Talks

Time: 7.30pm start. Doors from 7pm.
Tickets: £6.00 with refreshments, no booking necessary. Cash and card payments accepted.

Upcoming talks from November 2025 to April 2026

Tuesday 18th November 2025

Langside Halls – from Commerce to Community

Designed by John Gibson, Langside Halls began life in 1847 as the First National Bank of Scotland, at 57 Queen Street. It was dismantled in 1902, moved, rebuilt and repurposed by the City Engineer A.B. McDonald in its current location at the corner of Queen’s Park, as a public building to serve the local community.

The talk will discuss the history of the Langside Halls, its significance, current status and evolving proposals to establish and long term sustainable future for this impressive category A listed building.

About Chris Coleman-Smith

Chris is a registered architect and RIAS conservation accredited architect. Having graduated from Sheffield University and completed his master’s, he worked on a variety of historic and listed buildings, prior to moving to Glasgow in 2001. Chris was a Director at Hoskins Architects from 2008-2024. Before setting up his own practice, Chris led teams on significant listed building projects in sensitive sites including: the redevelopment of the Category A listed National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh and the redevelopment and Extension of the Aberdeen Art Gallery. Chris is passionate about the reuse and redevelopment of listed cultural, residential and commercial buildings, which requires sensitively balancing an understanding of building significance with current requirements and new uses. He has been working with Langside Halls Trust and Glasgow Building Preservation Trust on proposals for Langside Halls.

Tuesday 20th January 2026

Pollokshields and Glasgow from the Archive of Historic Environment Scotland

The talk will explore material from the local area and throughout Scotland. HES provides resources for your research, study and environment. The archive, which spans a vast range of buildings, archaeological monuments and industrial and maritime sites, is available via the online catalogue. Neil will look at how the archive can be used to tell the story of Scotland’s communities over time.

About Neil Fraser

Neil joined the heritage world with Scran in 2001. Scran became a service of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland in 2008, which then joined with Historic Scotland to become Historic Environment Scotland (HES) in 2015. His is the current Public Services Manager and is committed to helping the public enjoy the fantastic archive resources that HES has to offer.

Tuesday 17th February 2026

Talk TBC

Save the date! Check back again soon for more details.

Tuesday 21st April 2026

Scotland beneath the surface

The talk is a subterranean odyssey exploring the natural and man-made heritage under our feet. It's an illustrated journey across (or perhaps under) Scotland, but there are many references to Glasgow and hopefully includes something of interest to everyone.

About Bruce Keith

Bruce Keith is a retired chartered surveyor and environmentalist, having started his professional career working on several Perthshire and Aberdeenshire estates and in Edinburgh with the Department of Agriculture. Bruce moved to Peterborough in 1996 as Chief Surveyor with English Nature, but kept his Scottish connections, retiring ten years ago as Head of Property at SSE (the Hydro Board). In his retirement, Bruce has researched and written three books combining his passion for Scottish history, geography and landscape with his interest in heritage conservation.

Further reading

Frances Fowle