GLASGOW'S renaissance lay a good few years in the future when the main photograph here was taken.

The date was 1975. It's not just the contemporary cars that give the game away; it's the slightly rundown buildings, too. Some readers might recall the businesses that lined the street, such as Gordon's, specialists in 'fashion footwear'.

Many such buildings were knocked down and many such once-familiar businesses disappeared as Glasgow shook off the fug of the post-war decades and began to modernise. Yesterday's photograph, by Herald photographer Colin Mearns, was taken from the same spot as the 1975 picture, and shows the stark differences between now and then.

In July 2000, however, the Herald carried an interesting letter from Luigi Corvi, owner of the Tivoli Restaurant, at 39 Stockwell Street. He lamented much of what had happened to the city over the previous 30 years, including the destruction of city-centre houses in the city centre and the relocation of large numbers of Glaswegians to New Towns. Sunday opening, and big shopping malls and out-of-town developments with free parking were among the factors that had impacted on city centre retail, he added.

Thirty years ago, Mr Corvi wrote, "Glasgow was a goldmine for small and large businesses alike. I can only speak to you from my own, perhaps selfish, point of view, but at the same time, in the pit of my stomach, I feel we have lost a lot of what made this city great!"