A Fire in Glasgow

We had a short trip to Glasgow a couple of weeks ago - mainly so Missy could see her idol, Sam Smith.  For those of you who don't know who Sam Smith is, Where have you been for the last couple of years? While I appreciate the boy can sing, he wouldn't be my cup of tea to listen to all night - a bit melancholy for my liking.  But that doesn't matter - Missy rates him highly and she had a great night.

Before and after the concert we walked the legs off ourselves around the city.  I like Glasgow a lot - it's a real city with real people.  I wasn't quite prepared for the number of people seemingly living on the streets, though.  It seemed like every 100 yards or so there was someone lying on the pavement with a cup or a hat for people to throw a coin or two into.  Most of them seemed the worse for wear, it has to be said.  I appreciate I live a bit of a sheltered life here in The Liberties but it was still somewhat shocking.

The night we arrived was also when there was a big fire just around the corner from our wee hovel of a hotel.  Most of the block was cordoned off and the police were all wearing masks - in case of asbestos fumes, we learned later - there was a noticeable smell in the air all around.  We were lucky our hotel wasn't inside the cordon otherwise we'd have been in a spot of bother but as it turned out we were OK.  The next day the fire crews were still in attendance and pumping water into the building, from which there were still eruptions of smoke from time to time:

HP5+, Adox paper, sepia tone.  Via the Nikon and a Vivitar Series One 35-85 varifocal lens. 

Yeh, rubbish print, I know :)

Apparently the fire started in a nightclub on the main shopping drag of Sauchiehall Street but the fire crews were really trying hard to save the historic Pavilion theatre towards the rear.  I think they succeeded.

I took the Nikon with me and a lens I recently picked up on the Auction Site for not too much money - an old Vivitar Series 1 35-85 varifocal lens.  Like a zoom, only you have to re-focus after changing the focal length - no big deal really.  F2.8 aperture across the range, which is nice.  It's a big heavy lump of glass and has a huge 72mm filter ring but it sits nicely in the hand and doesn't seem too much for the Nikon.