Gadding around Glasgow

You are super lucky because you have two days to explore Glasgow.  Of course you can’t see everything so I have just selected a few for you. I hope they were right.

Glasgow has had a long and varied history. It was a place of trade ,especially in tobacco, textile making, export, ship building and emigration. Many merchants became rich from trade with other countries like America .

They needed ships for this , so building them became a huge part of the economy up until the 1970’s. All that remains of this is the Finnieston crane and a tall ship in the Riverside Transport Museum. This museum has heaps of other interesting exhibits too. Check these out.

   

When a business woman taught herself and other woman to be mechanics, they found it hard to be accepted. She also sought a membership to the Motor Society but was told it was only for men.

   

Are you suffering from information overload? Time for a cuppa but don’t stay too long as there is so much more to see. They have set up a street scene from the early days.

The pawn shop was an important part of family life for the poorer members of society. Dad’s suit or something else was taken to the pawn shop on Monday for money for the week. Mum would take in sewing or laundry, collect dad’s wages before he went to the pub and hopefully there would be enough money for the rent, food and to get  dad’s suit back by the end of the week.

  

Now I know you want to see EVERYTHING but you have been here for 3.5 hours . You need fresh air and sunlight….the Botanical Gardens. These were moved 3 times but the original trees and other plants survived. The greenhouses were built at the time of England’s Victorian Crystal Palace.

Day 2 : Today you are going to experiencing culture and religion. I hope that wasn’t groans I heard.

That was painless wasn’t it. I did go to the Linda McCarthy photograph exhibition. She took wonderful photos of her children and Paul as well as of the rich and famous musicians. Many of her photos were quite quirky.

Religion next and we are off to the Cathedral. This has different churches within it and was lucky to escape damage during the reformation.

This is the symbol for the city.

Nearly done, just a walk around the rich in the Necropolis. This was where the rich would have their remains carried over the Bridge of Sighs to be buried in as fancy a tomb as they could afford.

You definitely need to see the streetscapes of beautiful buildings , oddities, and murals all done by an Australian graffiti artist.

The cone was put on by students for a prank. Whenever it was removed, they put it back so it was decided to leave it as a symbol of the cheeky nature of Glasgow. At one time 22 were stacked on and during the Olympics, the cone goes gold if Scotland wins.

These rows of houses are called tenaments. People would have one or two rooms.They would share a toilet and bathroom with the neighbours. A common entry door would lead up from the bottom level which Mungo’s consist of shops. These are now converted into bigger flats.

Now the white buildings above were where the wealthy lived. The family lived in the top floors and the servants below. On resident, a Dr Pringle was the last person hung in Glasgow. He killed his wife and mother-in-law . In Scotland , they have innocent, guilty or non proven. This last one means, we know you’re guilty but can’t prove it bring out the phrase “ getting off scot free”

 

This is the entrance to The People’s  Palace. It is an area of land that everyone can use. In fact you can graze your sheep and hang your washing. Once a year , washing has to be hung to keep this right for all the people of Glasgow as stated in the city regulations. These days it is the place of festivals, relaxation and fun for the city.

Tomorrow you can rest. The tour group deserted us today and we go to Edinburgh ( that other city) by train. See you there.