January Light: vintage
The Cup and Saucer Vintage Tearoom in De Courcy’s Arcade is one of my favourite cafés in Glasgow’s West End. It’s like walking into your Granny’s living room (well, it is if you’re my age). On this occasion, a foul, wet day last November, I was first in when it opened and grabbed this snap while it was empty. I’ve managed to capture both lamplight and firelight – perfect for Becky’s January Squares Challenge: words ending in light.
When the tearoom remained empty after a few minutes I was puzzled. My friend Esther is never late. Then I checked my diary. I was three hours early …
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
Love the pink neon fire….
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I remember toasting my legs at those two bar fires in my youth!
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What a wonderful place to eat. And drink tea. What did you do for those extra three hours? 🙂
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Fortunately I live close enough to go home and come back!
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Our first ever military quarter had a tiled fire surround like that, fire removed and space boarded over. It made me get very creative, dressing a fire-less fireplace!
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It just takes me right back to childhood!
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It does look like Granny has just stepped out for a moment. I’d say you were a bit light on for company on this day. 😃
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😄 – I went home and came back at the right time to meet my friend, so all was well in the end.
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Oh, I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one who gets things wrong occasionally…..
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Oh, I’m sure there are a lot of us! In this case, the margin of error was certainly greater than normal.
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Oh I love this. It looks perfect for an escape from miserable day, especially with that heater on.
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It’s a lovely place, and the people who run it are so nice.
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Ha ha … I guess you lingered and just enjoyed the ambience. Love the photo though – cheers Hilary
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I lingered over a coffee, then went home and came back at the right time!
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I’ve been in the arcade but did not know about that tearoom until now. Looks cosy.
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It’s really nice, Bob. Good cakes and scones! The couple who run it also dress in 50s style.
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It definitely has the look of walking into Granny’s living room. And that looks like a radiator to keep the place warm, if I’m not mistaken.
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It does! A 2-bar electric fire – also a thing of my youth.
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How lovely! I am chronically early to events, but I don’t think I’ve been 3 hours early 🙂 Good thing you live close… and that you got a nice picture of the tearoom while it was empty.
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I’m usually early too, but not this early! I had met another friend at 11am in the same place the week before, so from that I “remembered” the time wrongly and didn’t check till too late.
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My mother used to have a mirror like that one! Looks a cosy tearoom. We found a Victorian beauty in Church Stretton last December which served fabulous breakfasts in front of a roaring fire. Bliss!
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It’s all very familiar to me. As the minister’s daughter, I spent many a boring hour in living rooms like this one while the grown-ups chatted about church.
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Tis the season to be off one’s game:) You were meant to get there early to take these pictures. It does look like Granny’s home…love those black cats
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The black cats are lovely. They also sell some of the items and I often see things that I remember from childhood. They had a toy typewriter once which looked just like mine.
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It looks cozy there.
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It was certainly a refuge in that very rainy day!
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I see what you mean about walking into your granny’s living room, it really does look like that. Was the place previously an old fashioned house or has it been made like that? – I’m going off the fireplace as it looks very much like the one in my grandma’s house when I was a kid.
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It’s not a house, you can see the arcade here – https://m.facebook.com/decourcysarcade/ – the tearoom is on the top floor. It’s situated in a series of lanes with old stables, garages and industrial buildings converted into shops and restaurants. So it’s actually quite a plain space that they’ve made a lot of.
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Yesterday I went to the wrong theatre with tickets in hand. How was I to know that there were two Meridian venues in the city????
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Oh no! I’ve never gone to the wrong theatre, but I’ve accidentally booked matinee tickets instead of evening and got there with about 2 seconds to spare.
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Oooops! Anyway, you had time to capture some light!
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Indeed! Usually it’s too crowded to take pictures, but this was such a horrible day it was quiet. Even when I went back in the afternoon there was only one other customer.
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Brilliant!
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lol. I’ve mistaken the whole day before, but never three hours! Lovely pic. Must go there 🙂
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I’ve done that too! Also, this same friend and I have sat waiting for each other in different cafes before. In that case, I was right.
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Hi Anabel. I like the reflection of the room in the mirror.
Do you have a favorite variety of tea?
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We drink a lot of lapsang souchong, and I like most green teas but in the tearoom I tend to stick to regular breakfast tea – because it goes best with cake!
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I saw tearoom and read tealight!!
oops on arriving early, I once did it by three days for lunch with a friend! At least though it meant you were able to capture the lovely firelight and lamplight for us 🙂
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Oops! At least I was close enough to have a quick coffee, then go home and come back later. I had met a different friend there the previous week and got the times mixed up.
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