Exploring the East End of Glasgow

The East End of Glasgow may not be as quaint as the trendy West End of the city, but it’s a great place to spend a day soaking up Glasgow’s medieval and social history. Visit the oldest park in the city, go for a tour of Scotland’s most popular brewery and meet the locals at Glasgow’s famous Barras market. Here’s a guide to exploring the East End of Glasgow!

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After living in Glasgow’s west end for two years during my student days, it was time for a change. My flatmate and I packed up and moved to the outskirts of Denniston in the East End of Glasgow. And so began a love affair with this lesser-known part of Glasgow, its history and people.

This article features some of my favourite things to do in the East End of Glasgow. Leaving the city centre, we’ll start at the Cathedral, make our way up Duke Street, explore the Barras and end around Glasgow Green.

Where Glasgow was born: Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow was founded by the Catholic missionary Saint Mungo in the late 6th century. He built a small chapel and grew a community of worshippers from fishing villages along the river. He was later buried here and his shrine became an important place of pilgrimage.

Today, it is the site of Glasgow Cathedral, the oldest building in Glasgow and one of two medieval cathedrals to survive past the Reformation – the other is St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney). The Cathedral was consecrated in 1136, but much of the structure you see today is a few hundred years younger.

It’s free to visit the Cathedral and well worth it. Highlights include the crypt housing the Tomb of St Mungo (1200s), the artistically carved stone Pulpitum between the nave and choir (1400s) and the numerous colourful stained-glass windows.

The Volunteer Guides of Glasgow Cathedral offer free guided tours to visitors, six days a week (Mon-Sat). The congregation at Glasgow Cathedral is part of the Church of Scotland’s Presbytery of Glasgow and everybody is welcome to attend Sunday service at 11 am.

Fun fact: Technically speaking, it’s not really a cathedral anymore, since the Church of Scotland has no bishops. But the name stuck!

City of the Dead: Glasgow Necropolis

The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery on a hillside behind the Cathedral. It was designed in the French style of garden cemeteries. The first burial took place in 1832 and since then, over 50,000 people have been laid to rest here. There are 3,500 tombs and marked graves, and many more unmarked ones.

I love going for a walk at the cemetery, looking at some of the magnificent tombs and carved Celtic crosses. From the highest point – a statue of John Knox on top of a large column – you get a fantastic view of the city.

Explore the history of the Glasgow Necropolis with this self-guided walking tour created by Glasgow Women’s Library. The organisation Friends of the Glasgow Necropolis also offers tours throughout the year.

The biggest brewery in Glasgow: Tennent’s at Wellpark Brewery

Just below the Glasgow Necropolis, lies Wellpark Brewery whose most famous product – Tennent’s Lager – can be enjoyed in pubs all over the country. Long before Hugh and Robert Tennent started their brewery in 1740, their ancestor Robert Tennent brewed beer on this site along the Molindar Burn. And even earlier than that, it’s likely that monks from Glasgow Cathedral brewed beer on this site too.

Join a tour of the brewery to learn about its 450 years of brewing history and try a few beers as well.

If you like craft beer and/or feel hungry for lunch head next door to Drygate Brewery. You can try a flight of their unique beers at the bar or sit down for a meal at the brasserie.

Lunch on Duke Street

Continue up Duke Street from Tennent’s – it gets much livelier after you cross Bellgrove Street! Here you can find shops, restaurants and cafes for lunch.

For delicious food and coffee head to Tapa Organic Bakery on Whitehill Street. They bake their own bread but also have a little deli with sandwiches and cake. There isn’t much space here, but there are plenty of alternatives around the corner, for example, Coia’s Cafe and Tibo Bistro. If you like meat, head to Dennistoun BBQ.

Art & local flavours at The Barras

From Duke Street make your way down Bellgrove Street until you reach Gallowgate. On a weekend it’s well-worth following this street back towards the city centre and visiting the Barras, a large street and indoor market at the heart of Glasgow’s East End.

The market started in the 1920s and is a mix of market halls, street vendors, pubs, cafes and shops. It’s a fantastic place to experience authentic Glaswegian humour, hospitality and dialect.

It might not always be easy to understand the vendors and shopkeepers, but it’s an experience to browse the market stalls. Whether you stumble into a porn magazine shop in the back of a corridor, dig for vintage treasures in one of the many shops or simply chat about life with the cook who prepares your sausage roll – it’s fabulous!

At the centre of the market lies BaAD, a modern centre for art and design. You’ll find quirky shops, great eateries and countless creatives at work. Check their events calendar for upcoming markets, gigs or club nights.

Personally, I love the local flavour of the Barras even though it can be a bit overwhelming. I hope that art initiatives like BAaD, galleries such as The Pipe Factory and the use of St John’s across the road as event space will contribute to keeping this Glasgow classic at the forefront of the city.

Market days: Saturday & Sunday, 9.30 am – 4.30 pm

Top tip: Check to see if there is a gig on at the Barrowlands Ballroom, one of Glasgow’s most iconic music venues right next to the Barras.

Glasgow’s Oldest Public Park: Glasgow Green

When you’ve had your fill of market stalls and eateries, make your way to Glasgow Green, the oldest public park in Glasgow. People come here to relax or to be active. Throughout the year, the park also hosts fairs, events and markets.

Find a cosy spot in the grass or underneath a tree and spend some time people-watching. Or go for a walk along the river, the Clyde – you might even spot some wildlife on the shores.

Glasgow’s Social History Museum: People’s Palace

The People’s Palace lies in the middle of Glasgow Green and houses a museum about the social history of the city. The exhibitions tell you about the lives of regular people living and working in Glasgow, with a strong focus on Glasgow’s heyday in the 19th and early 20th century. Learn about steamies, prohibition laws and where all those Glaswegians went on holiday.

Entrance to the museum is free (just like most other museums in Glasgow). If the weather doesn’t play along, the winter garden is a nice space to escape to.

Glasgow Women’s Library

If time allows, pop into the Glasgow Women’s Library, the only accredited museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements. It’s a nice place for a relaxing cup of tea. You can peruse the lending library, see changing exhibitions or join one to their many workshops and events. All are welcome.

Dinner at WEST Brewery

After a jam-packed day of exploring the history, architecture and people of the East End of Glasgow, it’s time for dinner! WEST Brewery lies just across the road from People’s Palace and not far from the Women’s Library, so it’s an obvious choice for drinks and dinner. Their Beerhall menu specialises in traditional German cuisine while their beers are brewed after the German Purity Law and taste absolutely delicious. I particularly like the wheat beer Heidi Weisse.

The brewery is located in a historic building, the old Templeton Carpet Factory. This was once one of the leading carpet factories in the UK, producing carpets for countless stately homes, grand houses and even the Titanic! The outside was inspired by the Doge’s Palace in Venice.

Read more about Templeton and the 1889 disaster that killed 29 women who worked at the factory here.

Another one of my favourite restaurants in the East End of Glasgow is Celino’s East, an authentic Italian restaurant and deli on Alexandra Parade. It’s a little out of the way from Glasgow Green, but if you like Italian food, it’s well worth the trek.

Hit the pubs

Here are a few pubs to enjoy a some drinks in the East End of Glasgow:

• WEST Brewery: Stick around after dinner and taste every beer they have on tap – good luck!
• Drygate: An even bigger challenge for the beer belly is to taste your way through the beer menu at Drygate – a craft brewery at the food of the Necropolis.
• Redmond’s: Located on Duke Street this is a cool hangout for a few G&Ts on any night of the week.
• Duke Street pubs: If you like it more traditional, head to one of the Duke Street pubs. I personally have only been in the Duke for a pint once, but the Duchess across the road looks pretty neat too!

What is your favourite thing to do in Glasgow’s East End?

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