Archive for 2009

This morning was a time to reflect on the 71 young lifes lost in 1929 when there was a tragic loss of life at the Glen Cinema in Paisley. Today is the 80th anniversary of this tragic event. The Paisley Development Trust and Renfrewshire council both laid wreaths at Paisley Cenotaph this morning to commemorate the event, I will upload a video soon of the ceremony and add some images as well. Welcome and intro:- Father John Tormey Opening prayer (remembering 80 years ago, the kids who lost their lives in the Glen) Bishop Tartallia Reading:- Rev Briss Poem  :- Father Tormey Moment of Silence (laying of wreath) Martyn R,  assisting first Emily Brown laying wreath on the trusts behalf and then Derek Mackay (leader of council). Prayers of intercession :- Father Tormey Our Father:-All Blessing:- Bishop Tartallia for more information on the cinema go to www.glencinema.co.uk where you can also buy a DVD commemorating the event too.

I would like to wish all our visitors and volunteers a very merry Christmas, may all of you be with your family's and have a great time.. thanks for everything you all have done this year.. It is and always will be very much appreciated... All the best... Brian

Multiple Sclerosis sufferers in Renfrewshire are to benefit from more than £22,000 which was raised by this year’s Provost’s Charity Ball. Renfrewshire’s Provost Celia Lawson presented a cheque for £22,722.04 to Glenda McKenzie of MS Society Scotland. The massive total was raised at the ball which was held at Mar Hall Hotel, Bishopton, in November. The ball featured a charity auction which included a full set of Harry Potter books signed by JK Rowling, which alone raised £3,500, a holiday for four, VIP tickets to see Runrig in concert and an overnight stay at Mar Hall. Provost Celia Lawson said: “The ball was a great night but what made it extra special was the knowledge that all the proceeds were going to such a worthwhile cause. “MS affects a larger proportion of people in Scotland than in many other countries so there are sadly many people whose lives are affected by it. I am delighted that through the generosity of all the guests we have raised such a fantastic amount which will go towards supporting MS sufferers within our community.” Glenda MacKenzie, Fundraising Manager, MS Society Scotland, said: "The MS Society Scotland is absolutely delighted to accept this cheque following the wonderful fund raising efforts of the Provost and her team. All the money will be used to benefit people in the Renfrewshire area who are affected by MS.”

Really very sad to hear this. The death of a former managing director of News International Scotland - and brother of broadcaster, Andrew Neil - has been announced. Jim Neil died last week, after a short illness, aged 70. He was also a former news editor at the Sunday Times Scotland. Before, he was editor of the Paisley Daily Express. In an obituary in the Times, former Sunday Times Scotland editor, Gerald Malone, writes: "Will there be such a phenomenon as gentleman journalists in this rapid-fire, digital news age? Probably not, but Jim Neil... was just that in the 1970s, 80s and 90s - the last of the glory days of newsprint and local journalism, when the pace was slower and the voices sometimes kinder." read more here.

There seems to be someone missing from this bunch of Elf's "maybe hes on the run from the rest of us lol" anyways it made me laugh pretty hard so please enjoy.. Despite the recession hitting paisley bad this year members of www.paisley.org.uk have pulled out all the stops to entertain the people of paisley this year at paisley cross every day at midday http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/CVWUIuquhMkXrGjF thanks to Westender for this, just superb...  ;-)

Read today on The Sun website that Jim Sheridan has some doubts about the future of Glasgow Airport, read the following post from the Sun newspaper and see what you think, its especially worrying as the Airport is a huge employer for the area and is an economic giant in the area. THE collapse of Flyglobespan could be the latest pocket of turbulence to hit Glasgow Airport that sees it fall further behind its soaraway rival in Edinburgh. Glasgow is much more reliant on the holidaymaker flights that the Scots carrier provided before its collapse. It comes just weeks after the Scottish Government scrapped a plan to build a dedicated rail link to the Glasgow terminal. And BAA - who own all of Scotland's international airports - are facing a demand to sell off either Glasgow or Edinburgh to meet competition rules. Company figures show that Edinburgh is not only larger and busier but it's also attracting more investment. Now business and political leaders are expressing their fears over Glasgow Airport. Jim Sheridan, the Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said: "There is some concern as to the long-term future as a result of Globespan which follows the decision by the SNP not to invest in the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL). "Management at Glasgow Airport assure me that it continues to be a profit-making business, which heavily invests in its infrastructure. "Flyglobespan's collapse is awful news and the airport's thoughts are with staff and passengers, but they ...

Due to donations from some of our volunteers and with much kindness we thought we would help out an other organisation and setup hosting and purchase a domain name for them and build it into a website. In its heyday Paisley was full of cinemas and entertainment venues. People look back with fond memories at The Astortia, The Picturehouse, The New Alex, La Scala, The Alex, The Regal, The Kelbourne and The Glen. Today they’re all gone. Demolished, converted into retail units or Bingo Halls. If a Paisley buddy wants to catch a movie these days they have to travel to Linwood to a retail park. The whole of Britain was horror-struck on Hogmanay 1929 to learn of the dreadful cinema catastrophe in Paisley that afternoon, in which 70 children lost their lives and over 40 were injured. About 1000 boys and girls, mostly from working-class homes, were witnessing a matinee performance at The Glen Cinema, when dense clouds of smoke, caused by a film which had started to smoulder in the spool-room, were swept into the cinema. The cry of "Fire" was raised, and the children stampeded in a panic to the back entrance. This was closed, and in the frantic struggle which ensued many children were trampled and others were suffocated by the fumes. In 2003 a project was created to commemorate the terrible tragedy of the Glen Cinema. 2004 is the 75th Anniversary of ...

Dec 17 2009 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express IT’S only a few days old but already the ‘Paisley is...’ campaign has got the whole town talking. Every Buddies favourite daily is leading the way in backing the bid to boost our town. We helped launch the campaign and want to make sure all our readers know all about the positive events and good people living in our historic town. And we’ve been inundated with responses from folk wanting to come on board and do their bit to promote Paisley. Now Brian McGuire, who runs the popular Paisley.org website from his home in Glenburn, wants to spread the postive Paisley message all over the world. Brian set up his excellent website nine years ago and it has grown to become massively popular across the world, receiving an incredible 1.38 million hits last month. He explained: “I got it going to promote Paisley. I had just left the army and come home to Paisley and after touring the world, I realised Paisley isn’t as bad as everyone makes out. “At the time, the town was going through the drug wars, as they were called, which gave it a bad reputation but it really wasn’t that bad compared to some places I’d seen. “I started putting up pictures of Paisley and a bit of history on a website and it grew from there.” Brian is right behind the ‘Paisley is...’ campaign and already has the ...

Architect drawing of Paisley Town Hall in 1975 by Architects Rennison & Scott, it shows the town hall, with the Paisley Jail and Paisley Abbey beside it.. Click here for the image and website

Brand New Donald Malcolm Heritage Centre open at the Linwood HQ of Malcolm, I noticed this in a blog which features some pictures from the opening ceremony itself. The display isnt open to the public as yet but is available on request. (check the bottom of the page for links ) The prestigious new Heritage Centre---named after legendary company founder Donald Malcom, was opened at the company's HQ premises in Linwood, Paisley and was officially opened by his son and CEO of the Malcolm Group Andrew Malcolm, together with VIP guest Claes Nilsson, Volvo Trucks President Europe Division plus Volvo Trucks UK and Ireland Managing Director Göran Nyberg and Volvo Truck and Bus Centre North & Scotland Regional Managing Director Martin Merrick. Link to Big Lorry Blog news article The Malcolm Group