Arcade Odysseus - Glasgow Arcades

[RygarR]

Evening All,

As some of you may have seen, I've been running a series of blogposts on how the arcade scene developed in central Scotland in the 1980s. I've already covered Kilsyth (!), Falkirk, and Stirling.

In my latest post, I head west to Glesga for a trip down memory lane. I also make an inevitable pitstop at the infamous Barras market.

Check it out here!

 

[Chihiro]

Excellent write up I love seeing the then & now differences.

 

[Adamski]

Fascinating read.I have fond memories of playing Darius 2 three screen monster in an arcade near the train station that was across the road from another similar establishment.Also ventured down the Barras for moody Atari ST games and found some cabs in a small hut including the legendary Toki.Happy days.

 

[RygarR]

Fascinating read.I have fond memories of playing Darius 2 three screen monster in an arcade near the train station that was across the road from another similar establishment.Also ventured down the Barras for moody Atari ST games and found some cabs in a small hut including the legendary Toki.Happy days.

Cheers Adamski. There were countless wee enclaves of arcade machines that came and went without a trace. Many (most?) of them were never listed in the phone books - for reasons at least partly related to HMRC. It's hard to dredge them up from memory after all these years. If only we had some more photos, even of the outside! Weren't the Barras great? I'd never buy a burger there, though. The scenery and atmos. bitd put me in mind of Sweeny Todd.

 

[RygarR]

Excellent write up I love seeing the then & now differences.

Thanks Chihiro.

 

[Adamski]

Cheers Adamski. There were countless wee enclaves of arcade machines that came and went without a trace. Many (most?) of them were never listed in the phone books - for reasons at least partly related to HMRC. It's hard to dredge them up from memory after all these years. If only we had some more photos, even of the outside! Weren't the Barras great? I'd never buy a burger there, though. The scenery and atmos. bitd put me in mind of Sweeny Todd.

Loved the vibe of the Barras.Walk 10 minutes out of the centre of Glasgow and it felt like a different world!

 

[RygarR]

Loved the vibe of the Barras.Walk 10 minutes out of the centre of Glasgow and it felt like a different world!

It certainly did!

 

[Stokers]

I've been reading through your blog recently it's good stuff. I love the level of research that has gone into it - I was thinking of doing the same for the arcade scene Bristol.

 

[RygarR]

I've been reading through your blog recently it's good stuff. I love the level of research that has gone into it - I was thinking of doing the same for the arcade scene Bristol.

Thanks Stokers. I really appreciate that. And yes, you should absolutely get on the case for Bristol! We've all got our memories of this stuff. But I kindof feel that we're getting to the point where the last bits of physical evidence are on the verge of disappearing. Unless we talk about it, and get people looking for (accidental!) photos from back-in-the-day, they're all going to get binned in inevitable house clearances and lost.

 

[Stokers]

Thanks Stokers. I really appreciate that. And yes, you should absolutely get on the case for Bristol! We've all got our memories of this stuff. But I kindof feel that we're getting to the point where the last bits of physical evidence are on the verge of disappearing. Unless we talk about it, and get people looking for (accidental!) photos from back-in-the-day, they're all going to get binned in inevitable house clearances and lost.

Might pick your brains about how you get the info / photographs it's nice to have a history you can follow.