~Glasgow~
8th September 2011
Just a quick, over the border sortie, to look at Scotland's second city, or maybe the first by size and population.
I had a plan to get out of the wind and rain that was plaguing North-West England, if only for a day.
Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art
Scroll down for photos and a description of the day....
Glasgow Central Railway Station
Railway travellers from the south arrive at Glasgow Central. The station was completed in 1879. Karen and I bought return tickets from Preston, total cost for us: £42, using advance fares, standard class and off-peak trains. The Pendolino Trains can run at 125mph and there is no clickety-click, clickety-clack - welded track all the way.
Buchanan Street
Buchanan Street is Glasgow's main shopping street and is pedestrianised all the way up to John Lewis at the top. The word is that much of Glasgow's West and North is built on drumlins, low hills of glacial deposit left by retreating glaciers. The Willow Tea Room is next door to "Shop To Let" as seen on the left.
Willow Tea Room, Buchanan Street
There are two of these "Charles Rennie Mackintosh" inspired tearooms in Glasgow. After light refreshments, Karen went in search of a spending opportunity, whilst I went for a look around.
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Central Station |
Citizen Firefighter |
Images of Glasgow
The "Citizen Firefighter" is a bronze sculpture; a tribute to all past and present firefighters from Strathclyde Fire & Rescue.
Gallery of Modern Art
Later, when Karen joined me for a further look around, we went in here. I'm afraid to say that we came away confused. So much space, so little on offer. The biggest talking points were an exhibit inside: a rubber boot with a pencil sticking out of the leg and an eraser tied to the toe, under the title "Reversibility" and outside The Duke of Wellington has a traffic cone for headgear.
Duke of Wellington
It seems that persistent "intervention" by members of the public has been going on for years and it is usual to see the Duke with a traffic cone on his head. Locally, postcards and t-shirts are on sale with this image portrayed.
Robert Peel
Mr Peel has a different sort of headgear. This statue is at one corner of George Square. Unfortunately, most of George Square was fenced off in preparation for a large wedding fayre. Hence I couldn't get a decent photo of the war memorial.
Queen Street Station
Queen Street Station is Glasgow's other mainline station, serving north and east. I'd been on the lookout for a "Glasgow Kiss" and this will suffice. This used to be a dark, scary place - imagine the atmosphere in the days of steam. But it's now much lighter and behind me are the ubiquitous coffee shops.
St. George's-Tron Church
Opened in 1808, situated on Buchanan Street and seen here from West George Street.
Secret Agent
I think we've been spotted, everywhere I look, folk are on their phones, we've got to keep moving. Scotland is still part of the union, but I had a feeling we were being monitored.
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City Halls |
Collegelands |
The City Halls are the home of the BBC Orchestra; Collegelands is residential. One thing about British cities and Glasgow in particular is the constantly changing architecture. A short visit such as this can only scratch the surface.
Tolbooth Steeple
All that remains of a bigger building, more info through t'internet.
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South Portland Street Bridge |
River Clyde |
River Clyde
Our walk took us across Victoria Bridge, seen in the photo on the right and then back across the suspension bridge, left.
"Central" Railway Bridge
Tiger Mural
Added in 2010, "The Year of the Tiger". I'm increasingly worried that they're on to us....
Agents
Our position is being relayed to the control room, it's time to move again. Into Prince's Square....
Prince's Square
An enclosed avenue of boutiques, restuarants and coffee shops.
Got to keep moving....
Undercover Special Agent
I told Karen that it was time for us to leave, so we took a quiet route back to the station.
Central Station
The policeman has his back to us and we can sneak on to Platform One and safely on to the train. The 18:40 departure arrived back in Preston at 20:56. The parking at Preston Station is £10 per day.
There's lots more to see in Glasgow, the old city was very much to the east and the Victorian expansion is much more to the west. So, if and when time allows, I'll be taking a closer look at the older areas of the city and some of the other buildings that weren't close enough to the centre.
Day Trippers: Karen and me.
Weather and conditions: Sunny intervals and warm.
Richard's Refreshment Review: The Willow Tearooms. Very good menu and a special atmosphere, gets busy.
All photos copyright Richard Ratcliffe 2011 ©
Take me back to the start ....