Highlights of Glaswegian Life
Architecture
To the credit of the city `fathers` of the time, much of Glasgow`s wealth
was invested in his architecture and culture. Glasgow`s tastefull preserved
Victorian architecture is amongst the finest in Europe.
In fact, Glasgow is an architectural dream: Victorian red and honey sandstone, Italianate steeples and medieval spires sit harmoniously with neo-gothic towers, the sensuous Art Nouveau and the titanium, glass and steel of the contemporary city. The uniquely creative styles of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Alexander Thomson add a distinctive edge to a city honoured in 1999 as UK City of Architecture and Design.
This cosmopolitan city has been compared to New York but this comparison is not accurate enough. Chicago is more like Glasgow`s twin. The physical layout of the main streets, the riverside location and the multi-cultural society.
Glasgow is a strong vibrant city, busy, prosperous and full of vitality, due to its people. The banks of the River Clyde that spawned this great city`s industrial past are now a major asset in the development of ultra modern housing but the nostalgia of Glasgow`s past is still celebrated upstream in New Lanark and westwards, towards the Firth of Clyde, as far as Greenock.
Artful Attractions
Glasgow has an amazing portfolio of more than twenty museums and galleries
- many of them free – including the unique Burrell Collection and the
contemporary Gallerie of Modern Art. The Gallerie of Modern Art offers
some of the best examples of contemporary art in the UK and the McLellan
Galleries is a venue for many major exhibitions every year.
The Art Nouveau works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh can be enjoyed at Glasgow School of Art, Scotland Street School ( now a museum of Education ) and at The Mackintosh House at the University of Glasgow`s Hunterian Art Gallery.
Anyone interested in cutting-edge design should head to The Lighthouse while the Glasgow Sience Centre`s futuristic complex comprising IMAX Science Mall, Glasgow Tower, Planetarium and Virtual Science Theatre will appeal to anyone interested in learning about technology and its applications in a fun and interesting environment.
Heritage seekers will enjoy the Museum of Transport, Museum of Scottish Country Life at Kittochside and Clydebuilt, which tells the story of Glasgow and the River Clyde from tobacco to shipbuilding. Lovers of the beautiful game meanwhile, should head for the ground-breaking Scottish Football Museum at Hampden.
Eventful experiences
Glasgow also offers some superb theatres including the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, The Theatre Royal and the Citizen`s, King`s, Mitchell and Tron Theatres.
It`s the great variety which makes Glasgow so popular. Wether you`re a clubber, concert-goer, opera aficionado, theatre lover or dance fan, visiting Glasgow is always an eventful experience. No matter when you arrive you`ll find live performances, festivals and entertainment fifty-two weeks of the year.
Productions by Scottish Opera, the RSNO Summer Proms and the West End Festival as well as the smooth sounds of Glasgow International Jazz Festival, the rousing Hogmanay Celebrations and Celtic Connection are just some of the vibrant annual events, which reinforce its reputation as one of Europe`s leading cultural capitals. Besides a highly succesful Garden Festival in 1988 there was a year of international arts festivities in 1990 to celebrate its reign as European City of Culture and a Festival of Visual Arts in 1996.
The City has over 70 puplic parks and gardens. In one of these parks lie the Botanic Gardens which house a fine array of plants and shrubs from around the world and the magnificent Kibble Palace with its unique collection of Australasian
Plans.
Glasgow is surrounded by historic houses, castles and gardens – the area around Hamilton is very historic with 13th century Bothwell Castle and the hunting lodge of Chatelherault, built by William Adam. Amidst beautiful parkland on the banks of the Clyde, David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre is built around the birthplace of this world famous explorer – many of the animal species he encountered are likely to be found in Glasgow Zoopark at Calderpark which also includes a childrens` farm and gardens.
Around the area`s parks, towns and villages, events like the colourful World Pipe Band Championships on Glasgow Green, the ancient Lanimer Day festivities in Lanark, and The Shot in Paisley also provide celebration, fun and
spectacle.
Night owls meanwhile can groove until the small hours at a host of club venues covering the entire dance spectrum from garage and techno to house and retro.
Shopping is an absolute delight in Glasgow. Not only is it top for shops but its great city centre and grid system makes it easy to navigate during serious retail therapy. Giant high street malls such as the ultra modern Buchanan Galleries and the St Enoch Centre are just a mocha-powered meander from the elegance of the Italian Centre and Princes Square as well as the speciality shops of the Merchant City.
The mews and lanes of the city`s bohemian West-End are a treasure trove for anyone hunting antiques and rare books while contemporary works by both up-and-coming and established artists can be found in the art galleries of West Regent Street.
It is also worth taking time out from the hustle and bustle to explore the antique shops, craft workshops and garden centres tucked away in the area`s market towns and villages.
You can quite literally eat your way round the world in Glasgow as the city`s café culture espouses the very latest trends in global cuisine, from the style and sushi bars of the Merchant City to the restaurants and brasseries in the hip West-
End.
So wether you prefer traditional fayre, ethnic cuisine or the very latest in fusion and Pacific-Rim, you`ll find something to savour in Glasgow.
History
Scotland`s largest city, has a history streching back to earliest times
Stone Age: canoes unearthed along the banks of the River Clyde point to
the existence of
fishing communities.
Around 80AD: celtic druids, living among the first identifiable religious
tribes, began to trade
with the Romans who have had a trading post in Cathures, the earlier
name for Glasgow.
Beyond 380AD: the great Christian missionary St Ninian passed trough
Cathures, consecrating
a burial ground
Birth of a City
543AD: St Kentigern settled in Glasgow, following exile from Culross,
where his
monastic brothers had grown jealous of his miracle powers. In Glasgow,
he
established his Christian church. The people named him Mungo, which
means
`dear one`.
1115: Glasgow had been established as an Episcopal See, governed by
Bishops.
1180: a charter, making Glasgow a Burgh, opened the city`s doors to
trade
1450: JamesII issued a charter to the bishop `erecting all his patrimony
into a
regality` - Glasgow was now a Royal Burgh in all but name.
1451: The University of Glasgow was established.
1492: Glasgow was elevated to an archbishopric and a powerful academic
and eccle-
siastical centre.
Rise of the Merchant Trader
1560: following the Reformation, Glasgow`s last Roman Catholic archbishop,
James Beaton, fled to Paris, which let to greater civic power and the
emerging influence of the city`s merchants and craftsmen.
1650: Oliver Cromwell visited Glasgow. To that time Trade was undoubtedly
already booming
New Opportunities
Early 1700s: large qantities of tobacco were being shipped in from the
American tobacco states. Glasgow`s merchants, in turn, had contracts
to supply Europe.
By 1730: trade with America was fully established. Glasgow`s Tobacco
Lords had cornered the market, becoming Glasgow`s and Scotland`s first
millionaires.
1770: John Golborne, a civil engineer from chester, had devised a means
of flushing the silt layers from the bed of the shallow Clyde by erecting
a series if jetties along its
banks. Further down the river, Port Glasgow also helped trade.
1772: large vessels were able to sail up the river into the city for
the first time.
1775: the American Revolution dealt a vicious blow. Those who had invested
solely in the tobacco trade suffered literally overnight. However, many
merchants had diversified into trade with the West Indies, importing
sugar and making rum.
Till 1799: Glasgow had become Britain`s biggest importer of sugar.
Second City of the Empire
Early 1800s: the Industrial Revolution took hold. Glasgow`s new industrialists
were rapidly expanding their businesses, particularly in cotton and
textile, chemicals, glass. paper and soap manufacturing.
1820s&1840s: The population was increasing enormously as immigrants
from the Highlands and from Ireland provided the unskilled labour required.
The Cotton Industry, at its height, employed almost a third of the Glasgow`s
workforce, but like the tobacco industry, it was badly affected by external
factors.
Till 1870: ever resourceful, the city turned to industries like shipbuilding,
locomotive construction and other heavy engineering, which could thrive
on nearby supplies of coal and iron ore.
1870-1914: Glasgow ranked as one of the richest and finest cities in
Europe. It was hailed as a model of organised industrial society. Great
puplic buildings were erected, Glasgow had more parks and open spaces
than any other European city its size, it had a regulated telephone
system, water and gas supplies.
Industrial Decline
1930-1935: Re-armament of the navy.
1935-1940: launch of the great Cunard Liners, the Queen Mary and Queen
Elizabeth.
1938: the Empire Exhibition remained proud moments for Glasgow.
By the 1950s: there was little demand for merchant or navy ships. Industrial
decline of enormous proportions took place. The heavy industries which
had brought the city unparalleled wealth and fame, could no longer compete
with the cheaper labour costs of their emerging overseas competitors.
Cultural Renaissance
1970s/1980s: as the cleaning up process proved, the gleaming gold and
red sandstone, hidden behind decades of industrial soot and crime, revealed
the finest examples of Victorian architecture anywhere in the world.
Here was a backdrop against which to attract new investment and position
Glasgow as a great European city of enter-
prise and culture. In a remarkably short space of time, the city has
established a new economic base centred on the service sector, and has
risen from a period of industrial decline to mount highly succesful
cultural festivals.
1997: 24000 delegates attending the World Rotary Congress viewed with
admiration the new thriving Glasgow;as did the world`s leading travel
agents who chose Glasgow as the first ever UK venue for prestigious
American Society of Travel Agents World Congress. Glasgow now attracts
major investors, events, tourists, conference delegates from all over
the world who now appreciate what Daniel Defoe meant whe he referred
to `one of the cleanliest, most beautiful and best built cities in Great
Britain`.
Glasgow vs. Edinburgh
Glasgow still shows its enormous mercantile and industrial energy and the
people living there can be characterised as “trained in survival with good
humour.” Soccer games invite many tourists and the Glaswegian jokes are famous.
There are not only jokes about the inhabitants of Glasgow but also about
the differences between Edinburgh and Glasgow. (Many Germans compare this
rivalry to the one between Cologne and Düsseldorf!) Even though
Edinburgh is fascinating with its Royal Mile, a genuine Castle and
an underground city on one side, and a mountain called Arthur’s Seat and
an old university on the other, Glasgow is appealing with its modern
skyscrapers, historic port buildings, night life and inimitable Glaswegian
accent. By the way, Glasgow too has a beautiful, ancient university!
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