Sign of the times…
 

This workman had time on his hands when he climbed out onto the giant clock outside the old Glasgow Corporation Transport Offices, in Bath Street, to fit it with new, neon lights.

Perched high above the hubbub of trams and pedestrians on Renfield Street, he was hard at work making sure the huge clock gave Glasgow the right time.

The offices, on the corner of Bath and Renfield Streets, opened in 1894 and only closed in 1982. Today, the ground floor corner site is home to a restaurant.

If you still haven't quite got your bearings, that's Sauchiehall Street in the background, with the familiar corner site of the old Lumley's Sports shop peeking through, and the peak of the Pavilion Theatre reaching skywards. The clock blocks what would have been a good view of Lauder's bar.

Lauder’s, which has been serving pints since 1871, was owned by whisky maker Archibald Lauder. Back then it had seven bars, including a secret one upstairs, and even a barber's shop downstairs, where you could get a haircut, while getting half-cut, for one old penny.

Lauder’s corner was then known as ‘Poverty Corner’, because that’s where out of work music hall comics, actors, ventriloquists, acrobats, and singers would gather in the hope of finding a paying gig.

Even more confusing for younger readers will be the great hulking church on the left of the picture. Built in 1848, on the site of an ancient well, Renfield Street United Presbyterian Church served its city centre congregation until 1965, when it was demolished to make way for British Home Stores. A pretty poor swap, if you ask me.

Incredibly, even the clock in the picture - an Edward's Pulsynetic - was manufactured in Glasgow. Edwards, a Glasgow, jeweller and watchmaker established in 1839, started selling Pulsynetic clocks in 1914. The business was taken over by Mappin & Webb in 1976.

Norry Wilson – Lost Glasgow Facebook