This is a pretty area down a hidden alley with lovely colourful studios but honestly that's about…read moreit, I was expecting a lot more but there really wasn't anything to offer. I was expecting little boutique gifts shops but all I found was the hidden lane tearoom which to be fair looked cute, upholstery shop, yoga studios and not much else so I was disappointed, I wouldn't go out your way to visit.

The Hidden Lane has much to offer. Unfortunately, it's also a bit too hidden, so lots of people…read moremiss it, which means that the turnover of the retail businesses is fairly high, as they often don't get sufficient foot fall to sustain their business. The landlord really needs to get his act together, and get some proper signage and lighting. The entrance to it could be really cool - I'm thinking maybe some sort of art installation of neon lights in the lane entrance, or big neon arrows, or something along those lines. When you get into the lane itself, signage would really help with finding the businesses too, as it is a bit of a rabbit warren, and it's hard to work out where things are, even when you know they are definitely there. Signs with numbers would be a great help. Particularly in the winter months, when it gets dark so early, it can be a bit intimidating stumbling about a lane in the dark. Also, cars are allowed to park right in front of the doors pretty much, so even if there is a small sign that the business has put up, it's often easy to miss. Seriously landlord dude, get it sorted. The businesses that are there though, are typically worth seeking out. There is the AWESOME Hidden Lane Tearoom, a vintage style cafe, with beautiful cakes and teas. Currently, the lanes are also home to Paul Tasker Music - cool guitar teacher, A Shore Thing - a guy who makes great things from driftwood - top tip - you'll see a lot of his stuff in some of the pricier west end boutiques at much more expensive prices than if you buy from him directly.There's also the newly opened Sweetheart Creations selling up-cycled items, Dragonfly Boutique selling beautiful jewellery, art, and home-ware items (well worth a visit - they have some gorgeous stuff including items made from beach combed glass), Monday's Child, selling textile home-ware, and Emily Rose vintage. Aside from the retail units, there are also all sorts of people doing really cool things. Sew Confident offer sewing courses, which I really like the sound of, there's Shona Jewellery, who mostly sells online but works from a studio here, Bobbin & Fleck who do furniture restoration and upholstery, and lots more including a picture framer, a laser cutting and engraving place, a landscape architects' studio, and the New Hellfire Club, which is a not for profit record and book shop. Plus there's a recording studio! La Chunky Studios are right at the back left hand corner of the lane, and it's a fantastic place, offering high-end recording facilities for musicians, film-makers and voice over artists. I was lucky enough to have a look about recently, and hidden at the back of their studio there's a massive sunken room for hanging out in - it's so cool. So, The Hidden Lane is a quirky place, fully of brilliant people who deserve a better landlord - one who has the vision to turn this into a thriving hub of creativity and successful businesses. The Hidden Lane is cool already, but it could be utterly amazing.

Love, love, love the Glasgow Film Theatre! I was here tonight seeing Les Mis as a wee birthday…read moretreat from my parents with Colin, the Parentals, and my next door neighbour Grace. I forgot to mention in my original review that there's a coffee shop on the ground floor and a bar on the second floor, both of which are cosy and lovely and sell all your traditional bar and cafe like goodies! I just love how traditional and original the GFT is; just walking towards if from the outside, it looks like a gorgeous 1930's New York cinema or theatre and that's what I love about it! They also do a loyalty card which I think I'm going to invest in!

I don't frequent the GFT as much as I used to since I became a proud owner of a Cineworld card & I…read morehadn't been for nearly a year when we decided to go last weekend. The reason we came here is for one of the main reasons why the GFT is so brilliant ~ it offers a variety of films you just couldn't see on the big screen anywhere else in Glasgow. We saw a documentary about a Riot Grrrl singer/band who I loved & adored from the '90's (it's called The Punk Singer & it really is brilliant) - not really mainstream cinema audience stuff! Since we last visited the GFT has had a wee revamp & also now has an addition of a 3rd screen downstairs. It is essentially where the cafe used to be & when we first walked in I was a bit baffled as to where the cafe had moved too. It is now upstairs and downstairs towards the back they now have a wee coffee & snacks kiosk with a couple of tables/seats where you can also sit & wait before your film starts. We ordered some snacks & a coffee and sat for about 10 minutes. In this time I think I managed about 3 sips of my flat white which was hotter than the sun! *ouch* It was, once cooled, a reasonably nice coffee (note: they don't serve any soya/non-diary milk) if a tad pricey. Luckily for us our film was being shown in the new screen (screen 3) and as soon as we entered I was in love! It has been done out beautifully & it has a really cosy almost 'home cinema' feel to it. It is quite a small screen with only 60 seats in total. The seats themselves were lovely, soft leather style seats which were so comfortable AND they had cup-holders! Yay! Something I always felt was lacking in the other screens. As soon as we sat down we were smiling. The temperature of the screen was also pleasant - I usually find Cineworld or other cinemas too chilly at times so to not have to sit huddled underneath my coat during the film was a bonus. I love that the GFT exists in Glasgow because it truly is unique in this great city. The mix of old, new, Arthouse, World & more mainstream films being shown on any one week goes to show the eclecticism of it's audience & how well it caters for the film buffs in & around Glasgow. They occasionally put on theme or more one-off evenings ~ I remember in the early 2000's coming here to see local bands introducing their favourite films, some bands even performing on the night & other events where some bands would play along live to a film as it was being screened. Brilliant. They have a Loyalty Card scheme where by you earn points for each visit & points = money off tickets. They also have a Cinecard which is £32 a year for money off & points. You can also get the Orange Wednesday deal and the Sunday Herald Film Club 2-for-1 offer as well. So a trip here may not work out as pricey as you might originally think. It's a beautiful building and is well worth a visit at least once in your lifetime. I am sad about the demise of the cafe downstairs as I always thought it was really cool but if losing that means gaining a new (lovely) screen then it was worth it.

This year's festival was darn good I tell thee. It was brilliant with so much going on throughout…read morethe whole weekend. It was only through my man who spotted a photo challenge competition online that we found ourselves on the streets of the Merchant City. We both entered the 6x4 Panoptic Challenge that was hosted by Trongate 103. We collected our 6 themes and we only had 4 hours to take 6 photos and in the order of the themes, meaning there was no going back. This was going to be definitely a challenge especially with us going round together. "I spotted that photo opportunity first!!!" Actually having the photo challenge was a great idea as it made us explore the festival even more. We came across many street performers and checked out the many stalls in the Scottish and Continental markets. We went along to Merchant City Square where we had fun at The Festival of Fudge and most delicious it was. We met very interesting characters including policitians from Fudge Poltics to a professor of fudge where I got a history lesson in various fudge of the world. 10 minutes of my life I will never get back. We also headed along to the Britannia Panopticon where they were holding a bazaar with many wonderful goodies on sale. There was an amazing milliner and I just wanted to buy all her hats but alas payday was too far and a MOT was to near. I got her card and with a friend's wedding coming up I think a hat is on the list. Above is only just the Saturday, phew, but ach why not, we headed back along on the Sunday for more and especially as all the photographs were going to be on display at Trongate 103. Unfortunately neither or us won but to be honest we weren't that bothered, it was just so nice to see your work up on display. I saw walking bands, a carnival parade, live bands at the Creation Studios Stage and also some lovely Yelp staff where I got myself some lovely groovy new sunglasses. I've probably missed out half of what we saw as there was so much going on. It's a great weekend and well worth the visit. I cannae wait until next year's already.

Darn it all to hell! OK so this is an update on the festival (2011) and I'm searching for a way to…read moreaward an additional star to the folks... cannie be done... darn it all to hell! Yeah, so they did the unlikely and made it even better this year. More performances, more food, more stalls, more vibe, more moreness (yeah, they even managed to get me to make up a new word... moreness). If you read my review from last year, then you'll gather that this is a festival not to miss. Well, if this year is anything to go by then that statement not only desrves to be stuck to, but shold also be underlined, whacked into bold and maybe even a wee font size increase. Residents and visitors alike. This is a must.

Theatre Royal is the oldest surviving theatre in Glasgow, the original building dating from 1867…read morewhen it opened as Bayliss' Coliseum before being renamed as Theatre Royal in 1869. Perhaps uniquely, it has been rebuilt twice by architect C J Phipps following major fires in 1880 and 1895. Although not as prolific a theatre architect as Frank Matcham, Phipps' style is splendidly represented in this building, regarded as the largest and best surviving example of his work. But don't judge the building from its bland exterior; you have to see the wonderfully ornate auditorium to really appreciate Phipps' work. The building was home to STV's studios for many years, before being sold to Scottish Opera in 1975, and it has been their home stage ever since, and is also the main home to Scottish Ballet's productions as well as being a main-scale house on the UK touring circuit. The stage is not huge by today's standards, but it's still larger than many London theatres and is the largest Glasgow can offer at the moment. The theatre is currently run and programmed by ATG (as is the Kings), so Glasgow is well served by the big touring shows. Currently the building is having a new foyer added at the corner of Hope Street and Cowcaddens in the form of a round tower, which has been a major feat of engineering to fit in with the existing architecture. As part of this refurbishment parts of the auditorium have been altered to something closer to the original design, with old entrance arches and the seating layout restored to improve audience flow and sightlines. Like any theatre, this one has a few ghosts, and like the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, there was a fire-related incident here that resulted in new legislation coming into force. In 1969, when STV moved out of the building into their new premises next door and the theatre was being restored, there was a major fire in the sub-stage area. The fire department tackled this with the then relatively new technique of pumping suppressant foam into the fire. One of the fire officers Archie McLay, working in the darkness of the stage area, fell through the stage floor into the sub-basement of the building - this extends about 20m underneath the stage floor and is carved out of solid bedrock (it was a former quarry), so it was full of foam. He was not reported as missing until the fire was under control, by which time it was too late. Resulting from this dreadful accident, the fire department introduced a 'deadman switch' device to be worn by all officers, which would radio an alarm signal if the officer was stationary for more than a few minutes. This incident is now marked by a stone plaque in the pavement of Hope Street. There have been a few reported sightings of Archie in the sub-basement, and most staff who have occasion to be down there late at night when the building is quiet will report a spooky atmosphere and a feeling like they are being watched by ghostly eyes...

I'm fairly certain I've seen things here prior to the refurb, but for the life of me I just can't…read moreremember. However, since the refurb I've been several times: some plays and operas. And i like it. Vanilla Black's has moved from Sauchiehall St, and is now the resident café for the theatre - and it's turned out to be a handy place for me to pop in for a quick work lunch. The foyer itself is open, spacious, and very welcoming - the spiral staircase is awesome, and is becoming an iconic feature of the theatre. Beyond that, it's functional and does what you expect, and you'll tend to find quite a lot of less populist productions here. The only downside is the extreme pricing at the bar. Seriously, £11 for 2 bottles of cheap lager is disgustingly extortionist.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to actually visit The Lighthouse, and I'm even more…read moreembarrassed to admit that I *still* haven't been up the top to look at the view over Glasgow! Next time, I promise! The Lighthouse is tucked down Mitchell Lane and has a wonderful gift shop on the ground floor. I am a certified museum-gift-shop addict and this one is nearly as good as the one at GOMA. At the moment, they're selling some great stuff to accompany the "Hello My Name is Paul Smith" exhibition and I couldn't resist getting a couple of the pencils, an eraser as well as a nice card from the range. There's a lot of nice Scottish stuff if you're looking for a gift so it's worth a browse even if you're not planning on going to an exhibition. We were there to see the Paul Smith exhibition which is on the first floor and ticketed at £6 per adult. While I think the price is a little steep, it's a fab exhibition which was really interesting, stimulating and thought-provoking - I think we were only there for half an hour or so, but really enjoyed it. I'll definitely be back sooner rather than later for a visit to the viewing platform so I'll update accordingly! But for now, I'm already a massive fan so I can't expect the rating to change for this lovely gallery.

The Lighthouse is one of Glasgow's wonder free museums/galleries. It was one of the first galleries…read moreI visited when I moved to Glasgow and I've been back a few times since, either for a specific exhibit, a general wander, or to head up the Mackintosh tower for the amazing views over the city. Much of the museum is free to access, including the permanent Charles Rennie Mackintosh exhibits and the tower. Architecture is usually the theme of most of what they're showing off, although design in general is also showcased here, especially when it's by local and Scottish artists. On the ground floor there's a fantastic gift shop with lots of Mackintosh themed gifts. Usually they have items related to other exhibits as well. There's a cafe on level 5 too and although I've not visited it in a while I remember it being light and spacious and selling pretty darn good carrot cake. It's a really cool gallery to learn a little about the history of design and architecture in Glasgow, as well as learning about some more modern themes. It's also a great place for those views from the tower to get your bearings (although it's an awfully long way up a spiral staircase, so if you don't like heights it may not be for you). For me, on a sunny day, it's one of the highlights of the city centre. If you're visiting Glasgow or you have guests in Glasgow and you find yourself in the city centre then I'd say a stop at The Lighthouse is well worth the time. It would be a shame to miss out on such a cool place.

Although I have not been to the RAFA club for a few years now, it was one of Glasgow's more…read moreexciting spaces. Originally a social club for RAF veterans, it picked up a hip audience through the occasional DJ night. The incongruity of the venue- working man's club, good range of beers at a cheap price, long bar space that doubled as a dance floor- added to the charm, and it quickly become a centre for the more off-centre event: I saw a Kate Bush tribute night here, surrounded by fans who had dressed up specially as Bush, or in a fancy dress interpretation of Bush's songs. It isn't one for a casual visit: most of the time, the veterans are using it, but anything that happens here in the way of clubs is worth a visit.

Compass have been around for a while, supporting Scottish artists for around thirty years. Although…read morethey had an early exhibition at Tramway, they don't deal with the cutting edge: this is a good, tasteful selection, that is constantly rotating and offers something a little more original than a film poster for the bedroom. Situated off Sauchiehall Street, and down in the basement, it might be a little difficult to find, but it is certainly one of the best buying galleries in Scotland.

Bought a group booking for 10. Feel totally ripped off and disappointed in what was expected to…read morebe a great day out with family. As has already been said from as far back as 2015 ( so no hope of anything changing) the queues are just horrendous . Pre paid online for the tickets and still had to wait in a massive queue to obtain the vouchers for the rides. Noticed a staff member standing at the side who was actually scanning codes and giving out the vouchers. No formal line directing you toward him , just standing at side trying to get the queue down a bit with people approaching him and asking if he was giving out vouchers. While I expect to queue for the main /popular rides , this was on another level. After a full hour queuing for the Waltzer it was draining to realise nearly every ride was the same. The kids rides weren't much better. It was so crowded it was overwhelming and hot . We ended up frittering vouchers away on the stalls with no hope of winning anything just to use them up. We gave the remaining ones away . All food and drink was overpriced. £4-£5 for a single cone, £7.80 for x 3 kids Fruitshoots for example. This carnival has been running for years and it's hard to believe that a better operating system hasn't been introduced. It has everything there to make it fun and enjoyable and on a quieter day it probably is. Today it just felt as if the objective was more on getting as many bodies through the door as possible . Edit; I live within 20 miles not in Ca as the address weirdly shows ? I wish I did live there.

i visited the carnival today and the queue length was atrocious then waited 2 and a half hours just…read moreto get our tickets I was the disgusted at the way we got questioned about being carers and the way we proved id but that wasn't good enough for the staff at the carnival and also the queue wait for the rides was diabolical we waited 1 hour for a ride that lasted 2 minutes the busyness of the place was ridiculous and I will not be returning because the way and the money is ridiculous thanks but no thanks

This was an interesting place to tour. It presented the flat of a typical middle class person who…read morelived in the apartment for roughly the first half of the 20th Century. The story of an ordinary life was well presented in the context of the culture in which she lived. It was curated in an interesting way giving a vivid peek at ordinary life at that time including the Depression and War years (WWI and WWII). The Coffee Shop on the ground level across from the office is a nice place to finish the tour.

This place is absolutely fascinating, your literally stepping into a time warp right back to the…read more20th century with its lovely tiled wally close. The tenement which belonged to Agnes Toward consists of a bedroom, parlour, kitchen and bathroom and has the most beautiful mahogany furniture, gorgeous wallpaper, a brass bed, perfume bottles, old suitcases, an enclosed bed in both the parlour and the kitchen, which I think is great. Here you will also spot a Wally dog, brass taps and a range, a pulley and wringer, jam made by Miss Toward in 1929 but was never used, it really is a wonderful interesting unique experience, fantastic and I am so glad that it was preserved for us all to enjoy thanks to Anna.

This type of art installation becomes back to a time before computers became so popular and…read morewidespread and affordable. If you are into automata timed with music and lighting in which the art moves and tells a story of itself by its movements and items used, this is for you. You won't find this anywhere else. What a unique creation and a must see!

I'm really surprised more Yelpers haven't been here, as it's definitely a Yelpy type of place!…read moreIndependently run, this varied and unique display of surreal kinetic art/sculptures can't be found anywhere else. What to expect: -The full session takes about 75 minutes, starting with a sit-down 20 minute display set to music -You then walk around the rest of the exhibits, watching them come to life, again to music (if you can't stand for long there are chairs available) -It's all very surreal! I'd also suggest that if you don't like ballet (i.e. you need words/lyrics to appreciate stories being told) then you probably won't like this too much, but just for its sheer uniqueness you should give it a visit. Perhaps start with the 40 minute show and work your way up.