Glasgow Central Station Fire

It looks like Dresden, I thought as I peered over the fencing and looked down Union Street. The dreich Glasgow afternoon provided the perfect setting for what was left of the building on Union Corner at the epicentre of Glasgow. The cupola that had adorned the building had been shed following a fire started at a vape shop. An unintended consequence of the 2006 Scottish Smoking Ban.

All trains into Central Station had been cancelled, even 8 days later, and the usual search for culprits was underway. The locally based high-reach appliances in Glasgow were not available, and others had to be brought in from Coatbridge, Falkirk and Edinburgh. Would they have saved the cupola? Who knows, and that will probably be the answer in a year or so when the inquiry is published. Unfortunately, there have been far too many splendid Victorian buildings subjected to fires or, more commonly, developer vandalism in recent years

The Lord Provost has suggested a five-star hotel on the site. After all, it is handy for buses and trains, and there is a Greggs just across Gordon Street. There were a few other voyeurs like myself, and Drury Lane was filling up with groups of middle-aged construction workers in search of a bevvy. I had spent too long sitting in a restaurant for a reunion lunch with work colleagues, and my hips were sore. I sashayed up Buchanan Street to catch the ever-efficient and comfortable Ember Bus back to the Park and Ride.

View from Hope Street with Central Station frontage

View from Renfield Street