In photos: Glasgow street scenes, pubs, station and architecture

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Since I’ve been fortunate to rejoin The Monochrome Set, I’ve had the opportunity to travel around the UK a lot more and, of course, I’ve been taking my camera with me.

Although being in a band means you don’t get so much time to yourself – as soon as you arrive somewhere you have to set up for the soundcheck, eat, get changed and then prepare for the gig – so these are just a few snapshots I captured as  I ran about.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Glasgow Central is an absolute cracker of a station with loads of its original features intact, including several Edwardian-era wooden structures.

Opened by the Caledonian Railway on 31 July 1879, it forms the northern terminus of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston, and for inter-city services between Glasgow and England.

With nearly 29 million passengers in 2014-15, Glasgow Central is the eleventh-busiest railway station in Britain and is is protected as a category A listed building.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

The station was rebuilt between 1901-1905 and substantially extended.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

The station is noted for the large glass-walled bridge that takes the platforms over Argyle Street, nicknamed as the “Hielanman’s Umbrella” (Highlandman’s Umbrella) because it was used as a gathering place for visiting Highlanders.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

View on Clyde Street.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Looking along the Clyde.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Rail bridge across the Clyde.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

A. Gardner & Son’s striking warehouse in Jamaica Street was seen as fantastically modern when it was erected in the 1850s. With steel members supporting both the internal and external walls, the building has huge windows, all the better for showing off the shop’s cabinets and upholstery.

Designed by John Baird, its iron and glass construction was inspired by Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace, the centrepiece of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Part of the pub is now in use as a Wetherspoons pub called The Crystal Palace.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Built in 1863 to a design by John Honeyman, Lansdowne Parish Church in Glasgow features a 218 feet spire, one of the slimmest in Europe.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

With its tall buildings and grid road structure, Glasgow has something of a New York feel about it, and perhaps that is reflected in the work of one of their finest bands, The Blue Nile.

I loved the place.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Another fine building hosting a Wetherspoons pub, the large clock on the corner bears the name Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Over the hillside…

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Art Nouveau Peacock on Princes Square Shopping Center in Buchanan Street, created in 1985.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

You’ll hear quite a few of these around Glasgow, but there’s even more in Edinburgh.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Glasgow at dusk.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Hutchesons’ Hall, said to be one of Glasgow’s finest and most elegant buildings was completed in 1805, with a major refurbishment taking place within the building to the designs of John Baird II in 1876.

Purchased by The National Trust for Scotland in 1984, water damage in 2008 left the building empty until it was reopened in the summer of June 2014 as a restaurant.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Glasgow’s City Chambers at night. Constructed between 1882 and 1888 to a competition winning design by Scottish architect William Young, a native of Paisley, the building was inaugurated in August 1888 by Queen Victoria.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

The traditional ‘traffic cone on top of statue.’ Always a pleasing sight, in my eyes,

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Glasgow once had over 300 ‘Tardis’ police boxes, but by 1994 just 10 remained, a mix of the traditional blue and the odd Glasgow-specific red boxes. This number has fallen to just four, with all of them now classed as category B-listed buildings. []

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

The band were playing Stereo in Glasgow, a lovely venue with a vegan/cafe bar upstairs.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Now a category A listed building, the Pavilion Theatre of Varieties is one of Glasgow’s oldest theatres, opening on 29 February 1904 as a music hall.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

St George’s Tron Church.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

After the gig we repaired to the Horseshoe pub in Drury Street. At 104 feet and three inches, its curved Victorian bar claims to be the longest in Europe and enjoys an architectural listing.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Established in 1884 by Cavalry Captain John Scouller, the bar was a prime example of a ‘Victorian Gin Palace,’ with John Young Whyte extending the bar when he took over in the 1900s.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Famous drinkers in the past have included quaffer extraordinaire, Oliver Reid, Billy Connolly and Scottish band Travis, who presented the pub with their gold disc for the album ‘The Man Who…’ as well as their Q Award and Brit Awards.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Pub detail.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

The striking glasswork of Mac Sorley’s Music Bar on Jamaica Street.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Street art by Sam Bates AKA Smug on the five pillars supporting the Caledonian Railway Bridge on Broomielaw.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Heading back to the station

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

Old and new on Oswald Street.

In photos: a quick look around Glasgow in November

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