A long but very interesting day in Glasgow Saturday 14th June

Today was a day packed with learning. Firstly that it gets very humid in Glasgow, that it is a huge place with so many interesting places to visit, that at 10.00 am there is hardly a soul in the city but by 1.00 it is jam packed.  That Greenock is 10 miles away, next to Gourock,  and that Scottish man in a kilt with white legs and sneakers is not a good look.  Added to that is that the sun sets at 10.00pm!

We took the hop on hop off bus again, and it started from George Square, lots of preparations for the Commonwealth Games next month.  I think they will party hard.

Georges Square

Commonwealth Games preparation

Lovely old building all of them need a good wash, but some monuments have been cleaned.  We got off at the People's Palace, a beautiful old building which is a museum with a hothouse full of tropical plants. Felt like summer back home.

The great thing about Glasgow is the museums are free.  Lots of kid friendly things to do.  Across from the museum is the largest terracotta fountain in the world.  Queen Victoria sits atop ruling over the 4 continents, Australia, India, Canada and South Africa.  Behind the fountain is an old carpet factory, quite stunning architecture.

On the ground floor there was a display showing the rough and tumble side of Glasgow. I am sure it is the only museum to house incontinence pads and condoms, and some of the storyboards are different.

Drunk's Trolley for whelling those who have had a few too many pints

Some information regarding the tenements and the conditions

In the museum, maybe someone will recognise the ladies corset

The top floor showed life in a tenement, why would that be of interest, well my grandmother lived in one with her sister at the time my father was born, and either lived in the same stairwell or with, another family who later adopted/fostered my father, and whose name he took. He referred to his own mother and his adopted mother, both as his mother. Bit difficult to follow, but that is how it was.

This was all that was in the tenement, no room at all and one bed

Their life was terrible. Nobody today would want to live that way, the rooms contained a bed, a fireplace, a stove, and a sink.  You bathed and did the washing in a steam,  and shared a toilet with all the other residents in your stairwell.  The unbelievable thing is in the 1950's people still lived like that.

The Steamie where they washed and bathed, it was communal

The government or council owned the buildings and sometimes let or sold them to unscrupulous landlords who charged very high rents.  There was a Sanitary inspection of the flats, could be carried out at any time in the middle of the night, to make sure there were not more than the allocated number of persons living in the room.

We then stayed on the bus to the end it takes nearly 1.5 hours. We learnt so much along the way I hope I can remember what we saw on the photographs.

This park adjoined the People's Palace, there are lots of parks where the children could play outside the tenement

The oldest pub in Glasgow, built in 1700's

Plenty of bridges over the river

Old shipbuilding crane adjoining the SECC and the Entertainment stadium this used to be shipbuilding area

Looks like the Sydney Opera House

Rod Stewart starred in the opening last year specially built to collect light which reflects at night.

Up to the university area, and the Botanic Gardens.

Art for sale outside the Botanic Gardens below

A famous pub, women were not able to drink in pubs until some fine ladies chained themselves to the bar!

Then the most impressive building of all the Kelvin Grove Museum.

Georgian terraces for the well to do, maids slept underneath families lived above

 Back into the centre and Buchanan Street, which is a pedestrian mall.  Shops and restaurants and hundreds of people, taking a risk under stormy clouds.

Sorry I am on my side, but it is really late and I must have had a few too many midoris, not really but I havent got the time to go back into all my photos and adjust it, outside a Police station, Scottish invented these

The Executive Building

We then drove to the Riverside Museum, on the river bank.  It houses all sorts of vehicles through the ages.  Quite interesting but I think I have seen enough old cars etc.  But first the railway line above and shops underneath.

This museum houses old trains as well as the cars, trams, bikes and a hundred and one other items, but firstly it has a model of the ship the Adriana that was sunk off the coast of Islay, and where its bell now is on display at the museum.  This model doesn't show the bell.

The last display reflected life as it was in the 19th century.  I had my friend Sally in mind when I saw the photography exhibition.

My g.g.grandmother went to Canada to live, she was my g.g.aunt as well!

Photographs

I forget the name of this form of photographs deg........

Nothing could have prepared me for our next stop.  After spending some time understanding the tenement system and how it worked, how little space they all lived in, and that the time I am talking about is 1925, we drove to 24 St Lawrence St Greenock, where my father was born.  Number 24 was not there, but a road and railway bridge were, however the other dwellings were still in use.  It really was quite a shock to see that families were still living in these buildings.  Either the original buildings were removed after 1930 and as we learnt earlier, rebuilt in 1950, or these are the originals, either way the standard is very bad.  I guess that is why there is a huge police station in Greenock.  

The estate church has been burnt inside

This is number 15

The central staircase

So onwards we went to Guorock, hopeful that this town was a bit better.  And it was, and we found 5 McCallum Court, where Janet MacCraine lived in 1941, with her daughter.  I was a bit unsure because we had a choice of two houses, one being renovated and one that looked unlived in.  I thought it was this one, because Margaret had married a fairly well of man, and this home had excellent views.  So when in doubt, ask a local, and I did, and it turns out there is an eccentric old lady living there with lots of cats, and I learnt her name.  I didn't go and intrude.

Waterfront at Gourock

 

Our next mission was to find were my grandmother and family lived in Govan.  The house was bombed during the war, and we could not find number 37 Copeland Road at all, however at the end of Copeland it looks like housing has been removed and new brick units erected in where I would expect their house to have been. 

The street is the home of the Rangers Football team.

Back home and finished re-organising the bags, and then we went for a walk to find a restaurant for dinner.

Well that plan back-fired, so we came back for the car, and headed off past the local supermarket that we were familiar with, a little bit further on, and we are in Glasgow town.  Had no idea we were so close to the city.

Drove around the many one way streets trying to find restaurants that weren't in the theatre area, nor the teenagers haunts of fast foods, and jagged a park.  Around the corner there was an Italian restaurant, with a huge crowd milling around the door.  We got the last 2 seats, after the 48 on the bus tour, and had a lovely meal.  The staff and the owner were so friendly and we had excellent service, I asked the waiter if this was a popular restaurant, and he told us of all the awards they had one, including Best Restaurant in Scotland 2012, Best Italian in 2013.  We told them we only came in because we got a carpark outside, but assured them when we return we will visit again.

There is just so much to see and do in Scotland, so far in two trips, we have circumnavigated the place, and now concentrated on Glasgow and Isle of Islay.  Thank goodness I didn't wait until I got her to do any family research, as it would be totally impossible.