A Sunday Visit to Mount Florida

April 30, 2018

Sundays in Mount Florida, certainly into the 1960’s, were noticeably quiet. Except for the early morning newsagents, the shops were all shut, there were no football matches, fewer children would be playing in the streets, and there was no Italian cafe to go to for ice cream or coffee. The Rev. Waddell would preach the […]

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Auld Lang Syne

December 31, 2017

“Auld Lang Syne” ( Long, Long Ago ) The beautiful words of this Scottish poem, written by Robert Burns in 1788 and sung around the world on New Year’s Eve, evoke memories of friendship, love, and kindness. It is written in Auld Scots, and there is a translation if you scroll down. Should auld acquaintance […]

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Express Boat Train to Wemyss Bay

February 28, 2017

An express boat train from Glasgow Central bound for Wemyss Bay is shown passing through Cardonald Station on the fast line in June 1922. Looking at this photograph, I am reminded of the fierce competition that used to take place between the railway companies in an effort to achieve the fastest journey times between Glasgow […]

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From the Top Deck of a Glasgow Tramcar

December 4, 2016

We are in the Trongate approaching Glasgow Cross from the west on the top deck of an open-top tramcar, circa 1900. Facing us, is the statue of King Billy ( William III, Prince of Orange ) upon his charger. King Billy’s statue was in the Trongate for 163 years before it was removed, placed in […]

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Glasgow Police Public Call Box

October 30, 2016

Another First for Glasgow – the Police Public Call Box This postcard shows a police public call box on Hyndland Road, circa 1905. Glasgow was the first place to install such boxes in the British Isles, beginning in 1891. The reason they were called public call boxes is that trusted members of the public could […]

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Glasgow’s Crosses

May 28, 2016

In the course of looking through old photographs and postcards of Glasgow, I realized that the City has a good many Crosses; key intersections and road junctions which, because of their importance, were given the special title of Cross and named after their location. They were often places where people would arrange to meet socially, […]

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Two Fine Clydebuilt Ships

April 24, 2016

Can anyone identify these Royal Navy ships?

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Memories of the Grand Hotel

February 20, 2016

Memories of life at the Grand Hotel by Neil McPhee This is a wonderful site of Charing Cross and especially the Grand Hotel. I worked there as a page boy alongside my brother (second head porter) and school friend (porter) in the period just before it closed down. Latterly, the hotel was owned by Glasgow […]

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“The Elizabethan” Express

February 14, 2015

Ever since railway companies were established there has always been intense rivalry between them, on land and even on water, and this was especially true for destinations on the Clyde. Fast trains would depart Glasgow for the railway company railheads where passengers would board the steamers and the race would then continue on the water. […]

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The Railways

December 30, 2014

Coming from a family with service on the railways dating back to the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and possibly even to the London & North Western Railway (LNWR), I could not resist including a chapter on railway history, with particular reference to Scotland and the Glasgow area. Railways, in the form of waggonways, […]

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