Feather on the Clyde

Glasgow, or Glesga if you want to fit in, is the largest city in Scotland and third largest in the United Kingdom.  It is situated on the River Clyde in Scotland's Central Belt and forty minutes from where I grew up in Dunblane.  As a kid Glasgow was always the place we drove through to get to my granny's house in Skelmorlie.  I loved the spaghetti junctions, the bright red sandstone and the iconic gasometers, one of which for years was blazoned with "Glasgow's Miles Better" or maybe it was "Glasgow Smiles Better" (the latter is how I always think of it, but that could just be because of my childish interpretation - or perhaps that was the point?!).  Growing up it was a train ride away and the place I got my belly button pierced, bought my prom dress, lusted after shoes from Schuh and had my best ever haircut for free at Vidal Sasoon.  And of course it was home to the Glasgow Garden Festival and that Coca Cola Roller, which I think every child born in Scotland before 1980 went on.  Once I'd left Dunblane and moved up to this granite city I probably only ventured in to Glasgow a couple of times - to visit former flatmates who were now working there, to catch a concert, to watch the Dons get gubbed* at Celtic Park, or to drive through on the way to those cheap flights from Prestwick.

So for me Glasgow is one of those towns that has always been there but has never really been explored.  Until now...

Glasgow grew around the cathedral founded by St Kertigan, later to become St Mungo, in the 6th century.  With the exception of the cathedral, virtually nothing of the city remains which was swept away by the energies of a new age - the age of capitalism, the Industrial Revolution and the British Empire.

In the 18th century, much of the tobacco trade between Europe and the USA was routed through Glasgow, providing a great source of wealth.  Even after the tobacco trade declined in the 19th century the city continued to prosper as a centre of textile manufacturing, shipbuilding and the coal and steel industries. The outward appearance of prosperity, however, was tempered by the dire working conditions in the factories.

In the first half of the 20th century Glasgow was the centre of Britain's munitions industry, supplying arms and ships for the two world wars, in the second of which the city was carpet-bombed.  Post-war, however, the port and heavy industries began to dwindle, and by the early 1970s Glasgow became synonymous with unemployment, economic depression and urban violence, centered around high-rise housing schemes such as the infamous Gorbals.  More recently, urban development and a booming cultural sector have injected style and confidence into the city; though the standards of living remains low for Britain.

Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and is also well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers (neither of whom are at the top of AFCs Christmas Card list either). Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a distinct dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city.  So just as well I grew up hearing it in my own school and the Don's dad's family all hail from the area.

Anyway, as this was a holiday for the weans [that would be the kids], we decided to check out a bunch of the museums that have sprung up since we moved abroad.

The Riverside Museum is the current location of the Glasgow Museum of Transport, at Pointhouse Quay in the Glasgow Harbour regeneration district. The building opened in June 2011 and was the winner of the 2013 European Museum of the Year Award and in 2015 was the fifth most popular attraction in Scotland.  Being home to some of the world's finest cars, bicycles, ship models, trams and locomotives, we wanted to come down the weekend of Joey's birthday as a birthday treat for him (I mean it's not Yas Waterworld, but I was trying...!) but, obviously, we didn't.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

The location of the museum on the site of the former A&J Inglis Shipyard within Glasgow Harbour, means the Clyde Maritime Trust's SV Glenlee can berth alongside the museum.

The Tall Ship Glenlee is one of only a handful of surviving sailing ships built here on the River Clyde in their hundreds.  Launched in 1896 her role has progressed from cargo ship, carrying goods across the world, to a training ship for the Spanish Navy, and since 1992 as a floating museum, representing Scotland's shipbuilding past.

It was blinkin' baltic!

 It was also fascinating- those ships are bigger than they look, and are deep!

Second Museum of the day was the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, a magnificent Victorian stone building with a bewildering variety of exhibits from fine art to stuffed animals to a Spitfire plane.

Christ of Saint John of the Cross
Salvador Dali

The construction of Kelvingrove was partly financed by the proceeds of the 1888 International Exhibition held in Kelvingrove Park and was opened in 1901 as the Palace of Fine Arts for the Glasgow International Exhibition held in that year.  It is built in the Spanish Baroque style but using the Glaswegian tradition of Locharbriggs red sandstone.

The 'back' entrance

There is a popular myth in Glasgow, that the building was accidentally built back-to-front, and the architect jumped from one of the towers in despair, when he realised his mistake.  However, the grand entrance was always apparently intended to face into Kelvingrove Park, and the 'back' one is certainly grand enough.


* Correction: the score was only 2-1.  That's not a gubbing, just a loss.