try glasgow more

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ALPEN LODGE

― Madchen, Monday, 20 June 2016 13:41 (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was briefly in the Alpen Lodge on Friday evening (an ill-advised "one for the road" stop). I can't remember much, other than wandering outside to pick a drunk guy up off the pavement and lean him against the wall.

Apparently it was glorious madness in the Variety on Saturday.

Heard another piece of shitty Glasgow pub news today: the landlord of the State died.

Okay, so I am thinking about moving to Glasgow.

If it's not a completely stupid idea to move alone to a city you know very little about while your mental health is fucking terrible and actively debilitating (NB yes it is a completely stupid idea, I know), then maybe you can help me find out more about what I'd be getting myself into. I have a few friends up there and liked it there when I played Scottish gigs back in the day. But realistically I don't know much about what it's like now, and I never knew shit about the residential areas ever. I do know the music scene is good and my friends are mostly music people so no real questions about that aspect but my main questions are:

- Where to move to? I am currently scouting prices etc on the big property websites and looking at Shawlands/Mount Florida/Battlefield toward the South side and 'the West End' generally. Also Ibrox keeps popping up, but literally the only thing I know about that area is that every advert says 'the new BBC building is here, woo'. Am I looking in the right places? Anywhere else to look? Where to avoid?

- How are mental health services/support? I am kind of coming to a dead end with the NHS services here anyway, as they can't provide the long-term therapy they say I need, and are stopping my short-term therapy because it's not going to do enough. So I might have to *shudder* go private for a long-term therapist, but I would want to be in contact with some services. Also I notice that MIND don't cover Scotland - is there a similar group anyone would recommend?

- What's the University like? As a failed (dropout) PhD student who is idling toying with the idea of doing a second MA, am I likely to get in if I apply or should I maybe consider how much I want to do a second MA and leave moving until I've applied somewhere and got in? This is not the main reason for my wanting to move there, but is definitely a consideration. Are there regular open talks/research seminars I could attend as a non-student and meet academics?

- Is there much of a call for freelance TEFL people up there? I'm currently not in a fit state to work at all, but I am qualified to do that so it'd be good to know for the future. One of the few good things about being down here is that there are loads of foreign students/business people. (I would also be up for volunteering these services when/if I get back to health, as my CV is terrible, so if anyone knows organisations who might need that, that would also be pretty useful.)

Sorry if these questions are stupid or too specific. Any help at all would be great. I still don't know if I'm going to do this tbh but I figure the more I know then the more able I'll be to decide.

1. I live in mount florida & it's quite nice. good transport links into town, quiet 'residential' vibe, though there's not much to it. couple of pubs, a chip shop, few takeaways, local greengrocers. definitely would benefit from some investment to the 'high st'. suits us tho cos the flats are big & well-priced, and commute is short (so short I sometimes even get a train which goes away from town before looping back just so I can read.) not sure I'd recommend it for a newbie. is quite 'remote' from the west end which can be an issue if ppl having drinks/events that way. that being said, highest proportion of gigs is probably in the centre and there's an even split between south & west (maybe skews more towards the west.)

I've never lived in shawlands but I get the impression there's lots of 'students' and the just-graduated. the high street always has a lot of activity but again it's a bit run down.

other places to consider: dennistoun. 'up-and-coming'. has some nice pubs, cafes etc. well located for town, w/tenement flats at reasonable rents. I've lived there. was OK. suffers again from 'remoteness' west end

west end is where the action is but you pay for it, unless you're going to live in the lower part of maryhill, or woodlands/partick (both quite studenty due to proximity to university and (relatively) lower west-end rents).

glasgow university is well-regarded. as is strathclyde for certain subjects, I believe.

TEFL... dunno. I did notice a flyer for a place doing 'welcome to britain' courses in the local kurdish yesterday. there is a large immigrant population in the area just next to mount florida (govanhill) and of course plenty of international students (tho for the most part expect they speak english.)

re: 'remoteness'. it's all relative. glasgow is a fairly compact city and you can cycle from where I live in MF to the west end in about 15/20 mins. plenty of students means plenty of places selling affordable pub bikes too. cycling infrastructure is not the best but you get by

I'll have a think about these things, but briefly:

Ibrox is (1) not great and (2) not where the new BBC building is, really. Southside around Shawlands/Strathbungo/Pollokshields is a nice area in terms of pubs, cafes, culture - I'd probably avoid Govanhill if you're looking at the Southside. It's not *terrible* but not great either, there are better areas to be. The West End is mostly OK, but I reckon the south side would be more up your street. Don't know where you're looking, but http://www.s1rental.com/Property-for-rent/Glasgow/ is as good a place to start as any.

SAMH is your first port of call for mental health services: https://www.samh.org.uk/ I've used the voluntary sector option at https://thewynd.org.uk/counselling/ and they've been excellent on a "pay if/when you can afford it" basis, which was brilliant when my benefits were stopped. I've found NHS provision a bit hit and miss, but I'm not actually in Glasgow, so it may well be different. I can ask about for you though, I certainly know enough people with direct experience of services in Glasgow if no-one on this thread can help.

Someone else can probably answer your questions about the university, but again I've got people I can ask if they can't. There are three universities in Glasgow (Glasgow, Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian), and the University of the West of Scotland just outside Glasgow as well, so depending on what you want to do, there are plenty of options.

My brother-in-law is/was a TEFL person, I'll ask him what the current script is when I see him. There will definitely be opportunities for volunteering - check http://www.volunteerglasgow.org/ as a starting point. Might be worth checking directly with eg the Scottish Refugee Council as well.

Are you going to Indietracks this year? Feel free to bother me with any other questions over a beer if you are :-)

xpost

govanhill's quite a good place to live next to cos you have really good ~amenities~ (MILK cafe, bakery47, lidl, yadgar, kurdish, ally arms, heraghty's, that nithsdale road strip, rumshack). honestly probably wouldn't want to live there tho because I think the housing can be a bit of a crapshoot & there are some widely-reported (tho probably overplayed) social issues.

yeah, I wouldn't consider ibrox

Proximity to the Ally Arms = u&k

i liked living in anderston and finnieston and they were very well situated but i imagine the rents in finnieston are not so cheap now

Don't know what your subject is, but Strathclyde Uni's strengths are broadly in engineering, education, pharmacy and business. I'd choose it over Glasgow Uni for those (NB I was staff, not a student). I lived in Dennistoun for eight years and liked it a lot - you get a lovely big tenement for your money and it's only a 20-minute walk to Strathclyde. Friends in the west end won't come to your parties though.

If weather affects your mental health, consider the west of Scotland's low sunlight count. My mood improved significantly after moving to 'sunny' London.

Thanks so much guys, this is all really good info.

of course plenty of international students (tho for the most part expect they speak english.)

International students with English as a second or third language do often want extra tuition, as well as guidance in academic jargon, and they also (usually) have more money to spend on tutors than working immigrants. When I was doing my course I did think that I would like to specialise in academic tutoring and do a sideline in volunteer work for those who couldn't afford classes. Of course, things went to shit and I haven't used my qualification at all yet.

ailsa - no, not going this year. Just couldn't face it. I mean, I barely leave my flat at the moment so upping sticks and moving incredibly far away is kind of a ludicrous idea, but something has to change. Might as well be location.

You'd certainly get a lot out of the music scene here, I think. You have friends here, and I know people who have done what you're considering and it's worked out very well for them. I think it's a city that would suit you.

And I'll be sorry not to share late night beers and space-station-watching with you this year.

I'm also in Mount Florida - I think Cozen and I live on the same street as we often bump into each other - and it's a nice area, but yeah, you'd maybe want somewhere a little more central as a newbie.

A friend just got a 1bed in Govanhill for £300 pm (which is what I pay for a room in a 2 bed) and it's fine. But yeah, it's a bit of a crapshoot. The bit between the Queen's Park end of Victoria Road and Pollockshaws Rd is lovely though and still quite cheap. Also proximity to Allison Arms and Kurdish is a boon. Pollockshields/Queens Park would be my ideal location - handy for town and with its own community feel.

Shawlands I'm not quite as keen on, but it certainly has its nice bits, not least the 60s modular block. Glad Cafe is really good for gigs and there are fun places like the Ex Serviceman's Club which puts on indie and northern soul dance nights, as well as the odd gig.

Southside bias, but I kinda think the West End is over. There are no gigs there anymore - other than Laurie from Golden Teacher's infamous house gigs - and while it's got some nice places to eat and drink, I do feel it's lost something of its community feel. Perhaps there's also the thing of many of my friends having left the West End, so I don't find myself going over there all the time. Living in Woodlands or Maryhill is certainly handy if you're going to shows at Sleazys, the CCA, Art School etc but it's easy enough to get the nightbus south.

For arts subjects, Glasgow Uni is probably the place. And I say this as a recent graduate of Strathclyde! The latter has become increasingly business oriented - home of "useful" learning. Still a good English department, but you'll have more choice of people to work with at Glasgow.

I would agree the West End is over - I've always thought of it as just a mix of students and false glamour, to be honest. When I lived outside Glasgow I would never feel it worth the extra effort to travel a few extra miles beyond the city centre for it.

Finnieston and Dennistoun both feel like they're undergoing strong changes and while I'm a fan I might find myself less drawn to them in the next few years. emil.y I don't think you're much of a clubber at all from what I've seen of you on ILX but _jed's monthly club night near Finnieston is really good if anyone else needs to be told that.

I've only been here a few months but I really like living in the Southside. Most places are better than where I was (Paisley) to be fair, but I feel like there's so many amenities right on my doorstep, and it's so quick and easy to get into the city centre. I like being able to wander up to a main road and find a gig on for a fiver any night that I'm bored. I'm not in Govanhill but I think it gets an unfair rep - the troubles and tensions are overplayed massively, and I have friend living on a notorious street who loves his flat as it has enough room for him to have a full band rehearse.

I went to Strathclyde Uni and I didn't particularly enjoy the student culture at it. It's been nearly ten years since I started my degree, but I always felt the prevailing lad culture in the union was unpleasant in a way I've never noticed when I've been the QM at Glasgow Uni. We didn't have a student radio either but Glasgow's is really good. I'll second the postiive words about the English Dept at Strathclyde too.

I stay in Mount Florida too! I really like it here but there's not much of a music/pub scene nearby. It's a safe, quiet area with some really good parks nearby. I can highly recommend Queens Park, Kings Park, Pollok Park and Linn Park if you're into parks. There are good public transport links to the city centre (this applies to pretty much all of the southside) and you can cycle there in about 20 minutes or so. West End is cool for a visit but I wouldn't live there because it's expensive and there's a lot of hipster students around who make me feel old

The best areas in the southside are probably Mt Florida, Langside, Battlefield, Shawlands, Strathbungo, Pollokshields. The area around Paisley Road West (Cessnock, Kinning Park, Ibrox) is supposed to be pretty decent now too, it's an up and coming part of town I believe. I've got a pal who stays in Cessnock and he says it's cool

As mentioned above, SAMH is good for mental health advice. NHS services are about the same as other parts of the country as far as I know. Free/cheap counselling is also available from Lifelink and the Tom Allan Centre. There are quite a lot of private therapists available. You're probably aware of this, but the climate in Glasgow is pretty grim in winter especially and from November to February there's not much daylight at all.

Overall, Glasgow is a great place to live if you can cope with the cold and rain :)

I've got a pal who stays in Cessnock and he says it's cool

Oh hi dere.
Obviously I like Cessnock/PRW a lot but I'm not completely certain I'd recommend it to someone moving to Glasgow for the first time. I think the prediction was that the developments at Pacific Quay with the BBC etc moving in would make it into an 'up and coming', trendier area like Dennistoun or Finniestoun but it hasn't exactly worked out that way; instead it's just a fairly normal, friendly, affordable area.
Lots of decent local shops and very good transport links into town but despite that can feel oddly cut-off/separate from the rest of the city, which is why I maybe wouldn't suggest it for a newcomer. Also there's the sectarian/aggressively blue-nosed aspects that go along with the proximity to Ibrox, which I've just got used to tuning out, but sometimes you stop & realise that e.g. a pub flying the red hand flag is not normal or OK.

I agree with everyone that most parts of the Southside are a good bet. Try Southside More :)

https://youtu.be/k8WSDpz5-mk?t=2m28s

Oh yeah, I should have said the same about Dennistoun re. orange walks. They're pretty regular up Duke Street at certain times of year and the noise is a pita at 8am on a Saturday morning. And noise aside, the whole thing made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

That's one of my favourite Limmy sketches but I should point out that not everyone in Glasgow speaks like that :)

Hi emil.y, I moved up to Glasgow from London almost exactly ten years ago and have never regretted the decision. Glasgow has got pretty much everything you'd want from a big urban city but as cozen says it is still relatively compact and is - maybe Buchanan Street on a Saturday apart - nowhere near as 'full on' as London. Transport links are fine pretty much whatever part of the city you're in, and taxis are cheap (unlike in other parts of Scotland, where they can be shockingly expensive eg Aberdeen). And if you do decide you want a break from urban life, there's some magnificent countryside very close by - Loch Lomond, for example, is less than an hour away by train, and quite a few of the bigger islands are reachable on a day trip.

Until about six months ago I lived in Dennistoun, and was on the whole pretty happy there, although the tenement block I was in got to be quite dilapidated and dirty, a consequence of different people moving in and out. You can easily walk into the centre of town from Dennistoun, there's lot of parks, charity shops and supermarkets all around you, and as Madchen says, the only drawback is a particularly strong Orange Order presence in the area. There are definitely some boozers I wouldn't care to go in, and a few places where I would be wary of walking round after dark (Haghill!), but in ten years up here I've never once been threatened or attacked.

I would strongly suggest you getting in touch with a housing association in an area that you like, if and when you do move up here; they would take into account your mental health issues when they assess your needs, and you would have guaranteed accommodation at a low price, and no private landlord.

Good luck.

as someone currently at the end of his tether with london and considering heading back up north this is all good information for me too...

maybe you'll be able to answer this stew (or maybe someone else will) - what's glasgow's ~intellectual community~ in the philosophy / critical theory / cultural studies etc area like? i don't expect the london standard of 100 people turning up to see someone talk about their latest book on structuralist temporalities or whatever, but it would be nice if there was something to latch onto.

Well, if I move there then you'll have at least one jaded philo/crit theorist friend.

(Btw I never did get round to reading yr thesis, I just remembered. Will make that a priority read.)

i have for a while been trying to persuade other jaded philo/crit theorist friends to make the glasgow move without being entirely serious about it myself, maybe it's finally time for us to be the vanguard

Intellectual community is pretty good. Helps if you're tuned into uni/art school networks of course, but there are quite a few public events at both Glasgow Uni and GSA that will end up on Eventbrite - guest speakers, artist talks etc.

The CCA often has artist talks as well as writing groups and screenings, while community spaces like Kinning Park Complex, Govanhill Baths etc have quite a lot going on.

Glasgow Women's Library is doing really brilliant things - recent speakers have included Lindy West and Carrie Brownstein - and they've got lots of workshops, reading groups etc.

There's also a new Glasgow Autonomous Space, so it'll be interesting to see what happens around that.

Activist networks are also really strong - even if you're not interesting in activism per se, it's well worth signing up to the Glasgow AFed mailing list to get updates on events.

Happy to join any phi/crit/cultural studies groups btw! I have been thinking it would be good to join some sort of reading group for that sort of thing now I've finished my PhD. Must be something out there along those lines.

Glasgow is less of a destination for English schools than Edinburgh or Brighton but it does have quite a few students, particularly at Glasgow Caledonian, who would have issues with academic English to some degree. Glasgow, rather than Edinburgh or Brighton, also has more of a market for English leading to citizenship / settlement which may be of interest. Going down that route, it would be worth looking into developing a familiarity with the UKVI IELTS and Trinity exams as that does tend to be what a lot of people are looking for help with.

A bit tired for a full post right now, but I just wanted to give a wave from Dennistoun! I'm even a Haghill resident technically, but on the fringe, so I can actually leave the flat after darkness. :) I've been here for years and like it a lot.

I would concur with what everyone has said so far. I don't have any great fondness for the West End anymore, apart from usually heading that way when visitors come. Southside seems a lot more interesting nowadays. I love it, but I think Dennistoun maybe needs a wee while longer to really come into its own - changes are positive, but slow.

My mental health care experiences with the NHS in this area have been excellent also.

back visiting next month for a week, nowhere near long enough. mon eh glesga.

Was there for a paltry 5 days last week. Never enough time, despite it's size.

Our flat in Shawlands was robbed yesterday. Two laptops and a tablet stolen, and it seems to have been part of a spate of break-ins. Be vigilant, I wouldn't wish this on anybody.

:(

oh scott, i'm so sorry to hear that! were you insured? I mean it's awful either way.

Oh, that's shit. I have a few friends round Shawlands way, I'll be sure to let them know.

I had been insured until last year. We were intending to set up a joint account to pay rent/insurance/etc that we never got around to doing. I'm more upset about losing all my photos and demos and files - my laptop had a dud battery and keys missing so the actual laptop isn't a great loss, it's just that it had basically all my life on it. His laptop was the opposite though - fairly new and a model worth over one thousand pounds. It had a fair amount of his own music on it though, including stuff for a gig a week today. It's a fucking nightmare. I've resigned myself to losing all my digital media stuff but I am desperately hoping to get the actual machines back.

That's awful, sorry. I hope you do get them back.

Jesus, that's terrible. I completely forget about the value in backing stuff up. A stark reminder. Is there anything any of us can do to help?

I don't think so. I've been on ebay and Gumtree and all those Facebay pages religiously but nothing has turned up yet. Thanks though, I do really appreciate it.

worth a revive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIVkfCIunLc

Will never not be funny, that one.

Been a while since we failed to organise a Glasgow FAP, eh?

We were in the same room on Tuesday, does that count?

I guess :-)

lol that Rangers fan is priceless! Coincidentally I just clicked on this while listening to a radio program about swearing.

Is that Peter capaldi in the balmore glazing ad? 1:40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFoiJs7Injc

that is not peter capaldi :)

Is it not?

aye that's definitely no capaldi