The Society is delighted to launch its 5th annual children’s art competition.
The theme for this year is Strathbungo: People And The Natural World.
The deadline for entries is Sunday 3rd March 2013 and you can download entry forms and find out more on the dedicated blog page.
I have added a painting of the old Strathbungo village in the 1820′s to the http://www.scotcities.com/cathcart/strathbungo_crossmyloof.htm web page.
Many thanks to Donald Watson for letting me know about it.
The painting is intriguing because the artist used two different positions to capture the final scene.
The foreground view is looking north-west from a spot near the entrance to Queens Park at Balvicar Drive.
The background panoramic view of the city is looking north-east from the summit of Camphill, near the present day Queen’s Park flagpole.
In his first position, the artist was looking over the village of Strathbungo (or Marchtown), seeing the same buildings shown in the old maps, with the tall chimney of the Titwood Brick and Tile Works in the centre of the picture, and the original church at the edge of the village to the right.
Here is a composite image of the 1820 painting overlaid with 2013 photographs taken from the top and bottom of the hill.
The photographs matched the painting almost perfectly, even after a period of 190 years!
You’ll recognise the viewpoints of the two photographs, the next time you’re in the park.
Any more contributions, suggestions or corrections to the http://www.scotcities.com/cathcart/strathbungo_crossmyloof.htm web page would be be very welcome.
It’s that time of year again – dig out your wellies and waterproofs and get together with your neighbours to give the streets and back lanes an early spring clean.
Our Brighter Bungo volunteers will be meeting this Sunday 20th Jan between 11am and 1pm at the corner of Nithsdale Rd and Moray Place to start a fresh quarterly clear up.
If you can make it do come along at any point to don hi-vis vest, protective gloves and pick up a litter picker. All ages welcome. Whatever we gather will be collected by the City Council’s Clean Glasgow team and taken away.
Tai’ Chi is a Chinese exercise regimen that improves strength, balance, posture and concentration. It has two components: a defined set of movements, or form, and push hands, which is done with a partner.
Tai’ Chi was first developed as training for the martial arts, a type of shadow boxing. Today, it’s a an art and a discipline in and of itself. Tai’ Chi is zero impact and is safe and beneficial for people of all ages.
Strathbungo Tai Chi:
The classes will be taught by Glen Williams of Five Winds. He can be contacted at williams.glen (at) yahoo.co.uk or at 07891760744.
For those who prefer a daytime class, there’s also this one:
That class will also be taught by Glen. You can book a place on 0141 569 1031 or by e-mailing toryglen.community (at) gmail.com.
If you’re interested but can’t make it this week, it’s all right to start next week or possibly even the week after.
Bungo at the Bells, 2010-2011
Wrap up warm but, if the forecast is to be believed, the gale and rain will have blown through by midnight! See you there.
The Scottish Government is developing proposals for legislation on community empowerment and renewal which in some ways mirror the land reform legislation which gave more power to rural communities:
“The proposed Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill will support communities to achieve their own goals and aspirations through taking independent action and by having their voices heard in the decisions that affect their area.”
The initial consultation on the proposed Bill took place between June and September but was given relatively little publicity. The Strathbungo Society only considered it at a late stage but thought it was important and submitted a response based on experiences of people living here. Community Engagement and Empowerment Bill Final Response
Our response was one of over 400 responses which were due to be analysed in November but have not yet been published. The website for this is at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/engage/cer
There will be further chances to comment on any draft legislation as it goes forward and the Strathbungo Society is keen to comment further on the process and get views of people living in the area. We would welcome comments on the blog or you can send to nickkempe@tinyworld.co.uk – Nick has offered to co-ordinate comments and our contribution to this and to provide further updates on the blog.
While the Bill is potentially a radical measure which could help empower people, there are huge issues – not least of which is what is a community? – and it also appears to be in conflict with certain other national legislative trends (eg the constant pressure to speed up planning processes which has arguably given communities less power than ever and the increasing centralisation of budgets, with community councils left with no financial resources and therefore power). We have tried to raise as many of these issues we could think of that might apply to Strathbungo in our response. We have also tried to raise some questions of whether the Bill will help us address certain longstanding local issues, not least of which is whether the Bill would give communities like ours more influence over how Network Rail maintains the railway. If you have ideas about local issues which you think are best addressed at community level please let us know.
Network Rail and their contractors Martin, started work as planned yesterday and accomplished a lot. It was sad to see the poplars go but this was balanced by the fascination of seeing the huge cherry picker being used to get their staff more than 30 meters in the air to take the trees down bit by bit.
It was also quite sobering to find that the first poplar to be taken down to the ground was rotten and therefore very vulnerable to being toppled in high winds – and we always seem to have a storm in the New Year holiday.
Residents of this part of Moray Place are very happy to have the dangerous trees removed and would like to heartily thank Network Rail for talking to us about the problem and then acting to make both the railway and Strathbungo safer.
The hard work for residents starts now. Winter will be used to plan for planting to start next year. Hopefully we’ll make Moray Place green, leafy and safe for the future.
If you were in Strathbungo in the first week of this year, then you may remember the very damaging storms we had. On the 3rd of January, one of the large poplar trees in the first block of Moray Place was snapped off at the base by the high winds. It sounded like an explosion and debris, catapulted by the huge tree falling, landed on the surrounding houses.
Thankfully nobody was injured but since then those of us living directly under the poplars have been very concerned about the safety of the remaining trees.
1 – 10 Moray Place residents have worked with Glasgow City Council and Network Rail to assess the condition of the trees and a number, including the poplars have been found to be dangerous. Although nobody likes to see trees lost from our distinctly leafy surroundings, it has been agreed that selected removal is needed to ensure the safety of residents, road users and the railway.
The issue has taken a long time to negotiate but in the past few weeks things have moved quickly and notice of tree-work was given today. Procedures were put through fast because it was felt to be urgently needed work. Signs and cones have been put out in the area.
On Wednesday the 19th of December through to Friday the 21st , contractors will be working on trees in the first block of Moray Place, between Nithsdale Road and Regent Park Square.
The tall poplars have been a distinctive part of Strathbungo, visible from all around the area and we will miss them. Their height is impressive but also a sign that they are past maturity and detailed assessment reveals they are now too big a risk.
Looking on the bright side, it gives us the opportunity to do some smaller tree re-planting on the verge, which is jointly owned by residents and Network Rail.
Watch this (green) space.
Local farmers market needs your support – Direct from the farm to you dinner table
The Strathbungo Society will be gathering for a wee Christmas Sherry (!) in the Bungo, Nithsdale Road from 7.30 on Monday, 17th December. You are all welcome to attend as it will be an informal gathering in the bar. We hope it will be an opportunity for people involved with the Society and events (past, present and hopefully future) to get together and have a chat without being crowded out with committee issues.
Hope to see you there!
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