Tag Archives: Sauchiehall Street

The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

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Last week we had a couple of days away over in the west of Scotland, and on one of the days we took the train to Glasgow, something that Jack used to do on a daily basis and I did at least once a week, it was a bit of a nostalgia trip, despite the trains being completely different. Anyway, we were aiming for The Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street. They were designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, they had been fairly recently refurbished, and have now been taken over by the National Trust for Scotland.

The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street , Glasgow, Charles Rennie Mackintosh

As you can see from the photo below, the pedestrianised area of the street is having work done on it at the moment, the whole place is a mess and as usual there didn’t seem to be any actual work going on, you have to be quite determined to reach the tea room!

The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Charles Rennie Mackintosh

We were sitting right at the window but as you can see from the photo below they have it screened by curtains so you don’t see people going past, and they can’t see in.  It was a very busy Friday lunchtime so the place was packed downstairs, but the food was good.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, The Willow Tea Rooms, Margaret Macdonald, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

The staff must be well used to people going around taking photos of the decor, as nobody batted an eyelid when Jack did that. I love the details, Mackintosh was quick to give his wife Margaret Macdonald the credit  for designing and working many of the textiles that feature in ‘his’ work

The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Glasgow

The Willow Tea Rooms, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Glasgow, Sauchiehall Street

In the 1970s and 80s the tea rooom was shut and it was being used by Carrick the jewellery shop. They specialised in silver jewellery which was inspired by Mackintosh’s designs. It was more successful than many others and nowadays you can still buy some of the jewellery on Ebay and in ‘antique’ shops. There is an awful lot of ‘Mockintosh’ stuff around though which isn’t so pleasing to the eye – or my eye anyway.

The Willow Tea Rooms, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

Have you ever been in a tea room which actually had a bell on the table to summon assistance?  Everyone was very attentive so they weren’t really necessary.  Mind you I didn’t hear one actually being used!

The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, C.R. Mackintosh

The photos above and below are of the second floor room which wasn’t being used at the time, it’s a sort of gallery and you can look down to the ground floor from there. There is another floor above that one which I suspect is used for special occasions like weddings – maybe.

Upper level The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchihell Street, Glasgow Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Anyway, this visit was something that we had been planning to do for ages, then along came Covid and it was postponed yet again. We’ll go back for another visit sometime, the desserts were delicious!