Glasgow, Scotland

[Sweet Zombie Jesus]

(It's the one without the castle!)

Posting various self-taken photos from around the city of Glasgow here. Taken on my own craptastic digicam. (I apologize in advance for the quality, I hope to get a new camera soon ) I mostly have photos from the city centre, but might branch out and post more photos of more areas and buildings as time goes on and I take more pictures.

Commercial Centre

What most consider the 'centre' of Glasgow. Laid on a grid-iron pattern and populated mainly with Victorian 19th century architecture, it is largely a retail area. For this thread's sake I'm going to say it mainly lies between Hope Street to the west, Buchanan Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south and Killermont/Renfrew Street to the north. (these were taken around February/March)


The corner of the pedestrianized Buchanan and Sauchiehall Streets, something of an unofficial focal point of the city.

Heading down Buchanan Street...








Remember to look up!














A small weekend market provides a welcome relief from the big fashion chains








St. Enoch Square




An old cast iron warehouse, now a chain pub


Around Central Station
















Assorted others:


























George Square and Glasgow City Chambers

[Snowy]

Wow, those pictures just blew me away! I knew Glasgow had some impressive architecture, but not on that scale. It also looks very American somehow, the style of some of the architecture and with it's grid system.

What a great-looking city, willl have to check it out in the flesh sometime!

[Plaas]

Good pics! Glasgow looks much better than I expected. I always thought it was just another grey industrial town with 70's crap and some poor older streets. The Glasgow you show us is a city with beautiful contrast and lots of fine 19th century architecture. I like that. Maybe I should come to Glasgow once

[VelesHomais]

Beautiful city. Was it particularly rich during the Victorian era? The facades are all laid in stone. How many Scots and Englishmen are there for comparison?

[Arrrgh]

What I've heard, the city was at is peak at the beginning of the 1900's ('the second city of the Empire', after London) and has declined afterwards. Population has almost halved since. But as far as I've understood there is some sort of growth in the last decade.

There are 60 million Englismen and 5 million Scots, but that doesn't really matter. There are 10 million Belgians and 16 million Dutch still Brussels is larger than Amsterdam.

I'll be visiting Glasgow in a couple of weeks, and this thread really sparked my enthusiasm!

[cardiff]

Lovely pics, Glasgow is indeed a beautiful city with many fine buildings, lots of which are not shown here. most british cities have reputations of grim industrial towns that come from literature during the industrial revolution, that often focused on the worst aspects of life but the money had to go somewhere and it often went on architecture as shown here.

[christos-greece]

Awesome, very nice photos from Glasgow

[Sweet Zombie Jesus]

Thanks everyone!

Snowy: Thanks! And I know what you mean about the 'American' feel, it's almost a mash of American and European architecture, with the big statements of the height of the British Empire with a subtle mix of 'Scots' influence in many of the buildings.

Plaas: Good to know I changed another misled perception of the city! Although I'd be lying if I said it was a perfect Victorian city, planners and politicians conspired to 'redevelop' the entire city in the 60's, and as a result a lot was demolished. Luckily the concrete estates are mostly in the inner suburban parts of town, and much of the city centre and inner city remains intact.

VelesHomais: It was often referred to as the Second City of The British Empire (although Birmingham and Manchester may also have something to say about that) and was built on the back of Shipbuilding and other heavy industries (mainly gone now) so yes, the city was very rich, or at least, those in charge of the city were.

Although the city was a reasonably prosperous and pleasant place before the Industrial Revolution, little remains from that time.

Arrrgh: Hope you enjoy your visit! The population issue is an extremely complicated one, before post-war redevelopment, over a million people lived within city boundaries, this was cut down to around 600 000 and has hovered near that ever since, although the Greater Glasgow area, including suburbs outwith city boundaries sits at 1.2 million.

The population hasn't really changed that much, it's just been greatly spread out. In a sensible world the city limits would be expanded to cover these suburbs. But yes, the City of Glasgow has been slowly gaining population over the last decade.

[Arrrgh]

Originally Posted by Sweet Zombie Jesus

The population hasn't really changed that much, it's just been greatly spread out. In a sensible world the city limits would be expanded to cover these suburbs. But yes, the City of Glasgow has been slowly gaining population over the last decade.

Yeah... administrative boundaries suck
In the Netherlands there are actually three cities of over a million, but the largest municipality is 770,000... Must be the same in Scotland then.

I'm really looking forward to my visit, I'm in love with Britain but have never been to Scotland. I think I'm going to like it!

[Mr Bricks]

Looks very grand!

[Sweet Zombie Jesus]

Originally Posted by Arrrgh

Yeah... administrative boundaries suck
In the Netherlands there are actually three cities of over a million, but the largest municipality is 770,000... Must be the same in Scotland then.

Actually it's just Glasgow that suffers this to such an extent (that I know of) in Scotland, The Edinburgh boundary extends into open countryside!

Anyway;

Merchant City

The eastern part of the city centre is the oldest, and a settlement has existed at the lowest forded point of the River Clyde since pre-historic times, and the city as we know it first grew up from the river northwards along High Street to the Cathedral, when a religious site was founded there in the 6th century.

In the 17th century the cities first major growth spurt spread the city westwards as wealthy tobacco traders built their homes in the area now known as the Merchant city. Later during the Industrial Revolution this area was dominated by large warehouses and older tenements.

After becoming run down during much of the 20th century the area has been renewed. Fashion retailers, bars and restaraunts occupy old tenements and banks and markets and warehouses have been converted to loft apartments. New residential buildings have sprung up to fill in gaps although there is still ground left over, and the Trongate part of town near the original Glasgow Cross is dominated by discount stores.

Into the Merchant City from Buchanan Street




Gallery of Modern Art, formerly a 'Tobacco Lord's' mansion, since considerably extended



Infamous Duke of Wellington statue, who always has a cone on his head


Another surviving traders house


Ingram Street




















Around Glasgow Cross






A small corner of the city with many independent stores and art galleries




Old warehouses and commercial buildings

[VelesHomais]

I think that the Duke would look better without the cone.

What I meant about Scots and Englishmen is, what the breakdown by nationality is in Glasgow itself like?

[Sweet Zombie Jesus]

Not sure, I can't find any statistics by google, I can only say the population is reasonably mixed but the vast majority of people, especially in suburban areas, are 'Scottish' by origin.

[Le Penseur]

Oh, I love Glasgow! I visited the city in February and was really impressed by the architecture (yes there is a bit of an American feeling), the shops, the people, the atmosphere... I stayed at my friend's place in the West End, also a very cool area! The developments along the Clyde are nice too, although it didn't feel very cozy to walk around there.

[VelesHomais]

What is the oldest building in Glasgow?

[cybertect]

The 'Glasgow corner'

Once you notice it, you keep seeing it.

[Sweet Zombie Jesus]

Originally Posted by VelesHomais

What is the oldest building in Glasgow?

Definitely the cathedral although very little of the actual city fabric (as in non-religious 'everyday' buildings) is left from before the 18th century. The Provand's Lordship is the oldest house in the city, built in 1471, it gives an idea of how the 'grander' medieval buildings would have looked, but unfortunately no more remain in the city centre.

Le Penseur: Glad you enjoyed it! The West End is probably my favourite part of the city (don't have many photos of it yet though!) I agree about the riverside though... some shiny new buildings but not a lot in the way of 'riverscape'. But hopefully there will be more development soon, and a proposed marina to bring more boats onto the water!

cybertect: Its a pesky little feature I dont know who first came up with the idea of curving the corner then sticking a turret (optional) on top, but I have to thank them.

[VelesHomais]

Thanks! Both look wonderful.

[cybertect]

Originally Posted by Sweet Zombie Jesus

cybertect: Its a pesky little feature I dont know who first came up with the idea of curving the corner then sticking a turret (optional) on top, but I have to thank them.

I had my attention drawn to it many years ago in a lecture by Leslie Martin when he was talking about the design of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. You'll find his interpretation subtly incorporated into the principal corners of the building.

[LSyd]

thanks for pics of my favorite city in the world

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