A Little Bit of Glasgow Sight Seeing

I had to go into Glasgow yesterday for an appointment lasting all of 6 minutes. We decided we'd spend some time sight-seeing while we were there...

Lift ceiling detail, not a well known tourist attraction, yet!

We headed over to the cathedral first of all. I didn't get a very good photo of the exterior - there is a fair bit of scaffolding surrounding it as renovations are underway so I didn't take many pictures. I like the lamp posts. They depict the elements from Glasgow's coat of arms:- the tree that never grew, the bird that never flew, the fish that never swam, the bell that never rang. Each of these has a story associated, for more information have a look here.

Once inside it is always the stained glass which draws my attention. I like looking at the details. Not being especially religious it is the more secular aspects of the windows which appeal. Such as...

 Thistle detail....

... you can see it in situ here, at the bottom of the section second on the left.

Glasgow coat of arms detail.

Squirrel.

 Bird.

Back outside and here's a closer look at one of the lamp posts.

Next to the cathedral there's the museum of religion which we leave for another day. Instead we turn the corner past the museum to visit...

Provand's Lordship - the oldest house in Glasgow (built in 1471). Quick, green man, let's cross!

There are stained glass windows here too.

Most of the rooms are furnished with old oak furniture, these stools were my favourite. Also in this room was an area for doing some craft projects.

The children had a go at the stained glass which involved gluing pieces of coloured cellophane onto a little acetate sheet. I got a little bored waiting for them to finish so I made one too. Here are A's and mine. I liked the effect achieved by layering some of the shapes.

 Outside there is a pleasant little walled garden.

 Old stone carvings are set into the walls of the garden.

 A view looking over the garden to the rear of the house.

After lunch (at a well-known burger establishment), we continue.

Some street scenes. We're on our way to...

The Winter Gardens at the People's Palace.

I guess that after visiting Kew I was curious to see how one of our own glass houses compared. It's different in that it's not a specialist collection of plants. As a space to linger in it's nicer as there are benches and more open space, it's also very well looked after with the glass and paintwork being very clean. In addition it's free to get in, as have been all the places we've visited today.  

Ice cream. A had raspberry ripple, N and I had peaches and cream. A made the best choice.

There is a museum of social history next to the gardens which we also visited. The museum was opened in 1898 and was intended to be "A palace of pleasure and imagination around which the people may place their affections and which may give them a home on which their memory may rest". For some reason, the exhibit I always associate with it is the pair of banana boots owned by Billy Connolly.

A last view of the glass house before the long walk back to the station.

On the way home we bought a new paddling pool, the last one having burst. The children are looking forward to a "day off" from walking today and testing out the new pool. Isn't this lovely weather glorious. So nice for it to coincide with our school holidays too!