Day 34 - Glasgow

9 May 2023

Glasgow has been such a welcoming city, and its current slogan “People make Glasgow” really does ring true. Using the Hop On Hop Off bus worked well as a way to get us around the city, as well as interesting commentary that taught us some of the history. Though we originally planned to do a whole loop first, we didn’t complete the first round trip deciding instead to get off at the University of Glasgow. The university architecture is beautiful and has lots of character, especially in the stunning cloisters, and is the background for the Harry Potter books. After the cold blasting up the top of the bus, it was lovely to have a hot drink in one of the uni cafes, surrounded by students and laptops.

Some of the views from the bus. The two buildings in the bottom photo are affectionately known by the locals as "The Armadillo" and "The Toilet Bowl".

A short walk through the Kelvingrove Park took us to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It has such an eclectic mix of exhibits and seems a bit muddled up, but this just adds to the experience. We were lucky enough to be there for an organ concert where we heard music ranging from classical through to more modern pieces such as “The Rose”. It was lots of fun and a beautiful setting to sit for a while. The building architecture is very special.

We then walked along the River Kelvin down to the Riverside Museum, which reminded me of MOTAT in Auckland. Mum was interested in finding out about the location of the Clyde shipbuilding yard of Barclay Curle & Co., who had built the wool clipper Mermerus which Mum’s Great Grandfather, James George Coles, had captained. As we have found so often in Scotland, the staff of the museum were very helpful in assisting with this quest. They were able to give us a few details of this company, including where they were possibly located on the River Clyde, but directed us to the Mitchell Library to look for further information. Amazingly, all of the museums that we have visited have been free of charge.

Top and bottom left are from Glasgow University (including Mum in the cloisters), as are the stairs in the top right photo. The middle photo is the organ at the Kelvingrove Museum. Bottom right is at the Riverside Museum.

We used the Hop On Hop Off bus to get us up to the Mitchell, and then spent a very pleasant three hours exploring records, again with outstanding assistance from the staff. They dug out books on the Clyde shipbuilding industry and we found out that Barclay Curle & Co. were one of the largest ship building companies in Glasgow and produced 191 ships, including the Mermerus. We were able to look at maps from the 1800s to see where the ships were built, initially at Stobcross and later moving to Whiteinch. We were also able to explore the burial of records for the Carlton Burial Ground, in search for our Bain/Torrance family. Time went so fast!

Tomorrow, we pick up a hire car and leave Glasgow. I feel a bit sad to be saying goodbye.