Glasgow
- For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation)
Glasgow (or Glaschu in Gaelic) is Scotland's largest city, situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands.
The City
Known as the commercial capital of Scotland, the City of Glasgow is a bustling, cosmopolitan city. It has a population of 612,000, down from its 1960s peak of 1.1 million, while approximately 2.1 million people live in Greater Glasgow : A 15 mile radius of the city centre known as the city of Glasgow and the greater metropolitan area. The surrounding region of Strathclyde (from the Gaelic for 'valley of the River Clyde') has a population of over 2.6 million, over half of the whole Scottish population.
The city's name comes from the older Gaelic glas cu (compare modern Gaelic Glaschu), meaning green hollow. The "dear green place" (Glaschu) has been misquoted as a Gaelic translation for the city, but this was actually Daniel Defoe's description of the city when he visited in the early 18th century; he also claimed that Glasgow was "the paradise of Scotland and one of the cleanliest and best built cities in Britain." Another writer of the time said of the River Clyde: "I have never seen before any river which for natural beauty can stand competition with the Clyde. Never did a stream glide more gracefully to the ocean or through a fairer region." At that time, the city's population numbered approximately 12,000, and its structures largely consisted of attractive, compact wooden buildings, none of which remain today.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms shows Glasgow's patron saint, Saint Kentigern also known as Saint Mungo, and includes four emblems — a bird, a tree, a bell, and a fish. The emblems represent miracles Saint Mungo is reputed to have performed. The motto of the city is Let Glasgow Flourish and this is part of the arms. The motto is derived from Saint Mungo's original sermon: Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word and the praising of thy name. The original version is inscribed on a bell made in 1637 which states Lord let Glasgow flovrichse throvgh the preaching of thy word and praising thy name.
Local children are taught to remember the arms using the following verse:
- Here's the bird that never flew
- Here's the tree that never grew
- Here's the bell that never rang
- Here's the fish that never swam
The motto was more recently commemorated in a song called "Mother Glasgow" by Hue and Cry, a popular musical group of Glasgwegian origin.
History
- See main article History of Glasgow
The area of Glasgow has long been used for settlement due to the River Clyde providing a natural area for fishing. The Romans later settled in the area, however Glasgow proper was not founded until the 6th century by Saint Mungo when he established a church in what is now Glasgow Cathedral.
Glasgow grew over the following centuries with it being granted the status of a city, and the founding of the University of Glasgow. It was not until the 16th century that Glasgow became a prominent city in world affairs. The city became a hub of trade to the Americas, especially in the movement of tobacco and sugar. The industries of Scotland produced cotton, coal and iron which were exported. Shipbuilding became a major industry on the Clyde, building many famous ships. By the end of the 19th century the city was known as the "Second City of the Empire" and was producing most of the ships and trains in the world. During this period most of the city's architectural and civic buildings were being funded by its wealth.
The 20th century showed a great decline in the city's fortunes, especially with two world wars and the Great Depression. The city's industries became uncompetitive, leading to high unemployment, urban decay and poor health for the city's inhabitants.
By the end of the century however there has been a significant resurgence in Glasgow's economic fortunes, with financial companies moving to the city, as well an increase in tourism due to the legacy of the city's status as European City of Culture in 1990, and the city's thriving artistic community, the most significant outside of London. The regeneration of inner-city areas has led to people moving back to living in the centre of Glasgow, although there are still pockets of relative deprivation.
Architecture
Unlike Edinburgh, very little of medieval Glasgow remains, the two main landmarks from this period being the 14th century Provand's Lordship and Glasgow Cathedral. The vast majority of the city as seen today dates from the 19th century. As a result, Glasgow has an impressive heritage of Victorian architecture, the Glasgow City Chambers, the main building of the University of Glasgow, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and the Glasgow School of Art, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, being outstanding examples. Another architect who had a great and enduring impact on the city's appearance was Alexander Thomson, who produced a distinctive architecture based on fundamentalist classicism that gave him the nickname "Greek". He was described as a "quiet, stay-at-home Victorian behind whose buttoned-up facade there seethed a kind of stylistic corsair who plundered the past for the greater glory of the present".
The buildings reflect the wealth and self confidence of the residents of the "Second City of the Empire". Glasgow generated immense wealth from trade and the industries that developed from the Industrial Revolution. The shipyards, marine engineering, steel making, and heavy industry all contributed to the growth of the city. At one time the expression "Clyde-built" was synonymous with quality and engineering excellence. There are two buildings in Glasgow that resemble the Doge's Palace in Venice: Templeton's carpet factory at Glasgow Green and the Stock Exchange. The allusions to Venice, another great sea-faring trading city, seem appropriate.
Many of the city's beautiful buildings were built with red or gold sandstone, but after a few years those colours disappeared under a pervasive black layer of soot and pollutants from the furnaces.
Tenements were built to house the workers who had migrated from Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, the islands and the country areas in order to feed the local need for labour; these tenements were often overcrowded and insanitary, and many developed into the infamous Glasgow slums, the Gorbals area being one of the most notorious.
In recent years many of these buildings have been cleaned and restored to their original appearance. Others were demolished to make way for large, barrack-like housing estates, and high-rise flats. The latter were built in large numbers during the 1960s and early 1970s; and indeed, Glasgow has a higher concentration of high-rise buildings than any other city in the UK. At 35 storeys, the Red Road flats in the north of the city were for many years the highest residential buildings in Europe. These "schemes" are widely regarded as unsuccessful: many, such as Castlemilk, were heartless dormitories well away from the centre of the city with no amenities ("deserts wi' windies", as Billy Connolly put it), and their establishment led to the split up of long established community relationships. Many of the high-rise developments were poorly designed and cheaply built and became magnets for crime. Over time many have become as bad as the slum areas that they replaced. On 7 March 2003 the Glasgow Housing Association took ownership of the housing stock from the city council, and has begun a programme of demolishing the worst of the high-rises.
Modern buildings in Glasgow include the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Along the banks of the Clyde are the Glasgow Science Centre and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, whose Clyde Auditorium was designed by Sir Norman Foster, and is affectionately known as the "Armadillo". Zaha Hadid has won a competition to design the new Transport Museum, which will move to the waterfront. Shopping centres include the Buchanan Galleries, the glass pyramid of the St Enoch Centre, and the upmarket Princes Square.
Given the history of high rises in Glasgow, the council's policy of allowing new tall buildings has attracted some controversy. The 39-storey Elphinstone Place mixed-use skyscraper in Charing Cross, will be the tallest building in Scotland, and is scheduled to begin construction in late 2005 [1]. Much development is taking place along the banks of the Clyde. Glasgow Harbour, which neighbours Partick is one of the largest residential developments. The second phase was unfavourably compared to the Red Road flats [2], but was granted planning permission.
Culture
The city has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art. The city even has the largest reference library in Europe in the form of the Mitchell Library. The city has hosted many exhibtions over the years, including being the European Capital of Culture 1990, National City of Sport 1995-1999, UK City of Architecture and Design 1999 and European Capital of Sport 2003.
Sport
Glasgow has a long sporting history, with the world's first international football match held in 1872 at the West of Scotland Cricket Club's Hamilton Crescent ground in the Partick area of Glasgow. The match was between Scotland and England and resulted in a 0–0 draw.
The city is home to Scotland's largest football stadia: Celtic Park (60,832 seats); Ibrox Stadium (50,411 seats); and Hampden Park (52,670 seats), which is Scotland's national football stadium. Glasgow has three professional football clubs: Rangers and Celtic, which together make the Old Firm; and Partick Thistle; A fourth club, Queen's Park, is an amateur club that plays in the Scottish professional league system. It had two other professional clubs in the late 20th century: Clyde, which moved to Cumbernauld, and Third Lanark, which went bankrupt.
The history of football in the city, as well as the status of the Old Firm, attract many visitors to football matches in the city throughout the season. The standard of the national stadium has enabled the European football governing body UEFA to hold the final of the Champions League competition at Hampden Park three times, most recently in 2002. The Scottish Football Association, the national governing body, and the Scottish Football Museum are based in Glasgow.
Major international sporting arenas include Kelvin Hall and Scotstoun Sports Centre. In 2003 the National Academy for Badminton was completed in Scotstoun. In 2003 Glasgow was also given the title of European Capital of Sport.
Smaller sporting facilities include an abundance of small outdoor football pitches, as well as golf clubs and artificial ski slopes. Between 1998 and 2004,the Scottish Claymores American football team played some or all of their home games each season at Hampden and the venue also hosted World Bowl XI.
Befitting its strong highland connections as the City of the Gael Baile Mòr nan Gàidheal, Glasgow is also one of five places in Scotland which hosts the final of the Scottish Cup of Shinty, better known as the Camanachd Cup. This is usually held at Old Anniesland. Once home to numerous Shinty clubs, there is now only one senior club in Glasgow, Glasgow Mid-Argyll, as well as two university sides, Strathclyde University and Glasgow University.
Religious rivalry
See also the main article: Religious rivalry in Glasgow
Some sectarian rivalry still exists among certain sectors of the population. Nowadays this is largely limited to the sporting rivalry between the supporters of Celtic and Rangers. Practically all Rangers supporters are nominally Protestant, while the majority of Celtic supporters are nominally Catholic.
Politics
Glasgow has a long history of supporting socialist ideas and politics. The city has been controlled by the Labour party for 30 years. Its socialist roots spring from the city's days as an industrial powerhouse, and continue through the previously mentioned levels of relative poverty among some Glaswegians. In the 1920s and 1930s the city's strikes and revolutionary fervour caused serious alarm at Westminster, with one uprising causing tanks to be sent onto the city's streets. Later, strikes at the shipyards gave rise to the "Red Clydeside" tag. During the 1930s, Glasgow was the main base of the Independent Labour Party. Towards the end of the 20th century it became a centre of struggle against the poll tax, and then the main base of the Scottish Socialist Party, a major left wing party in Scotland.
Dialect
Glaswegian, otherwise known as The Glasgow Patter is a local, anglicised variety of Scots.
Glaswegian is a rich and vital living dialect which gives a true reflection of the city with all its virtues and vices. It is more than an alternative pronunciation; words also change their meaning, e.g. "away" can mean "leaving" as in A'm awa, an instruction to stop being a nuisance as in awa wi ye, or "drunk" or "demented" as in he's awa wi it. Cannae means "can't". Pieces refers to "sandwiches". Ginger is any form of carbonated soft drink. Then there are words whose meaning has no obvious relationship to that in standard English: coupon means "face", via "to punch a ticket coupon".
A speaker of Glaswegian might refer to those originating from the Scottish Highlands and the Western Isles as teuchters by the keelies. A (rather old-fashioned) Glaswegian insult is hieland, which means "awkward" and is Scots for "Highland". Example: that wean's got an awfu hieland wey o haudin that knife meaning "that child has a very awkward way of holding that knife".
The TV series Chewin' the Fat and Rab C. Nesbitt capture the humour of the Glaswegian patois and sensibilities while Billy Connolly has done a lot to make Glaswegian humour known to the rest of the world.
Education
Glasgow is also a major education centre with four universities within ten miles of the city centre: the 15th-century University of Glasgow (which has one of the highest ratios of students who continue living at home), the "redbrick" University of Strathclyde, the concrete Glasgow Caledonian University, and the University of Paisley; as well as teacher training colleges, teaching hospitals, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow School of Art, and 10 other further education colleges. Glasgow is home to a student population in excess of 168,000, second only to London in the UK, the majority of them living in the west-end of the city, near Glasgow University's main campus on Gilmorehill.
Economy
Glasgow is the largest economy in Scotland, it has a population of 600,000 and is the hub of the metropolitan area of West Central Scotland which has a total population of over 2.6 million. The city provides more than 380,000 jobs in almost 11,000 companies. Primary sector industries such as shipbuilding and heavy engineering have been gradually replaced by a modern mixed economy, supported by public and private investment and a flexible workforce. Glasgow's economy is now dominated by the service sector such as finance and banking, public administration, education, healthcare, hotels and tourism. The city retains a strong link to the manufacturing sector with strengths in engineering, food and drink, printing, publishing and clothing as well as new growth sectors such as software and biotechnology.
Over the last two decades Glasgow has radically improved to become an attractive city to live, work and play. Major business developments have helped promote Glasgow’s reputation as a leading centre for business and commerce.
Glasgow is the third most popular foreign tourist destination in the UK, after Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, which ranks second, and London the U.K. capital. The city also boasts the UK's second largest and most economically important commerce and retail district after London's West End. It also has two international airports and two major national railway terminals which provide train services throughout the United Kingdom. Glasgow is one of Europe's top 20 financial centres and is home to many of Britain's leading businesses. Glasgow today is an important part of the British economy.
Media
- See main article Media in Glasgow
The city is home to large sections of the Scottish national media. It hosts BBC Scotland as well as Scottish Television. The Scottish press publishes various newspapers in the city such as the Daily Record and The Herald (Glasgow). Scottish editions of newspapers such as The Sun and The Times are also printed in the city. Various radio stations are also located in Glasgow.
Transport
See main article: Transport in Glasgow
Glasgow has a large urban transportation system comprising of bus services, rail services (travelling to a large part of the West of Scotland, as well as the only dedicated underground metro system in the UK outside London; the Glasgow Subway (affectionately known as the 'Clockwork Orange' due to its single, circular line and the garish orange colour of the trains). The Subway is best for visiting the West End, with its University, museums and galleries. A single ticket is £1, and a return £2.
The city is also well connected to other cities. The main M8 motorway allows road transport to Edinburgh, as well as to connecting motorways that lead throughout Scotland and to England. There are two main railway stations which provide train services throughout the United Kingdom: Central Station and Queen Street Station. The city also has two international airports: Glasgow International Airport and Glasgow Prestwick International Airport.
Suburbs and surrounding district
See: List of places in Glasgow, Scotland
Famous Glaswegians
See: List of famous Glaswegians
Twinned cities
Glasgow has been twinned with various cities around the world including:
- Turin, Italy
- Nuremberg, Germany
- Rostov-on-Don, Russia
- Dalian, China
- Havana, Cuba
See also
- List of famous Glaswegians
- List of places in Glasgow, Scotland
- Religious rivalry in Glasgow
- Photographs of Glasgow
- Timeline of Glasgow history
- Glasgow Fair holiday
External links
- An interactive walk around the city through the eyes of Glaswegians
- Glasgow's East End — Glesga Pals
- History of Glasgow's West End
- Redevelopment of the Gorbals
- Glasgow Architecture - a walk about town
- Glasgow City Council
- Glasgow Dialect
- Scottish vernacular dictionary
- Glasgow Museums
- Animated and in-depth debate regarding Glasgow's ongoing regeneration
- Hidden Glasgow — Photographic History and Urban Exploration site
- Images of Glasgow- Mitchell Library Collection
- TheGlasgowStory Popular History site in words and pictures
- Glasgow Survival — A humorous look at Glasgow's ubiquitous "ned" culture [Warning: Strong Language]
- The Open Guide to Glasgow
- GlasgowGuide — An open guide to glasgow
- The Glasgow Gang Culture Website
- Glasgow Scotland with Style
- WikiTravel article on Glasgow
- Glasgow City Council pages
- grid reference NS595655
- Glasgow Directory
- Glasgow Cathedral
- 'Glasgow Shinty' Scotland's Oldest Sport in its Greatest City
- Hidden Glasgow
- Glasgow Hotels
Sources
.png){kind=link}