Meet Anne Mulhern of the Willow Tea Rooms

Glasgow Conversations

Meet Anne Mulhern, owner of the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow. Listening to Anne you might begin to understand just how influential Charles Rennie Mackintosh continues to be not only for architects, designers and artists around the world, but also for them wot aren't, in this instance a lady who moved on from redundancy, learned how to cook, and before our local love of Mackintosh had really sprouted, took the lead from one of the most pionneering women in Glasgow's history in recreating the intricate delights of the Willow Tea Room in Sauchiehall Street, a venture borne of Mackintosh and one Miss Cranston in the early years of the 20th century.
Anne talks passionately about the history of the tea rooms, the challenges she faced setting up her three magnificent rooms around the city, her influential roles in Glasgow's Leading Attractions and the Glasgow Mackintosh group, and how all of this breathtaking work falls into place in the city's perpertually developing culture.
These days in Glasgow you can't open a cafe or bar without it being developed also as a cultural hub or social enterprise, and when you think of how the Willow Tea Rooms came about over a century ago and how it's been lovingly recreated by Anne into a space for exhibition and learning, you can really appreciate just how ahead of her time Miss Cranston was!