.<br />

Mirrors are another great option, pick<br />

frameless battered mirrors from charity shops<br />

and make a shape on the wall with them. It<br />

adds depth, space and light to any room, and<br />

looks great in this context.<br />

Then start to think about the tactile elements<br />

of the room. Use rugged materials as near to<br />

their natural state as possible, such as pale<br />

wooden furniture or chunky light concrete<br />

structured tables. Think carefully about the<br />

textiles that you choose. Go for natural hessians<br />

and warm linens in your fabrics, you can even<br />

top off with a light touch of fake fur in a pale<br />

warm grey or milky white.<br />

Layer these up on natural wooden floors<br />

to create a room with depth and warmth. If<br />

you’re using this in a bedroom, it’s lovely with<br />

soft washed cotton bedding in pale mocha or<br />

warm grey, which I love with just a small touch<br />

of denim or pale blue as a token accent colour.<br />

Heavy knitted cushions and chunky pillar<br />

candles top this off beautifully, balanced by<br />

the odd touch of green plant or woody flower<br />

arrangement.<br />

To add extra interest and depth to such a<br />

natural palette, it works really well to think in<br />

zones, or areas that can be marked out slightly<br />

differently. One thing I love to see in a room is<br />

books. I’m not entirely sure of the root of this<br />

appeal for me personally but I feel they denote<br />

a sense of available time, of enrichment, and<br />

escapism, so when they are on show, these<br />

auras infiltrate the room. They also add an<br />

element of colour, and of interest – talking and<br />

browsing points for idle chit chat and breaking<br />

up the room a bit. So I like to have the shelves<br />

on show. And, there’s also no real need for<br />

the shelves. Old well-loved paperbacks look<br />

great piled up in rows along a wall, or in little<br />

stacks neatly placed up the stairs. Or – as we<br />

have them – piled up in a geometric structure<br />

on a lovely battered little trolley that well has<br />

outlived its usefulness but not its prettiness or<br />

quirkiness.<br />

So there’s a lot you can do with very little,<br />

and clever layers of warm beiges and creams,<br />

topped off with some careful thought around<br />

texture and accessories, means that you can<br />

create a creamy calm haven that’s still warm,<br />

cosy and inviting.<br />

Farrow & Ball


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