There is a sense of adventure that rises up within me when I discover a new place. Especially one that has been lurking for years beneath my nose in a city I thought I knew like the back of my hand.

In the throes of the pandemic, I moved from Glasgow’s west end to the Merchant City, a place I had never spent much time in previously. My then-partner would take my hand and lead us home from work through a maze of hidden walkways. I would trail behind in childlike wonder. When we got to Merchant Square, the final shortcut, the little explorer within me gawked. What was this place?

I recognised some of the bars and restaurants along Candleriggs and Bell Street (although I had never been in them), but I had no idea they all backed onto the same covered plaza. It had a bright, soaring ceiling coated in twinkling lights. Cobblestones and slabs carefully laid underfoot. The city centre was quiet during that rollercoaster of restrictions, so I could fathom that this 19th-century former market hall had seen better days. But as the restrictions waned, the businesses began to drop like flies. Five years later, the curse of the Merchant Square continues. Can we really place all of the blame on the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis? Or is it something else?

Kevin Maguire at Merchant Square (Image: GT)

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