Bungo Blog

A reminder to those interested in joining us for carols around Strathbungo that we plan to kick off at the Bungo Restaurant at six o’clock (pm that is not am) on Friday and spend the next couple of hours entertaining the gentlefolk of Strathbungo with a selection of carols.

The weather has perked up a little from last week but come prepared for rain and cold if not snow. If you have torches, lanterns, santa hats, reindeer antlers etc do bring them along. We have managed to secure the services of a clarinetist (you’re a star Dee) to lead the carols but anyone with a B flat instrument or who can transpose please do bring it along.

We need singers as well as folk who can knock on doors to collect for Shelter, who we will be collecting for this year. The more the merrier so do bring along the kids (Santa only brings presents to children who have sung carols!), the elderly parents (same argument, but with sherry) and neighbours you come across on the way.

A few of us are meeting at my place this evening at eight o’clock for a practice session so if you are interested in joining us for that do drop me an e mail and I will send you my address in Strathbungo.

Please note that, due to the festive working arrangements, some days that bins are due to be emptied will change over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

Bin Colour          Date Shown On Calendar        New Day & Date
Blue or Green    Sunday 25 December              Tuesday 27 December
Blue or Green    Monday 26 December              Wednesday 28 December
Blue or Green    Sunday 1 January 2012           Tuesday 3 January 2012
Blue or Green    Monday 2 January 2012           Wednesday 4 January 2012
Purple                Monday 26 December              Saturday 24 December
Purple                Monday 2 January 2012           Saturday 31 December

Visit www.glasgow.gov.uk/recycling or Phone 0141 287 9700 for more information.

We’re also in touch with the council to get Nithsdale Road litter bins emptied and fly-tipping picked up.

Southside Film Festival is back to celebrate Christmas with the Muppets! Don’t miss The Muppets Christmas Carol this coming Sunday 18 December at 5.30pm in The Shed, fun for kids and grown up kids alike.

After the success of Southside’s first ever zombie walk, we were going to have a muppet walk but decided there were enough people in fancy dress at this time of year. So dressing as a muppet to the screening is encouraged but optional!

Get your tickets now from Youngs’ Interesting Books, Skirving St, Shawlands or online at Tickets Scotland for some good old fashioned Muppet Christmas fun

The Muppet Christmas Carol (U), 1992, 85 mins

The Shed

Sunday 18 December, 5:30pm

Doors will open at 4.45pm with the screening at 5.30pm.

Ticket Prices:

• For kids (under 16s): £3
• For grown up kids (over 16s): £5

Glasgow City Council last year carried out a major public consultation asking people who use Shawlands Town Centre for their thoughts on how the area could be improved. The findings of this consultation, which generated 1240 responses, are published in the report below.

Results of Shawlands Town Centre Survey Published

Ensure Shawlands becomes a more desirable place to live and invest.

Addresses economic, place-making and urban management issues

Proposes specific ways in which the Town Centre can be repositioned to become a successful, thriving city destination.

Recommend a number of improvements to place management, public spaces, streets, buildings and the role played by business and customers in helping it to become more successful.

***STOP PRESS***

I hope you’ve spotted all the work going on at the old Fothers, well, we’re very nearly there. Hoping to open on Monday which is quite daunting as it should be one of the busiest weeks of the year!

It is looking great inside, gorgeous big windows letting in loads of lovely light. All the old chairs re upholstered, old bar top sanded and re instated, old tables with new tops. We’ve been very busy recycling and reworking.

We were delighted to find a site in Strathbungo and we’re really pleased with the way it has turned out. I hope you like what we’ve done and come and check us out soon.

Check out our Facebook page or give us a call if you have any questions,

all the best

Catherine

0141 423 0023- we’ll be answering from Monday!

A few of us thought that carol singing up and down the Squares in Strathbungo this Christmas would be a good community event – as well as raise a few bob for charity.

So on Friday the 23rd December we propose that everyone who is interested in joining us (we are hoping for upwards of 30 people) congregate outside the new Bungo restaurant at six o’clock and we will take it from there wandering up Nisthdale, down Regent Park Square, up Queen Square, down Marywood Square and then back along Moray Place. We’d stop every couple of lamp posts for a carol before moving on. We’d need both singers as well as volunteers to knock on doors collecting money for Shelter Scotland who are looking after people who find themselves homeless. I imagine that it would take a couple of hours and those interested could stop for a drink at The Bungo (or wherever) afterwards to recover.

If you have an instrument do bring it along and you can lead the singers. (Though please no bagpipes – not so good for accompanying singers!)

Don’t worry if you can’t sing – come join us anyway. Six O’clock outside The Bungo on Friday 23rd December. We’ll provide carol sheets will post the names of the carols on line a day or two before so you can remind yourselves what they should sound like (Youtube is great for that!). Bring warm clothes and a candle or two (you’ll need them to both see the carol sheets and to keep warm!)

Are you a violinist, cellist or accordionist looking for an local ensemble to play in?

The Viennese Ensemble is a group of musicians from Glasgow who perform a wide repertoire of Viennese and Eastern European music. Since forming in 1999, the group has played at bar mitzvahs, bookshops and weddings, at charity events, in museums, churches, hotels, Princes Square and the Merchant City.  It has also given more formal concerts at Mugdock Country Park, Adelaides Church and St Andrews in the Square.

The Ensemble was founded by Barbara Olding, a well known pianist and music teacher in the south side of Glasgow.

“The Viennese Ensemble is a mix of professional and talented amateur musicians.  We play a selection of popular, light music from Hungary, Romania, the Balkans and of course Vienna.” – Barbara

The Viennese Ensemble already has a couple of members from Strathbungo, including myself.  I can honestly say that the repertoire is a joy to play, and that the ensemble is a charming and personable group of all ages, from university students to retirees.  We rehearse on Wednesday evenings at 7:30, in the neighbourhood just south of Queen’s Park.  If you think you might want to join us, please e-mail me at “deidrem -at- btinternet.com” or Daphne Wassermann at “daphne -at- aquarius1000.plus.com”

The Christmas lights are lit, advent calendars open and we’re enjoying the first snow of the winter. Christmas in a big, Victorian city always has a magical feeling and this time of year really gives Glasgow a chance to show off. It’s amazing what’s going on on our doorstep – you could easily attend a festive event every day between now and Christmas Day!

One of my favourite events last year was the intimate one-man performance of A Christmas Carol at Gusto And Relish. Atmospheric, cosy and mesmerising. Iain Smith, artist & actor, will be performing at the cafe on the evening of Thursday 15th December. Tickets are £6.00. They will be serving coffee, teas, hot chocolate, homemade sausage rolls and mince pies. You can buy tickets at the cafe. If you missed it last year, I’d urge you to go along this year.

Looking for family-friendly events? There’s a Santa’s grotto on the next few weekends in Shawlands Arcade and a Victorian Christmas event a little further afield at Holmwood House this and next weekend. Pollok House has its now traditional teddy bear’s Christmas and children can make an appointment to discuss that all important list with Mrs Claus.

And there’s fun for all the family at local pantos, including Snow White at Queens Park Church (7th-10th Dec 7pm. Tickets £6/£7 423 6037) and Hansel and Gretel and Little Ulla at the Citizens. The Southside Film Festival makes a seasonal return with a special screening of The Muppets’ Christmas Carol on Sunday 18th December at 3pm at The Shed. If you can’t make Gusto’s A Christmas Carol you could try the National Theatre of Scotland’s puppetry version at Film City in Govan.

Throughout the Festive season, The Burrell Collection is extending its free family film screenings. Every day the museum is open they will be showing a family film, for free, from 2-4pm. They kick things off on December 18th with It’s A Wonderful Life and end on January 8th with The Sword In The Stone but there’s also a chance to see The Wizard Of Oz on the 30th and a whole host of other festive favourites. Space is limited but there is no advance ticketing, just pick up a ticket at the info desk.

There’s also an intriguing event taking place on Albert Drive on Sunday 11th. The Albert Drive Project has been developed with contemporary performance students from The Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly RSAMD). The event starts at Tramway at 1pm and the audience can view and participate in various events staged along the length of Albert Drive. It’s a free event, will last about two hours and aims to include all the community in a unique arts event.

And what about all that Christmas shopping? There’s a great choice of local shops and, as we’ve seen with Lady Drawers, if you don’t use them you will lose them. An afternoon in Shawlands got most of my shopping polished off last week but there’s more opportunities to shop at The Shed’s special Christmas Afternoon Twee events tomorrow and Sunday 11th December.

Two Strathbungo Society events on the horizon, first our informal December meeting and Christmas gathering is going to take place on the 12th. We’re planning on convening at the new Bungo bar/restaurant on Nithsdale Road which is scheduled to open next Saturday. They are cracking on apace so fingers crossed! And, of course, there’s the annual Bungo At The Bells Hogmanay event. Once again it’s outside 52 Marywood Square. We’ll be carrying out the usual procession beforehand, kicking off at 11.30, before congregating at the end of Marywood and Moray Place at 11.45. There’ll be mulled wine, mince pies, a big countdown and music to bring in 2012.

Let us know if you know of any local events we’ve missed. Any carol concerts, Christmas fairs or fundraisers going on on our doorstep? And if you go to any of the shows and events, tell us what you think.

I know we’ve already posted once about the Council’s consultations on the new city plan and open spaces but here’s a reminder that you’ve got just a couple of weeks to send in your views. The local libraries all have postcard packs that can be picked up for free, filled in and sent back with your views. As ever with these things, if you don’t contribute now, don’t complain later! A few of the issues got me thinking:

Plans to expand conservation areas and create new ones. Nice idea in principle but when enforcement of the existing rules is almost non-existent due to staff shortages and cutbacks and the plans contained in conservation area appraisals aren’t been carried through, wouldn’t it be better to concentrate on existing areas before expanding?

New high-speed rail link on Airdrie-Bathgate line. If there’s money for this, why not use it to complete the mothballed airport rail link project? Or how about the long-discussed crossrail scheme? It’s already easy to get in and out of the centre of Glasgow, what’s not so good is getting across town, from south to east or from east to west.

Cycle routes. Plans to extend them along green corridors are great but what about the not-so-green and all the cycle routes that stop dead for no apparent reason? Why not make use of areas like back lanes as pleasant walking/cycling routes?

And as for green spaces, can we look beyond our fantastic parks? What about greening up residential areas, particularly those with wide pavements and tenement properties without gardens. More trees on streets like Nithsdale Road and small green spaces on under-utilised ground such as the area around Sammy Dow’s and on Nithsdale St would really help to make the area more visually appealing and healthier.

But what do you think? It couldn’t be easier to respond. Get along to the library if you can, or read the documents online. The closing date for responses is December 12^th. You’ll find all the documents here: http://www.glasgowconsult.co.uk/glasgow/KMS/dmart.aspx?strTab=PublicDMartCurrent&NoIP=1

Not quite feeling festive yet? Well, we can’t magic up snow or a Christmas tree to rival the local monkey puzzle, but why not head down to your local Christmas lights switch-on?

It takes place this Friday, 2^nd December on Abbot St outside the Co-op from 6pm. There’s festive music, mince pies and usually a special visit from a certain someone.

Why not combine it with an afternoon of local Christmas shopping and a meal out, all within easy reach of Strathbungo?

STOP PRESS. A little bird tells me this Saturday is Shawland’s Primary’s Christmas Fair. Not sure of timings but events like this are normally 10-2 at the school. Hopefully they’ll have signs out on the day, or if you’re a Shalwands parent, post a comment on this thread and let us know!