Glasgow West End: Schools Writing Competitio

Prize Winning Entries from our Writing Competition for Local School Children

What's Best About the West End of Glasgow

One of our aims is to have multiple voices on the Web site - our Schools Competition, which was sponsored by Stephen O'Neill of O'Neill Properties, has provided an opportunity to hear what local school children have to say about the West End. Thanks to all the children who participated and to their teachers for providing encouragement. The entries were very fresh, lively and informative and it was difficult to select the winners. This task was carried out by Julie Gorevan and Maggie Graham with Stephen O'Neill providing final approval. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about what the young people think about the West End and it's great being able to include their imaginative thoughts on the Web site.

Prize Winners

First Prize: Ashleigh Doyle - 1st year, Cleveden Secondary School. Ashleigh received a cheque for £ 100. Joint Second Prize: Priya Kharbanda - Laurel Park School and Mhairi O’Hare - 1st year, Cleveden Secondary School - prize winners each received a cheque for £ 50.

This is what they had to say about the West End:

The Best of the West by Ashleigh Doyle

The West End has got to be the most exciting, fun, wonderful and brilliant place I’ve ever been to. There’s just so many things you can do there. I say it’s the number one hotspot for tourists to come to for the best attractions.

Another thing about the West End is that it is full of all different races of peole. Just take a walk round Byres Road and it’s like taking a walk round the whole world! You do see some weird sights though. i mean the clothes the students wear! It’s like an explosion in a mattress factory!

My favourite thing to do in the West End is shop, shop and shop. One of my favourite places to go is Evolution; it’s a really modern shop that sells all sorts of things like blow up chairs, lava lamps and actgofibre lamps. Another one of my favourite shops is Papyrus. It sell s everything you could ever imagine from big to small. It also has a downstairs shop where you can buy all sorts of things for your kitchen.

One thing I love doing is going to the museum just across from the Kelvin Hall. it has lovely gardens surrounding it and it looks beautiful in the summer. one time they actually had the dead see scrolls in that very museum. Glasgow was the very first city to have them on display which was an extra special privilege for us in the West End. The section in the museum I like best is the Egyptian part. They have actual mummies in glass cases. The hieroglyphics are very interesting too - some of which have been preserved for thousands of years. The insect section reqally makes me shiver. They have insects from America, Brazil, Australia and Asia. Some of the insects are bigger than the palm of my hand! In the insect section they have a wasp hive which is half wedged in the window so you can see the wasps flying in and out. The museum is one of my favourite places.

Some of the architecture in the West End is very strange but fascinating! I love just looking at the hotels with hand carved chrubs and other strange things on them. The architecture on Charles Rennie Macintosh’s house is strange too. It was his own house which he built himself. It’s now open as a museum which anybody can visit. Glasgow was the City of Architecture 1999 because of its amazing buildings.

I love the West End so much. I think it is the heart of Glasgow and can be enjoyed by everyone.

The Best Bits About The West - by Ashleigh Doyle

The West End is cool, the West End is fab, If you don’t go to see it you must be mad

There’s pubs, cafes, shops galore, museums, hotels, markets and more. Everyone going at their own paces, All different cultures within different faces All the girls go down the disco to have a good time But boyfriends have their cars parked and get a £200 fine.

To put a cork in it let’s just say the West is the best in every way

The Best End of Glasgow by Priya Kharbanda.

The West End of Glasgow is in Scotland on the Clyde River. Glasgow is the largest city and a leading industrial centre of Scotland. There are many reasons why the West End of Glasgow is so interesting and special in it’s own unique way.

One of the resons why the West End is so interesting is because of the great collection of museums and art galleries which are the finest in Great Britain. Some of the museums show modes of transport like the Museum of Transport. It displays trains, boats, buses, bikes and cars from the past, present and future.

Other galleries and museums display types of art like the Gallery of Modern Art, which has paintings, sculptures and works of art from around the world. In the West End there are many museums and art galleries and these give a sparkle to the West End.

Many people enjoy shopping. Well, hey big spenders! You’re in luck! Glasgow is the second biggest shopping city after London. The West End of Glasgow has a wide selection of shops: men’s wear, women’s wear, children’s wear, sport’s gear, home furniture, jewellery, stationery, books, magazines and many more.

The West End of Glasgow is a great place for a day out. A beautiful place to go is the Botanic Gardens. It has a great range of flowers and tgrees. You can visit the Victorian glasshouses here and even have a picnic. There is also the Kelvingrove Park, where there are swings, shoots, climbing frames and even more for children to play on.

In the West End you can play a variety of sports. You can even go to a leisure centre for swimming and there are many sports clubs including tennis, swimming, football, badminton, netball, basketball, ping pong and many more!

In the West End you can go to a cinema where you can see the latest films. You can also visit the Scottish Ballet and go to operas, theatre and concerts.

Glasgow is famous for our top chef Nick Nairn. Nick Nairn has an excellent restaurant in the West End of Glasgow. In the West End you can find cuisines from all over the world and there are many great restaurants, bars, cafes and clubs. There are supermarkets where you can buy and make your own delicious meals and in some supermarkets you can try out food.

The West End of Glasgow has great education for young ones with nurseries and schools.
Overall I have to say the West End of Glasgow is EXCELLENT!

What’s best about the West by Mhairi O’Hare

Three friends Claire, Hazel and Katrina were all looking forward to a brilliant Saturday afternoon in the West End. They all met up at their usual place, Kelvindale Park. “So where should we go first? The Grosvenor to see a film?”. said Claire. “Well I was kind of looking forward to a nice swim at the Western Baths.” said Katrina.
“And I was hoping we could go rollerblading at Kelvingrove Park.” said Hazel.
“Hmmm”.
They thought about this for a few moments.
“Well. Why don’t we do all three?” asked Katgrina.
“Yeah! we’ve got all day anyway.”
“And we could always stop for lunch at Burger King.”
“Great this is going to be a fun day.”

And it was. First of all they pulled on their rollerblades and bladed round Kelvingrove Park. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. At the end they were puffed out. “I’m...all...puffed...out.” Claire gasped.
“I think we should all walk down to Burger King and have a rest!”said Katrina who was obviously more fit than Claire.

The three strolled down Byres Road until they reached Burger King.
“Next i think we should go to The Grosvenor Cinema to watch a film, ther’s a good one I’m desperate to see” said Hazel, with a mouthful of chips.
“Yeah and then we’ll have more energy for swimming. I want to try and jump off the really high diving board”.
“Let’s go then!”

On the way to the cinema they spotted the celebrity Kaye Adams.
“Hey look, isn’t that Kaye Adams?” asked Katrina.
“Guess what, the other day I saw Phil Kay the comedian” said Claire.

They really enjoyed the film they saw and when they came out the couln’t wait to got swimming. They had a brilliant time at the Western Baths and Claire managed to jump off the high diving board but Hazel was too scared. Afterwards Claire, Katrina and Hazel walked back to Kelvindale Park.

“This has been a brilliant day”. said Claire.
“Yeah”, Hazel agreed.
“I’m really glad we live in the West End otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do all these fun things.” said Katrina.
And she was right.

Tell a friend about this page


I was very interested to read the stories on the West End of Glasgow by the three pupils who won.

I left Scotland in 1948 as a 5 year old and have been homesick ever since, despite numerous trips back, including living in the UK for almost three years until mid-2002. I lived at No. 2 Willowbank Cres. and attended Willowbank Crescent School for a year before leaving, and even when I first returned in 1964 I could remember my way from the train station to Willowbank Cres.

Of course by the time I returned again in 1983 the whole area of Glasgow had changed quite a great deal and even today I can get lost trying to find my way around, although I can still walk from Sauchiehall St to my old house without any bother. I was very surprised in 1983 to see how much the area I lived in had changed, every close had locked doors on them with doorbells for each house - they were all open when I lived there. I also couldn't get over the number of Pakistani/Indian children in the school playground - all speaking with Glasgow accents. That really had me amazed.

I always regretted the fact that I left Scotland at such a young age and have just finished reading a very interesting book called "Finding Peggy" by Meg Henderson, formerly O'Brien (I presume that is her correct/real name). It gave a very good insight into life in Glasgow in the late 1940s (when I left) through the 1950s and 1960s, although it was in the much poorer area (Blackhill) of Glasgow from the West End. The book is a wonderful read. Meg did realise her mother's wish for her children and got out of the poor area and bettered herself.

Although I can remember bits of my life before I left, the book gave me a wee bit more knowledge than I had previously of how life must have been back then (enough to make one's blood boil when you consider the way women were treated). Even though I lived in the West End I doubt if my life would have been a lot different to the O'Brien's, as we were quite poor also, because my father gave quite a lot of his wage to the church which left us with not much.

I was last in Glasgow in May 2002 just before I came to Aus. and I still feel at ease there. The sight of the Scottish hills and the sound of the bagpipes still makes me homesick, but my children are all in Aust. so this is where I will have to stay now. But one day my I will rest in Scotland for ever as I have asked that my ashes be scattered in Ballater alongside the River Dee - Ballater being to me the best place in Scotland, away up in the highlands.

Congratulations to those children again on winning the competition - I know my reply is late but I've only just logged onto the site.

Regards,
Liz Noble
--Elizabeth Noble ( eccle at jeack dot com dot au ) from Australia on 26.1.2003; 8:34:57 Uhr

hey! i dont know if n e 1 will read this i just came across this page. Mhairi ur story was very funny! i didnt know u had written it but well done 4 winning!!!
--Hazel Watson ( hazel at tacl dot com ) from Scotland on 20.12.2002; 23:30:16 Uhr

Remeber me bob???? Mharai very good!!!!
--Mad woman!!! ( watch4thegap at hotmail dot com ) from Glasgow on 17.11.2002; 21:01:17 Uhr

Mhairi O'Hare - I think we have a future bestseller in the making! I was astounded by this fine piece of work, keep it up Miss O'Hare, I'll keep an eye out for you when you are rich and famous!!!

p.s. Is £50 all you gave this genius?
--bob ( toni260 at hotmail dot com ) from Scotland on 22.8.2002; 12:57:35 Uhr

okay right...
--Andrew ( andrewiswonderful at hotmail dot com ) from Scotland on 31.7.2000; 0:00:00 Uhr