Wee Birdy

January 21, 2010

A wee trip to Glasgow, Part 3

Willow Tea Rooms
Take tea in Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed splendour, surrounded by wooden lattice-style screens, iconic high-backed ladder chairs and incredible leaded glasswork. There are several Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow, but the Sauchiehall Street location is the best as it retains most of the original architectural details.

Designed by Mackintosh for Kate Cranston in 1904, every detail was considered and carefully planned, right down to the teaspoons and the waitresses’ uniforms. The afternoon tea includes shortbread alongside the usual suspects of sandwiches, scones and cake, and is reasonably priced at £11.95.

Or you could go for the more traditional Scottish option of haggis, neeps and tatties.
The Willow Tea Rooms
217 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow G2 3EX
Tel. 0141 332 0521

Timorous Beasties
This local design studio has reached legendary status in the interiors world, with their fresh and subversive take on traditional wallpaper.

You might recognise their French toile-style London and Glasgow designs, which portray gritty urban scenes of homeless people, muggings and a dude pissing in the park. Great stuff.

If you’re not in the market for wallpaper, you can still get a piece of Beasties brilliance, with an excellent collection of lampshades, mugs and cushions.
Timorous Beasties
384 Great Western Road
Glasgow G4 9HT
Tel. 0141 337 2622
Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday 10.30am-6pm
Friday 10.30am-5pm

Voltaire & Rousseau
The sheer volume of higgledy-piggledy stock in Voltaire & Rousseau can be quite overwhelming, and it’s the book hoarder’s answer to Relics (complete with shop cat and dog).

It’s well worth spending some time to have a poke around – I picked up a wonderful old book, The Scottish Clans & Their Tartans, featuring 96 colour plates of Tartans. A wee gem.
Voltaire & Rousseau
18 Otago Lane
Glasgow G12 8PB

Click here for a Wee Trip to Glasgow, Part 1
Click here for a Wee Trip to Glasgow, Part 2

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