Empire Exhibition 1938 - Bellahouston Park

Glasgow has a bit of a history of putting on big shows, from the International Exhibition of 1888 through to the Glasgow Garden Festival a hundred years later. The biggest of all these exhibitions however, falls right in the middle of the two.

The 1938 Empire Exhibition was one of the biggest events ever seen in the UK and was imagined as a means of kick starting the Scottish Economy and Industry, which had been in declining into a depression since the end of the First World War (which at the time was still just being called “The World War”.).

The aim of the Festival was to show off the skills and ingenuity of Scotland and the British Empire to the rest of the world and bring in new orders. A team of nine of the top architects of that generation were employed under the master planning supervision of Thomas S. Tait to create a strikingly modernist vision of a future city in Bellahouston Park.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of this event a project was put together last year to create a digital archive telling the story of the exhibition and allowing you to get a taste of what it must have been like to walk its grand streets. The project has been brilliantly put together by the Digital Design Studio under the supervision of a team of experts and the website is a treasure trove of facts, figures, videos, images and drawings. For example did you know that this was the last big show of the British Empire, that it took ten months to build, was only open for six months but still managed to attract 13m people which was about five times the total population of Scotland.
The main part of the Empire Exhibition project is a intricate 3D digital model of the park and all the principal buildings, which you can navigate with an interactive map. The map can be reviewed on the website but it can also be found at the House for an Art Lover where there is an Interpretation Centre with a continuous loop, a research archive and a small exhibition of memorabilia. The only thing missing from the project site is a proper explanation of the reasoning to build this amazing park of sculptural buildings but then only to give them a shelf life of six months? It’s similar to when the Garden Festival was constructed, it too proved hugely popular but was closed and dismantled a short while later. If they were both still around what would that section of South West be like today?

In the end however, nearly all the buildings were taken down and removed, some found new life in new locations, like the Palace of Engineering which is now at Prestwick Airport, but most were just dismantled for good. The only real survivor is the Palace of Art which is still in the Park but now serves as a centre for sporting excellence. There’s a nice section on the project website where you can compare images from 1938 to how the same scenes looks today.

The images on the site are a glimpse into a fascinating time capsule, not just of the fashions and styles of the time but also of their ideas of what the future might hold. There is a great deal of optimism and a grand sense of hope for this future expressed in both the park’s layout and the individual building designs. It makes you wonder what Scotland might have become if this enthusiasm had been able to grow uncut by the Second World War which began just nine months after the Glasgow Exhibition Closed.

Links:

Main Website

Slideshow video of old photos

Video on Best Laid Plans

House for an Art Lover Page
Map of Bellahouston Park

Love is in the air

I just spotted this on the great Nothing to see here website. I knew that Glasgow claimed to be the City of Love due to having parts of Saint Valentine hidden away somewhere. I had always assumed they were in the Cathedral or maybe in St Mungos museum so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Love Saint is actually residing in a smaller location, a Church in the Gorbals.

Have a look at the post on Nothing to see here for more info and a short article on the Scotsman.

M74 Archaeology Masterclasses

The M74 Dig is running a series of Masterclasses throughout February and March giving beginners the opportunity to learn some fascinating archaeological techniques. Interested participants are invited to sign up to the classes in advance, coming to as many as they choose. Places are limited to 20 for each session all of which will take place in The M74 Dig Discovery Centre. Each class will involve a practical element and there will be handouts available for participants to take home.

Archives for Archaeologists with Kirsty Dingwall & Liz Jones
Saturday, 2 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School Museum Glasgow

This class will cover the main sources of publicly available information used by archaeologists when researching a site and where to find it. It will focus on Glasgow and the M74 Dig sites in particular and will cover the use of old maps, documentary sources and the National Monuments Record of Scotland.

Archaeological surveying and drawing with Mikael Simonsson & Elin Evertsson
Saturday, 9 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will include an overview of the techniques employed by archaeologists to plan sites and draw features. There will be a practical introduction to basic planning and drawing using tapes, planning frames and dumpy levels and reading and understanding maps. We will also look at digital planning using electronic survey equipment.

Historic Building Recording with George Geddes
Saturday, 16 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School Museum Glasgow

This class will cover the basic techniques used when recording buildings using the M74 Dig building recording projects as an example. There will be a practical introduction to the recording of buildings focussing on Scotland Street School Museum.

Environmental Archaeology with Sarah-Jane Haston & Roz Gillis
Saturday, 23 February 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will look at the different palaeoenvironmental techniques and analyses used in vegetation reconstruction, such as plant macrofossils (including wood and seeds), pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (including fungal spores). The session aims to show the potential of these methods to inform the archaeologist of what the past landscape was like and how people in the past were interacting with this landscape (e.g. clearing of woodland for farmland). The class will involve an introduction to the methods outlined above, some microscope work and discussion of these techniques.

Oral history with David Walker of Glasgow Museums and Angela Bartie of Strathclyde University
Saturday, 1 March 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will include a general introduction to oral history as well as an introduction to the testimonies gathered on the M74 oral history project. It is hoped that there will be a practical element to the class with participants given the opportunity to record oral testimonies themselves.

Finds from prehistory to the 20th century with Julie FranklinSaturday,
8 March 2008 11am -1pm
M74 Dig Discovery CentreScotland Street School MuseumGlasgow

This class will be an introduction to on-site finds recovery and documentation and will cover the legislation relating to finds in Scotland. It will focus on the 19th/20th century pottery and finds recovered from the M74 Dig sites but will also cover finds of other periods.

Click here for the application form

Doors Open Day

Every Year I look forward to doors open day, and every year I seem to have something else on that I just can't get out off, unfortunately this year is no exception, I'm in London for my cousins wedding...ah well there's alway next year.

So doors open day is on next weekend, 15/16 September, and the list of places open to the public has grown yet again. I quite like the idea of having a snoop around a building you don't normally get access to. So if I was around that weekend I'd like to go see Walmer Crescent, designed by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, in Cessnock and also the Pierce Institute, I only ever get to see the cafe.

There is a good selection of guided walks around the Southside [and around other areas of the city]
I've listed them below, I am disappointed I'd be really interested in the Govan tour in fact they all sound good. If any one goes on them, e-mail us some pics and we'll upload them.

Carte Blanche
Sun 2pm Guided four mile walk along the White Cart Water from Pollok House, jewel of the Pollok Estate, via Newlands, Millbrae and the Snuff Mill to Holmwood House, Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s masterpiece. Explore the extraordinary heritage of this waterway with Roger Guthrie and local historian Brian Killen. Tea available. Free bus service returns to Pollok House. No dogs please.

Crosshill
Sat 11am Boasting some of Glasgow’s most dramatic and distinctive tenements, this community beside Queen’s Park has always been favoured by the City’s commuters. Tour led by renowned historian Roger Guthrie.

Dumbreck and Hazelwood
Sat 2pm The development of Glasgow’s Southside during the Victorian era sought to rival the grandeur of the west end. John Thomson, longstanding resident and a member of Pollokshields Heritage will provide new insights to the area’s grandeur and variety.

Historic Govan
Sat 11am & 1pm This tour led, by Ingrid Shearer and Chris Dalglish of Glasgow University Archaeological Division, will take in some of the main archaeological sites and historic buildings illustrating the history and development of Govan from it’s origins as a royal centre over a thousand years ago to the era of the great shipyards.

Langside Heritage Walk
Sat 11am& 2.30pm Covering the site of the Battle of Langside, several buildings designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson and his circle, Millbrae Crescent and Mansionhouse Road and finishing at the Queens Park Glasshouses (refreshments will be available) this walk will be led by Evelyn Silber and Bob Marshall.

Pollokshields
Sat 2pm Led by Karin Currie of Pollokshields Heritage a bus tour of highlights of the UK’s biggest and best planned garden suburb, including a variety of the splendid houses, elegant tenemental streets and impressive public buildings of this large conservation area.

Here's the link to the full brochure

For Auld Langside

It's great, since starting this wee blog we have been finding out all about the multitude of local goings that there are in the Southside and the range of different opportunities there are for people to get stuck in and make a difference. And we just received an email for Langside and Battlefield people to do just that.

COMMUNITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS

"Friday 14 September is the deadline for the receipt of applications to become a community councillor for Langside Battlefield and Camphill. Nominations forms are available from the Chair, Evelyn Silber (easilber2249@yahoo.co.uk) or the Secretary, Andy Russell (puffertrain@aol.com). If you are interested in improving the environment where you live why not take a more active role and meet other like-minded people. The Community Council meets once a month, on the first Monday of the month at 7.30 at 81 Carmichael Place. The next meeting is 1st of October."

We also received news of a very interesting project which will be available soon - the Langside heritage trail. When we get more info about when exactly it gets launched we'll let you know.

LANGSIDE HERITAGE TRAIL

"Find out Langside's mysterious ancient past, how it grew from a tiny village with a couple of big estates to the present day. This 40 page illustrated booklet, will help you explore with maps and fascinating details of 21 places of special interest, from the Battle of Langside to Battlefield Rest, from church and synagogue to park and villas.
Available free from late October from Langside Library and other venues. "

The above photo is of the old village of Langside which was Algie Street near the Battlefield Monument, a view from around 1900. The view looks towards what is now Langside Place but was then called Colquhoun Street. (Image courtesy of Mr & Mrs Shand)

Keeping on the River

Continuing on the theme of the Clyde.

I came across the Clyde Site Magazine website, the other day, it contains lots of interesting information, stories and pictures of the Clyde, past and present.

The picture above shows the the old Queen and Prince Docks, on the Clyde. If you look down to the bottom of the picture you can make out the North and South rotundas. The docks to the north is where the SECC building and car parks are now located. The docks to the South is where the Science centre, Imax and Tower are located. It's quite amazing how different those areas are now. This image came from an article '50 years of the Clyde' it describes and maps the different docks along the Clyde, it's fasinating how many docks have been filled in over the years, and how their names have changed. It's well worth a look.

Where we're going, we won't need roads . . .

All images from CBRD site

The subject header above is a fine sentiment from the Doc * but until the flying car does get invented it appears that roads are exactly what we are going to get.

We've posted before that we are "slightly" sceptical about the building of the new M74 which is going to drive right through the Southside cutting us off large chunks from the City Centre. Six lanes of two storey motorway is not going to be the most pleasant thing to walk under to work each morning. The promise of less congestion has also been rubbished by several universities and road research groups along with the Governments own independent report. More roads = eventually more cars, seems to be the rule apparently.

It could, however, have been a lot worse.


The building of the M74 is the final stage of the great Glasgow highway plan of the 1960's when roads were seen as the future and salvation of humanity. No problems, it appears, could not be solved by chucking roads at them. Across the UK, rails lines were ripped out, trams were dug up and new roads sprung up all over the place as the nation become more and more dependant on our cars.

The original plans though would have been even more crazy as you can see from the very entertaining and very thorough review of "A Highway Plan for Glasgow" on CBRD site.

Its very interesting reading and I love some of the artist proposals, showing families sitting at picnic benches under a 6 lane highway. The aerial view above shows Glasgow as a city full of black shimmering roads, surrounded by trees with only a smattering of cars happy zipping around.

The site also has photos of where the route went wrong, where the left overs can be seen today and where the road would have gone had the entire plan been carried out at the time.

Thankfully it wasn't, but sadly it looks like the powers at be have decided to dust down the proposals and finish the job. Lets hope they know when to stop. I remember flicking through a few of these past plans, when I went to the Mitchell a couple of years ago, some of the other proposals of the time were to: sink George Square by 2metres, knock down the Mitchell Library, City Chambers and large chunks of the city centre and .

Another good site to visit on this topic is pathetic.org.uk which charts pathetic motorways around the country - from ones which are only a few meters long, to ones that are just a bit of a mess ie the M74.

*Doc Brown "Back to the Future Part II"

Glasshouse

On Saturday my flatmate Gav and I decided to go to the Farmers market to buy some tasty grub as I was thinking of having a BBQ. On our way there we decided to drop by the Glasshouse in Queens Park which I've been meaning to visit for nearly two years.

I am so glad we did as its a brilliant wee place. Fenced off from the rest of the park by some smart black and gold railings the tall slim glass structure sits within its own wee garden beautifully maintained with lots of miniature trees and flowers.

Inside the building is larger than I thought - consisting of one main corridor with 12 arms coming off to either side. These arms hold the bulk of the collection of plants, animals, birds and insects. Sadly a few of these arms were closed at the weekend while some refurbishment is carried out. But when it fully reopens there will be a brand new cafe/ bistro selling hot food and it will be a really nice place to go sit, read and have a bit of lunch. (We overheard a couple discussing a function they were attending that night. It would be a great place to hire out for special occasions.) There was also a grand wee gift shop where we bought some polystyrene birds and a book on the history of Queens Park. The book is excellent and we'll post about it separately, and its only £2.99) But on to the main feast, the plants and creatures that inhabit the place.

No botanic garden is complete without a big pond full of fish and lots shiny coppers.

Main corridor looking back towards the entrance

A plant

The main course - the park regularly feeds small children to the animals. Well maybe not - most of the animals appear to live on a diet of locusts and nearly every case had a few of these insectoid snacks wobbling about awaiting being munched. Kids seem to love that for some reason - they particularly enjoyed the cases where the locusts had had their heads bitten off. Kids are cruel.

The Chameleon - this wee chap was very cool. He moved so incredibly slowly and preciously like an old man getting out the bath.

The Peach faced lovebird was so brightly coloured he looked like a cartoon. He also looked like he had some kind of compulsive movement disorder as he just couldn't stop jigging, wiggling dancing and pruning.

I also liked the chinchillas - I preferred the Chipmunks who seem to suffer from the same constant movement disorder to the lovebird - but none of my photos came out.

The big daddy - not the most dangerous creature in the place but definitely the biggest and probably the most frightening - (if you don't count the spiders that is) He sat on the branch giving each visitor a "What the hell do you think you are looking at?" stare.

We got so engrossed in playing spot the animal - (bit like Wheres Wally? but in cages and consisting of hunting frogs, spiders and snakes) that we didn't notice the time and we ended up missing the farmers market, but it was worth it.

Glasshouse opening times: Sat - Thurs 10am - 4pm/ Fri 10am - 3pm
Shop info
Queens Park info and directions
Historical photos of the glasshouse