The Greek Thomson Sixty Steps

Join us for Christmas Carols and fun at The Steps !

This year marks the 120th anniversary of a tragic fire at Glasgow’s Watson Street Warehouses- a disaster now largely forgotten in the city’s history.

On the night of 19 November 1905, a fire broke out in lodging houses that had been converted from Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s warehouses for the Millar brothers’ furniture business. The blaze spread rapidly through the overcrowded buildings, claiming the lives of 40 men and injuring many more.

The tragedy exposed the poor conditions in Glasgow’s lodging houses at the time and drew renewed attention on housing safety for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Dominic d’Angelo, Chair of the Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson Society, will revisit the story of the Watson Street warehouses in our next Strathclyde Group Winter Lecture:

📅 Thursday 20 November, 7.30pm
📍 St Andrews West Church, Glasgow
💻 Also streamed live via Zoom
🎟 £6 / £2 students

Book now to hear the full story: ahss.org.uk/news-events/greek-thomson-and-the-watson-street-warehouses

We are holding our AGM on 14th May @ CCH - with two amazing guest speakers!

Sherlock Holmes comes to the Sixty Steps on Sunday 17th September.

We're taking part on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September.
Looking forward to seeing you at our special corner of the city.

via The Alexander Thomson Society

Don’t forget to pop down to our Doors Open activities this weekend, 10am-5pm each day! Chalk will be provided.

We were very sad to hear of the death of Roger Guthrie, a friend and champion of the Greek Thomson Sixty Steps.

Many have been hugely inspired by Roger's tours on the history, heritage, and architecture of Glasgow at the West End Festival and Doors Open Day - or will have met him at work in the Mitchell Library Glasgow Room.
His dedication to unearthing and sharing fascinating pieces of history was unmatched, and we will miss his great sense of humour including tales of rescuing valuable pieces of Glasgow heritage from half-demolished buildings.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Here is another fitting tribute from Friends of Glasgow Necropolis: https://www.glasgownecropolis.org/roger_guthrie/

[📷 Roger Guthrie doing an Alexander Thomson talk at Sixty Steps in 2017]

Sherlock Holmes has come to the Sixty Steps !