Glaswegians have had to contend with more than their fair share of fires down the years - particularly in the city centre - but few as threatening as the one that broke out 50 years ago.
During demolition work to build the Savoy Centre in early 1972, Sauchiehall Street’s Gaumont Cinema and nearby dancehall, the Majestic Ballroom, went up in smoke.
The two buildings had already been earmarked for demolition - but the fire was definitely not part of the plans.
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Firefighters scrambled to get the blaze under control and prevent further spread.
And while the buildings that were most affected were to be torn down anyway, it was a sad and very sudden way to go for the two historic landmarks.
Opened behind the façade of a Victorian former warehouse in 1910 as The Picture House, the Gaumont operated at a time when Glasgow boasted more cinema capacity per head than any other city in the world.
Just round the corner on Hope Street, the Majestic, known to regulars as ‘the Magic Stick’, had also been a cinema at one time, having been converted from a music hall into the Savoy Picture House in 1916. Both the Savoy and the Gaumont in their pomp had been owned by the Rank Organisation, which operated several cinemas in Glasgow at the time.
The Savoy became the Majestic Ballroom in 1958, with the dancehall enjoying a status as one of the city’s most popular for the next decade.
Closure for both the Gaumont and Majestic Ballroom arrived in January 1972 and demolition work between Sauchiehall Street and Renfrew Street began within days.
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As cinema fans and dancehall regulars prepared to say goodbye to the landmarks, few could have anticipated just how dramatic the farewell would be.
On the evening of March 20, 1972, the blaze broke out within the former Gaumont, destroying its auditorium and spreading to the Majestic Ballroom.
A Daily Record photograph from the night shows fire appliances planted on Renfrew Street as smoke billows from the stricken buildings.
While the exact cause of the fire remains uncertain, no injuries were reported in the incident.
Following the fire, demolition work was soon able to recommence, as the new brutalist Savoy Shopping Centre and Savoy Tower office block rose from the ashes of the two former cinemas.
However, not all the area’s cinematic heritage was lost.
The Sauchiehall Street frontage of the old Gaumont cinema was retained despite the 1972 blaze, and is Category B protected.
