Wheels turn on

THE age of the driverless car is upon is, or so the tech folks tell us.

But a mere 122 years ago the big talking point was about the advent of the horseless carriage.

Reader Peter McColl kindly highlighted on social media this week a letter published in this fine journal in 1895, in which Mr Joseph Wright expands on the decision by Glasgow Town Council to refuse his application to experiment with the then bold transport innovation. Undeterred, Mr Wright declared: “They are surely coming.”

Quite what he would make of driverless cars is anyone’s guess.

Fancy that

THE Bottom Line, we are not afraid to admit, is a fan of the random factoid. Take this little nugget harvested by a colleague on a recent visit to a jeweller in Glasgow’s famous Argyll Arcade. Apparently, 70 per cent of shoppers access the Arcade via Buchanan Street, with only 30 per cent entering from Argyle Street.

Whether this means shoppers in Buchanan Street spend more on jewellery we can only speculate.

Business in focus

DIGITAL and ethical business leaders will be in the spotlight at a conference taking place at the University of Strathclyde.

The Glasgow Business Summit, which is being held at Strathclyde Business School on October 12, will feature speeches from city business figures such as Oli Norman, pictured, founder of daily bookings website itison, and Martin Jordan, director of digital agency Equator, who will speak about digital marketing.

The broader political, economic and social picture will be assessed by speakers including Graeme Roy, director of the university’s Fraser of Allander Institute, and Strathclyde politics professor, and media commentator, John Curtice.

Nick Kuenssberg, chairman of Social Investment Scotland, will be among the speakers addressing the topic of social enterprise.

Old and rare

FOR music fans, it was the year seminal Beatles’ album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band came blinking into the light.

Whisky drinkers might also be interested to know it was the year during which the youngest spirit was laid down for what has become the oldest and most rare single malt to be released by Loch Lomond Distillery.

The distillery announced this week that the release of the Loch Lomond 50 year old would be limited to just 60 decanters worldwide, priced at a cool £12,000 each.

It means collectors will be able to get their hands on a rare whisky which has been maturing in Alexandria for half a century, initially in American oak hogshead casks and then in European oak barrels. “The expectations are high when you are working with a whisky as special and scarce as this and it came with great responsibility, but selecting and perfecting this single malt was a true honour,” said Michael Henry, master blender of Loch Lomond Distillery.

Is it too early, we wonder, to send our Christmas list to Santa?