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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 12, 2024 12:02:09 GMT
My niece moved to Glasgow a couple of years ago, her brother settled there when he married a Scottish girl in the 90s and since her Mother passed away in 2016 Helen wanted to be near to her only sibling and his family. Having managed to gain a position as a Social Worker in Glasgow she moved up there a few years back. Up until recently Helen was living in an apartment in Paisley, but has recently bought her first house in Neilston, a few miles outside Glasgow...I was the first house guest in her new home. My last bus trip to Glasgow (on a National Express Coach for 11 hours) was torture, I don't like flying and the trains are unreliable...so I've been putting off another trip. Helen suggested that she drove to Leicester to catch up with her Aunties and cousins, then she would drive us both back to Scotland. I had managed to find a different coach company that promised a quicker and more comfortable trip, so I booked a ticket for the return journey. We made lots of plans about visiting Edinburgh and other places, but the primary reason for the visit was to see family, I hadn't seen my nephew for a while and wanted to catch up. Sooooo I packed my bags, baked Ian (nephew) a whisky fruit cake and we set out last Sunday leaving Jeff, Russ and the dog to cope on their own for a few days. I had a lovely time. My niece is settling into Neilston which is a large village, almost a town. The house is a 2 bedroomed property with a large rear garden and a small front garden with room for parking one car on the drive. Almost as soon as we arrived my nephew and his wife turned up so that was nice...my nephew's wife is a warm, fiery redhead with a beautiful accent and a terrific sense of humour....my nephew was pleased with his cake (he hid the tin when he got home!) and the gifts that I'd taken were well recieved. I suppose that we didn't really do much, altho we were out every day. We went into Glasgow most days but also visited a huge Nursery where my Great Nephew Rory was working during his break from Stirling University. I took a few pics with my phone, but it was basically a 'family visit' and we didn't really want to spend much time sightseeing...so apologies if the pics are dull. Aaaaanyway....on the ONLY dry day (it was quite cold) we drove to the Park and Ride on Shields road and caught the subway into Glasgow. Helen took my to Kelvingrove museum and art gallery. There are numerous museums in Glasgow and most of them are free to enter...as was this one. We walked up past some beautiful buildings..many belonging to the University. I would've liked to go into the Hunterian Museum and galleries but I'll be going up again so no worries...  the building is quite grand   In the entrance hall there is a huge organ, every weekday there is an organ recital at 1pm which was a bit of a shock...  Downstairs there are several galleries with everything from paintings to fossils...it's quite astonishing.    the Mackintosh rooms        tbc |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 12, 2024 12:14:07 GMT
Still in Kelvingrove. I was excited about 'The Glasgow Boys' gallery...I spent a while looking at the paintings and tried to photograph a few but the pics didn't turn out very well.     We made our way upstairs. The museum's Van Gough was on loan to another museum...and the Dali (Christ of St John of the Cross) is on loan to the Vatican which was disappointing...however we did see some beautiful paintings. Walking out onto a balcony (which encircles the main hall) we were astonished by Sophie Cave's 'Floating Heads ' installation which was stunning...  back downstairs we came across this....  Anyway...I will finish this later ttfn |
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Post by htmb on Jun 12, 2024 12:39:48 GMT
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, Cheery! I’m enjoying your photos. I’ve wanted to visit the Kelvingrove for awhile, but have never made it inside. I did manage to visit the smaller Hunterian Art Museum, up the road from the main entrance to the university. The area around the Kelvingrove and the University of Glasgow is so pretty. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your photos.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 12, 2024 16:04:22 GMT
Thank you htmb...my nephew's wife got quite frustrated with me not dashing around visiting all the sights because she loves her city so much and was anxious that I get to see more of it. We were going to visit Edinburgh but we decided that it needs a long weekend rather than a day trip. We went to a couple of garden centres as Helen is excited about having her own garden for the first time ever..McClarens is huge and has some amazing plants. I think that they supply a lot of big gardening projects. They have £2000 olive trees in massive barrels, cloud pruned pines and other delightful ornamentals. Didn't take any photos there as I was too busy drooling over the plants. We had lunch at this GC  On the last day my niece treated me to a ride on the Glasgow Tour bus (90 minutes) which was splendid. We were a bit vexed by a couple and their teenaged daughter sneaking past us and running up the stairs to get the two front seats...(especially as the girl sprawled in her seat looking at her phone rather than looking at the sights). They all got off about 3/4 of the way around so we scuttled to the front. The guide was very good altho it was difficult to capture the sights on my phone... We got on the bus at George Square....drove past the Museum of Modern Art  We saw lots of Tenement buildings.. this one has stone cats on the front     a rather lovely art deco hotel building  There was some beautiful ironwork everywhere...I tried to take a pic of the Central Station but unfortunately another tourist blocked my view...  We went through 'Glasgow Green' a large green space in the heart of the city with the People's Palace (not in pic and closed atm) a Brewery and the Doulton Fountain.  There were a few splendid murals... St Mungo by Smug (the Scottish Banksy)  Billy Connolly (not sure of the artist)  This one was lovely...again I'm not sure of the artist    Then there's 'The Squinty Bridge' built at an angle because there were buildings in the way directly on the other side of the river...  I didn't photograph everything because I was enjoying the tour and wanted to relax. After the tour we met up with my nephew's wife and daughter, we went to Princes Square and had THE most expensive coffee, cake and mocktails that I've ever bought (almost had heart failure when I paid the bill!)   We then had a wander around the jewellery quarter where we dribbled over the most outrageously expensive sparkly rings, bracelets and necklaces. We finished up at the Levis shop where they had jeans IN MY SIZE! (and I needed a smaller size than I usually take). The Levis shop here in Leicester only sells jeans for stick insects. My old levis are getting a bit frayed now (8 years old) so I bought myself a new pair. My niece used her Student card to get me 20% off too! fab... We did lots of other stuff...pottering around the shops, catching up with rellies...even my Great Nephew turned up to see me which was lovely. The journey home on Saturday wasn't too bad. I had a double seat at the front of the coach with plenty of leg room, only 5 minute stops so no comfort breaks (there were facilities on the bus). I wore flight socks but after 5 hours they were hurting so I had to roll them down (where they proceded to cut off the circulation in my feet). Glad to be home but it was a lovely week. |
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 12, 2024 16:56:37 GMT
Excellent report Cheery.
Grandson returned from Glasgow School of Art last weekend having completed his 4 years. We go up there next month when he graduates. He got a B. He would love to stay there but it just isn’t practical.
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Post by htmb on Jun 12, 2024 17:29:22 GMT
More wonderful pictures! I love the cats. I took a tour bus on my last visit, but don’t remember seeing the cats. I definitely was glad I wasn’t driving! It sounds like you had a marvelous visit, Cheery.
And Mick, congratulations to you and to your grandson!
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 12, 2024 17:31:17 GMT
Thank you htmb!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 12, 2024 17:37:01 GMT
Wow, congratulations to your Grandson Mick  |
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Post by mich64 on Jun 12, 2024 17:42:44 GMT
Lovely report Cheery, really enjoyed it all. You did and saw a lot of what we did so brought back happy memories. Wonderful that you got to spend time with your family.
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Post by mich64 on Jun 12, 2024 17:45:30 GMT
Congratulations to your grandson graduating university Mick! It seems like it was not so long ago that he went off to Glasgow! Time passes by so quickly!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 12, 2024 21:13:29 GMT
This is a spectacular report, Cheery! You took such great pictures of everything, even the ones from the bus, no matter what you say. And the pictures of the Glasgow Boys' work are stellar. I love the way your excitement and appreciation show throughout the report. Grit your teeth and make yourself do it. Your ankles & feeties will thank you. We went into Glasgow most days but also visited a huge Nursery ... I took a few pics with my phone, but it was basically a 'family visit' and we didn't really want to spend much time sightseeing... So much the best way! Sometimes I miss things I really should see just because I don't want to run around checking things off a list. there is an organ recital at 1pm which was a bit of a shock... Always my response to organ music..  " title="::grin:: "] We went to a couple of garden centres as Helen is excited about having her own garden for the first time ever.. She was so lucky to have you there to point out the good stuff and generally give guidance. Mick, great news -- congratulations to your scholar! |
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Post by whatagain on Jun 13, 2024 7:47:29 GMT
Cool pics.
I love the fountain and the town looks very nice.
Of course it helps to have some sun !
Super that your family got her own house. And cool that you spend some time with your family.
The plane in the museum is a Spitfire (Supermarine) of the late designs.
I would bet on a mark XIV.
You can see the propeller has 5 ‘pales’ which only came toward the end of the war.
Missive should chime in and confirm 😊
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 13, 2024 9:18:05 GMT
Thank you for your congratulations for Joe.
He might well have got an A but because of his dyslexia he found written assignments very hard work plus he rather threw them by not going the traditional textile design route but designing and producing football shirts. Just before he left he sold a Scotland shirt for £100.
Sorry for going off topic Cheery.
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 13, 2024 10:36:47 GMT
whatagain, I thought you are right with the model but some 5 blade ones were tried in earlier models and found out it is a Mk 21, so quite a bit later - and as you would expect, using the serial number you can track back it's history. Not sure if other countries do this but there are registries of all WWII planes and a search on the number usually brings something up. aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=123195"LA-198 was delivered to the local 602 Squadron (City of Glasgow) in 1947, so it did not actually see any action during the war. Its active service was cut short in 1949 after engine trouble saw it “pranged on the runway,” as a contemporary Royal Air Force logbook jauntily described the accident. The plane had mixed fortunes over the next few decades, variously being used as an extra in the 1967 film The Battle of Britain, as a gate guardian at several RAF airfields, and as an aerial target practice tow plane for the military. A rather battered and bruised aircraft ultimately ended up languishing in RAF museum storage until being rescued for restoration in the mid-90s by Glasgow City Council. The plane now stands, or rather hangs, as a vivid memorial to those daring pilots of the Second World War." |
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 13, 2024 14:34:00 GMT
Excellent report Cheery. Grandson returned from Glasgow School of Art last weekend having completed his 4 years. We go up there next month when he graduates. He got a B. He would love to stay there but it just isn’t practical. It seems as though he went to start there only yesterday. I guess that Anyport keeps some of us so busy that we don't see time go by. Having only seen Edinburgh, I know I need to go to Glasgow one of these days.
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Post by lugg on Jun 13, 2024 19:21:00 GMT
What a fab report Cheery and so pleased that you got to enjoy your family time and Glasgow. I have never been but your report reminds me that I would love to go.
Some of the exhibits in the museum chairs / stained glass in your photos make me appear to be Mackintosh but not sure if this is correct Cheery ? Anyway what a lovely balance museums, family time and an amazing garden centre. Perfect break.
At least the museum was free to offset the exorbitant mocktails and cake
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Post by lugg on Jun 13, 2024 19:21:45 GMT
Congrats to your grandson Mick - what an achievement
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 14, 2024 18:31:59 GMT
I found a few more pics on my phone....but the image loader isn't working atm so I'll post them anothe day.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 14, 2024 20:57:27 GMT
See that you do.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 15, 2024 20:40:25 GMT
OK....a few more random photographs... From Kelvingrove...the Colourists gallery...I really liked this one A Lady in Black : Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell  another painting...this one of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots : Robert Inerarity Herdman  More art from the gallery balcony   Photos from the bus tour The armadillo and the Ovo arena (by the Clyde)   the Riverside museum   Driving out of Neilston, which is high up, the city of Glasgow is spread out below...I'm not a fan of big cities but it really did look lovely on a clear day.  I took a few snaps out of the coach window on the way home...the reflections in the window were of the driver.... Outside Berwick     |
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 16, 2024 9:18:41 GMT
You take great pictures Cheery.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2024 16:54:34 GMT
Doesn't she?!
Thanks for adding to the report, Cheery. Love the Lady in Black and all of your interior shots of the Kelvingrove. The pictures of modern Glasgow are impressive. What is the Armadillo used for? It's a wonderful looking building. Also love your pictures of the ride home, with the towering clouds.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 16, 2024 17:02:16 GMT
The Armadillo is an auditorium Bixa, altho a few years ago when we visited it held a science museum for chldren.
Thank you for the compliments about my pics...they were all taken on my smartphone 😁
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