March 21st, 2025
This morning started with a bus tour of Glasgow. Our first stop was at the Glasgow Green. Here was saw the Doulton Fountain. It was a five-tier fountain in a French Renaissance style. It was built for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. It was restored in 2003-2005 and stood 46 feet high and 70 feet across the base and it was thought to be the largest fountain in the world.
The fountain was located in front of the People’s Palace. It was built from 1893-1898. It housed the city’s social history collection.
We passed the Hydro. It was an indoor arena that had a capacity of 14,500 including the standing room and opened in 2013. It holds various events.
The bus also took us past the Clyde Auditorium which resembled the Sydney Opera House in Australia. The Clyde Auditorium also known as the Armadillo and opened in 1997. It hosts big entertainment names and performers and has a capacity of 3,000.
As we walked up to the Glasgow Cathedral we saw one of the former blue police boxes that were used from the 1920s and have been sold and converted into businesses. If you were a Dr. Who fan these former police boxes were used as his tardis (time machine) to travel from place to place.
We had an hour to tour the Glasgow Cathedral on our own. It was dedicated to St. Kentigern, also known as St. Mungo. He was a Christian missionary from the 6th century AD.
The cathedral was built in the 1100s and it took 350 years to finish. It was a medieval cathedral.
We walked through the crypt that housed the tomb of St. Mungo.
The set of stained glass windows were made in the 1860s by the Munich glass and were installed in the Cathedral between 1859 and 1864. The windows deteriorated and had to be replaced and the three pictured below were restored by Historic Scotland.
Behind the Cathedral was the Glasgow Necropolis. It was a Victorian cemetery and the first garden cemetery in Scotland. It opened in 1833 on a hilly site and the top was dominated by the 12 foot statue of John Knox. He was known most for the Scottish Reformation.
Near the Glasgow Cathedral was a statue of David Livingstone by John Mossman. He was a Scottish born doctor, missionary, and explorer. When we traveled to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe in 2018 we saw a statue to Livingstone who discovered the falls in 1855 and named them after Queen Victoria.
Across the street from the Glasgow Cathedral was the oldest building in Glasgow, Provands Lordship. It dated from 1471 and was used by the clergy when they visited the cathedral.
Located behind Provands Lordship was St. Nicholas Garden. It was established in 1995 and contained herbs and plants used in the 15th century. In the center was a carved granite fountain. At the back were cloisters which contained Tontine Heads that were removed from the old Tontine Building which was once used as an exchange for sugar dealers. Below are a few of the Tontine Heads.
Before lunch we visited the Riverside Museum. It was filled with transportation and technology collections. The building opened in 2011 and took four years to complete. Dame Zaha Hadid was the world renowed architect that did the design.
The Riverside Museum was located at the junction of the Clyde River and the Kelvin River.
Displays from Star Wars could be found throughout the museum! Below were a few of the Star Wars collections.
This afternoon we have a tour of the National Piping Centre. It was located in a building from 1872 that was extensively renovated and the Piping Centre opened in 1996. We learned all about the history of Bagpipes. It was founded to promote the study of the music and history of the Highland Bagpipe. The Centre housed a museum of piping which we were given a tour. After our tour, we all had the opportunity to play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on a chanter. It was fun to try it. A couple of people from our group then tried playing the bagpipe!
Our group really wanted to see the Highland Cows and when we finished at the Piping Centre we quickly left for the train station to go to Pollok Country Park. Of course we went to the wrong train station first! We made it to the correct train station, bought our tickets and had to rush for the train! At the second train stop we hopped off and walked to the park which wasn’t far away.
Little did we know that this park was Glasgow’s largest green space! It was gifted to the city in 1966 and the Maxwell family owned this estate before it became a park. The Maxwell’s established the famous Pollok Highland Cattle fold nearly 200 years ago. They were brought down from the Scottish Highlands to graze the grounds within the estate. There were about 50 cattle. These Highland cows spend all year outside due to their double coat of hair. We walked quite a distance in the park before we spotted some coos (or cows)!
As we walked back we found coos close to the entrance which weren’t there earlier. The park was huge! You could spend a full day here and not see all of it!
We had round trip train tickets that took us back to the city center.
We were ready for dinner after a busy day! Near Merchant City where our hotel was located we passed a restaurant that could seat eleven of us! We ordered drinks and food and enjoyed both.
As we walked back to our hotel we passed by the Gallery of Modern Art which was located in an early 19th century neoclassical building in the city center. In front of the Gallery was a statue of the Duke of Wellington who had a traffic cone on his head! The placing of the traffic cone on his head and sometimes on his horse began by late night revellers in the 1980s. It demonstrated a sense of humor and that tradition has continued!
After walking almost six miles today we were tired and ready for bed! Tomorrow would be another exciting day in Scotland!
