Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom is one of the most recognisable and distinctive music venues that is known the world over.
We absolutely adore the building and wanted to take an in-depth look behind the scenes and share some gems that you might not know anything about.
Here are six things you didn’t know about the Barrowlands.
1. The original Barrowland Ballroom looked like this
The Barrowland Ballroom looked like this when it first opened in 1934 by Margaret McIver. The original 2-storey building was tragically destroyed by a fire in 1958. A couple of years later, the Barrowlands was lovingly rebuilt and reopened on Christmas Eve 1960, and today, the business still remains under the ownership of the McIver family. | Glasgow City Archives
2. Ever spotted the cartwheel on the ceiling?
The original building had a wee man pushing a wheelbarrow, the cartwheel of the massive wheelbarrow can be found above the main staircase to the ballroom today. This was saved and placed on the roof of the main foyer when the building reopened in 1960, and it has been there ever since. | Barrowland Ballroom
3. It was originally built as a ballroom
A concert at the Barrowlands - the scene looks shockingly familiar, minus the barrier, although we doubt there was any risk of a mosh pit breaking out while folk were dancing the jitterbug. As the place was designed as a ballroom. the dancefloor is made of Canadian Maple wood. Around 1988, it became clear that the original sprung ballroom floor couldn’t take the weight of the almost 2,000 strong crowd bouncing along to their favourite bands. To support the floor, 18 steel pillars were installed to spread the weight of the crowds. | Contributed
4. The Barrowland floor
Most of the flooring in the first floor foyer (near the cloakroom and merchandise stalls) is original and has been there since 1960, but sections of the flooring were replaced in 1988-89. A retro feel was maintained within the areas that were replaced, so vinyl sections which feature musical instruments and stars were chosen, and also a section of sheet music from the song cherished by Glaswegians - ‘I belong to Glasgow’ by Will Fyffe. | Jacqueline Paterson