Friday, 4 September 2015

New Gorbals. Pollokshields. The Changing Face of Glasgow. Part Two.

                                               ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
One of the aspects of living in a city is that it is constantly changing and evolving. Cycling along the River Clyde on the cycle track that runs past the BBC and STV studios I was intent on cycling over Bell's Bridge through Festival Park and Govan but I noticed this instead.The shock of the new. A large golden dome that definitely wasn't there last summer among the usual towers around Park Circus. It's the new Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha, presumably built to replace the old one on Berkeley Street in Kelvingrove just west of Charing Cross.
"Whoa! What is that!" was my first reaction. As I love new things and architecture I had to go there so turned the bike around and immediately headed towards it. I now had a quest as great as reaching any mountain summit...more so as it was completely unexpected, like waking up one morning and opening the curtains to find a towering mountain range in the back garden or a brave new world outside. (incidentally, Bioshock Infinite, highlighted in this blog two weeks ago, which is all about new worlds, radical ideas in quantum physics and an entire new concept of the universe... featured in "Horizon- What universe do we live in" last night. A subject I was already  familiar with at a very basic level through Philip Pullman's excellent "His Dark Materials" trilogy. (The Golden Compass for film fans.)
It seems we may soon have to rewrite everything we thought we knew about the universe around us and start again from scratch.)
The old Central Gurdwara on Berkeley Street. My sister grew up in a tenement one street away during her own childhood in the 1950s so it was like a virtual cycle tour of Ancestor Family
Very impressive building which really stands out on the skyline.
Little did I know it but this was just the forerunner of a tour that opened my eyes to a Glasgow I assumed I knew well but found out I didn't know as well as I thought I did. Every couple of years, old buildings disappear and new ones spring up in their place. No wonder folk who have lived abroad for a long time go back to the city they came from and hardly recognize the place. I've lived in Glasgow all my life but I had that feeling as well on this day. It was as if I hardly knew the city I've never been away from as several years can go by before I visit certain areas again. As I don't work all over Glasgow these days in every district and do all my shopping in my local area it was a real surprise to discover so many changes on the one day. Rather than being put out it was invigorating. You don't need to travel around the world when you live in a large city as it constantly changes around you. London is even more extreme with huge developments still to come which will completely transform the capital.
The Mitchell Library. The largest public reference library in Europe. Built in 1911 at the height of Glasgow's golden age of prosperity.
Nice to see it still looking good as local libraries are under severe and increasing threat from the internet, along with daily newspapers, high street shops and banks, footfall shopping in general, traditional pastimes, printed books, film and music as we know them, the BBC, and countless others. A long list of "Things we lost in the Fire" almost without noticing, hence the Pandora's Box tag in the last post.
New building going up along St Vincent Street near Charing Cross. It may look from this as if Glasgow is prosperous but the whole of the UK is being polarized into a two tier society with the majority of new jobs created since the recession being either low paid, part time, or zero hours contracts... or full time, well paid, university graduate jobs for the lucky few. Maybe that explains why many of the new buildings recently have been student accommodation or service and call centers.
The Skypark building has been around for a while but it looks like additional modern buildings will soon be joining it along the waterfront. Note the cycle track running along the River Clyde below it.
I used to work here myself many years ago before it received its glossy face-lift. Great unrestricted views from the upper floors over the city back then before another high building got in the way.
Luxury apartments, mainly for young high earning professionals, without children, in Finnieston beside the Clyde Arc Bridge.
The Hydro. Glasgow's latest concert and entertainment venue.
The Nearby Finnieston Crane and North Rotunda. (You can see why I split it into two posts.Loads of photos.)
Next up was the Gorbals district.This is the Gorbals I am familiar with though many of the high rise flats, like these, that replaced the old tenements of no mean city fame are also gone.
In their place is the new Gorbals. You know you are getting old when you outlast two different sets of buildings. I worked in both old style tenements and 1970s hi rise over the decades.This was also a surprise and a new addition to the district which is undergoing its third major transformation during my lifetime.
St Andrews Cross came next near Eglinton Street. This is the view I remember, still unchanged. Maybe because they are listed buildings. The nearby Plaza ballroom is gone, demolished a while ago and turned into flats.
New buildings nearby. Another jolt of the new for my poor old heart. Although a busy area full of traffic, quiet back streets can be accessed easily here to avoid most cars.
It wasn't my intention to do a golden dome tour but another orb nearby captured me like a moth to a flame. This is Pollokshields East district. I had relatives here as well so it did feel like a trip back in time.
Sherbrooke Church. Nearby Pollokshields is a truly stunning area. I had forgotten how spectacular and grand it was, laid out in the Victorian era as an affluent garden suburb with massive private houses in their own spacious grounds. Traditional church attendances are dropping fast whereas other faith groups are on the rise. This area has three (correction four) splendid spires but falling congregations mean that many churches have to either close or diversify into climbing venues or other use facilities.
The roads in this spacious district are wide and largely free of traffic and pedestrians, so it's perfect for cycling. A national cycle path runs past the edge of it next to the motorway along a pleasant green corridor before linking with Festival Park and the River Clyde walkways/cycle tracks . This is another area I used to visit in the 1960s as a child although my relatives lived in the poorer part of the suburb in a small modern house. We always thought they were doing well though escaping life in the crowded tenements of the inner city a short distance away. It's still a short walk from here to some of the less affluent districts in Glasgow as British cities often have rich and poor districts a stone's throw away from each other. Always enjoyed visiting here and the wide quiet streets and massive private houses felt like a huge garden, combined with a vast sylvan red sandstone theme park. To a young child the soaring villas on their elevated slopes above the trees felt like cliffs in a canyon. The magnificent tower of the Sherbrooke Castle Hotel, seen above, which used to be a private residence. That gives you some idea of the wealth in this area, still one of the richest parts of Glasgow.
Same building close up. I remember also visiting Haggs Castle which used to be a museum. An equally grand building reclining in its own grounds. I was so stunned by this area and its grandeur, much of which was a distant memory, that I couldn't wait to research it when I returned. This proved beneficial as I'm always reluctant to post photos of individual private properties as it's an invasion of privacy and I wouldn't like it done to me. Many of the houses here are completely screened by mature trees nowadays but this excellent link shows you what they were like historically and gives you detailed knowledge of the area and its development from its Victorian origins. Well worth a look.
No wonder Glasgow was known as "The Second City of the British Empire." The evidence of its prosperity is preserved in brick and stone when you look at the vast mansions in here.

Another fine church. Cracking bike ride and an eyeopener of a day. The end.
Like a kaleidoscope Glasgow has many different patterns. Some light- some dark. Another video from cult Glasgow band Sons and Daughters sums up the duality of Glasgow and west coast Scotland in general where great beauty, occasional extreme violence, strong drink and gallows humour traditionally go hand in hand. Starts off with a knowing nod to Talking Heads Psycho Killer before going off at a tangent all its own. An everyday tale of death, madness and misadventure in the suburbs. Powerful performance.


Carol said...

" Traditional church attendances are dropping fast whereas other faith groups are on the rise"

A worrying trend but I think it's mainly because Christians are being replaced by a huge influx of other faiths and it doesn't seem to be working out too well. Granted, a lot of people have stopped going to church though, myself included. I think a lack of faith is okay but I believe we still need to follow basic Christian principles here and that isn't happening unfortunately. I'd also hate to see our traditional church buildings being lost too and support our local church financially, even though I don't visit, as I'd hate to see it gone.

I wouldn't want to live in any kind of apartment, posh or not, as I hate having neighbours - way too noisy! My ideal is a house in the middle of nowhere with no one else around!

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Carol,
I wouldn't want to live in the middle of the city either as I like the outskirts. Couldn't afford any of the apartments I've seen anyway advertised on billboards which start around £80,000. Not many ordinary folk can. I watched a programme recently set in London where families that could afford it either moved or bought a second home in areas where they wanted their children going to good schools and also attended local churches regularly until they got a place then they stopped whereas folk brought up in that area had to send their kids miles away when the allocations were full. Also a lot of people moving out of London altogether as they can no longer afford house prices there, relocating to Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham.
Times change but it's still survival of the fittest, despite a civilized veneer.In centuries past Europeans invaded and colonized dozens of countries and exploited the resources and people there. The Scottish Highlands were cleared and replaced with wealthy English (usually)on large estates and treated as a playground. Always amused me that Highland Lairds invariably spoke with Eton or Cambridge accents on TV and that many of their subjects came from the south of England anyway as you can sell a modest house there and buy a castle if you can stomach the weather and midges.
When the Vikings came it was "death and terror" but mainly for the church and people with valuable things to lose. When the Irish came it was an invasion... same with the highlanders looking for work,etc etc.
The only thing predicable in life is war, conflicting religions, chaos and change :o)

Lux G. said...

Impressive indeed. I've never seen an actual castle yet. I'm sure I'll be mesmerized.

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Lux G,
The large ones like Stirling Castle are pretty good and half the price of Edinburgh Castle. The smaller older ones can be drafty and cold due to large rooms and high ceilings. The ones used as hotels usually have been adapted with lower ceilings and modern central heating.

andamento said...

Very interesting, thank you again for another detailed and entertaining post.

blueskyscotland said...

Enjoyed it myself Anne and completed two more cycle trips around the city until I'd got to grips with all the recent changes again.