The members of the Largs Probus Club were this week treated to a fascinating illustrated talk on “Glasgow’s Treasures” – mostly of the architectural variety. Our speaker, David Walker, possessed a wealth of knowledge on the history of the city, together with the skilful eye of a talented photographer to record the city’s buildings.
Armed with his cassettes of 35mm colour slides (that took us back a bit), David guided us on a visual tour of many Glasgow landmarks, and his explanatory narrative was interspersed with humorous, or even downright hilarious, stories from the city’s past.
To just pick out a few highlights:
The magnificent Mitchell Library, home to nearly two million books and other printed resources. When it opened in 1911, a grand lunch was laid on for distinguished guests, with a menu of turbot, ox tongue, and similar gourmet fare, and of course being Glasgow, chips.
Courtesy of Glasgow Life. Shame about the Road sign!
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, a great favourite of mine, opened in 1901 as part of the International Exhibition and home to wonderful art and artefacts from around the globe. Including the stuffed elephants Sir Roger and Little Kelvin, maybe not my favourite exhibits, and an original world war two Spitfire soaring above the west gallery. To paraphrase one of David’s anecdotes, if you want to hear a loud bang, go to Edinburgh for the daily one o’clock gun; but if you’d rather have some culture, come to Kelvingrove for the daily one o’clock organ recital.
St. Vincent Crescent, restored to its former glory, is second only in length to Bath’s Royal Crescent.
The Briggait, originally Glasgow’s fish market, saved from demolition to become a hub for artists’ studios.
And with just eight centuries separating them, the awe inspiring Glasgow Cathedral and the modernistic Armadillo events venue.
The Armadillo at night. Glasgow Cathedral
So many treasures to choose from….. and as this was only David’s “Glasgow Treasures Part 2”, we look forward to parts 3 and beyond.
David concluded his talk with a reminder of the full version of Glasgow’s famous motto “Lord, let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word”, and his suggestion of its modern day counterpart, “What Glasgow says today, the rest of the world will try and pronounce tomorrow”……
If you are 50 or over, retired, or nearing retirement, (men only, I’m afraid) you can attend three meetings as a guest and find out what a relaxed and friendly time we have. That’s plenty of time to decide whether to become a Club member or not. Please check out our programme and then use our Contact Form if you wish to attend as a guest, or to enquire about joining.
At our next meeting on the 2nd October, Anne Garry will tell us about the charity Sight Scotland Veterans.