iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

So, so long Lena Martell. How did I reach this ripe old age without knowing that Kris Kristofferson co-wrote One Day at a Time?

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The letters SPQR which prefix the firm's name are not a reference to Ancient Rome but to the firm's maxim "Small Profits and Quick Returns".

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Francis Spite, a native of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, came to Glasgow in 1876 and opened a grocery business in New City Road. After a few years of profitable trading he was able to move to the handsome building illustrated, opposite St Enoch Station.

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Longtime Lost Glasgow follower David Donaldson was intrigued when he spotted this old advert for Spite's Stores - obviously a once-thriving city business with various outlets; including an odd spelling of 'Byars' Road - so, I did some digging...

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Lost Glasgow @lostglasgow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Always nice to do a good turn for a mate. That's how we roll... A top afternoon of booze, beats and blethers, yesterday at McChuills, to help Joe Whyte launch his music memoir, Chaos From Cash. Things later got slightly vinous...

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A top afternoon yesterday of booze, beats and blethers, at McChuills, to help Joe Whyte launch his music memoir, Chaos From Cash.

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Lost Glasgow @lostglasgow.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Thinks... I shouldn't have had that last Negroni! On duty tomorrow, doing an 'in-conversation' with my muso mate, Joe, for the launch of his book, and then a full-set from Jericho Hill, at McChuills. Fun starts oneish, and all free...

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Lost Glasgow @lostglasgow.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Waverley will return to Glasgow and the Clyde coast for two final sailings on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October, bringing her 80th anniversary season to a close on her home waters.

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Lost Glasgow @lostglasgow.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

London got an eyeful, and an earful, this morning as this gallus Glasgow girl blew her hooter to mark her 80th birthday! PS Waverley, the world’s last seagoing paddle steamer, passed through Tower Bridge just after 9.30am this morning, as part of a special anniversary sailing on the River Thames.

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When it was taken over by Catherine Cranston, of tea and coffee fame, in 1886, she employed a young Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who added the bullseye glass and heavy iron grilles to the staircase, as well as internal, incised plasterwork decorations.

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You all so enjoyed last night's etching of Morrison's Court, here it is again, in 1948. The building facing Argyle Street, with the turnpike stair, was built around 1797, by John Morison, and was then on the extreme western edge of the city. Pic: Daily Record

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To the Gianassi famiglia, and all our Italian pals, thanks for bringing a taste of la dolce vita to grey old Glasgow. Grazie mille amici miei...

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It was the first proper Italian in Glasgow when it opened in the 1950s. While our tastes may have become more sophisticated over the years, there is still little better than stepping into the warm and friendly ambience of a family-run Glasgow Italian.

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Yesterday, my restaurateur pal Marco Gianassi - he of Battlefield Rest fame - shared some of his own foodie family history, a 1960s menu from his parents' eaterie; the Canasta Espresso Bar and Continental Restaurant on the now vanished Parliamentary Road. A mouth-watering thread...

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Nice - fab ambiance; mind you, it was the soft opening.

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Oh, and we accidentally set fire to the leather wine-list cover, on a candle. 'Can you smell burning? I can smell burning...'

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My usual date was unavailable, she's got 'stuff on' - so I took my big bro as my +1. Two Negronis before we even perused the menu. A nightcap in the Old Hairdressers, and home. Oh, and a 1960s Glasgow Italian menu incoming tomorrow.

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Just back in from a buckshee dinner at Sloan's in the Argyll Arcade/Morrison's Court, which has launched a new upstairs fine dining room, called 'The Merchants'; food/service/staff/ambience all en-point. Etching: Morrison's Court, early 1900s, by Glasgow-born artist Thomas Bonar Lyon (1873-1955)

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A knock at the door, and my poor trauchled postie hands over my latest heavyweight purchase, featuring works by 48 Glasgow Art Club members. Selected highlights to follow, once I've emerged from 1881.

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On the upside, at this rate you'll be getting an invite to the staff Christmas party.

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