Glasgow Gallivanting: October 2019

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Rainbow over Nethy Bridge

Strictly speaking, the rainbow above should have been in last month’s Gallivanting post. It was taken on a visit to my cousin on the last weekend of September, by which time the post was written and scheduled. However, it’s too good to waste! That’s it again below, along with a much feebler effort from Argyle Street in Glasgow. We had a lot of rainbows in the early part of the month, but every time I whipped out my phone they instantly faded. I liked this shot though, becuase it shows I wasn’t the only one making the attempt.

Rainbow over Nethy Bridge
Rainbow over Argyle Street

Riverside Museum / Street art

Riverside Museum, home of Glasgow’s transport collection. The Rest and be Thankful is a pass at the top of a steep climb on the A83 through the Arrochar Alps

The Riverside Museum down by the Clyde is somewhere we pop into often, but our latest visit was briefer than normal. We were on a hunt for street art! The railway arches opposite the museum have recently been given a makeover with 27 graffiti artists contributing. The murals are quite hard to photograph because it’s difficult to get far enough back without throwing yourself into the traffic on the Clydeside Expressway, but John did his best. NB a wean is a child – short for wee one and pronounced wane.

Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals
Yardworks Murals

Walk round the other side of the arches and there is more to see. The project is led by the SWG3 arts venue which is also covered in murals. (SW stands for Studio Warehouse and G3 is the location’s postal code.) The area has so far kept its post-industrial look, which makes a change from similar sites nearby which have been covered with more and more student housing.

Eastvale Place Railway Arches
SWG3
SWG3
SWG3
SWG3
SWG3
SWG3
SWG3

Edinburgh – Cut and Paste at Modern 2

Now that the Festivals are over, and there are fewer tourists around, it feels safe to visit Edinburgh again! We were meeting our friend Jim there for dinner one Saturday and went over early to see a couple of exhibitions. The best of these was Cut and Paste, 400 Years of Collage at the National Galleries’ Modern 2. Previously known as the Dean Gallery, Modern 2 was built as an orphanage in the 1830s and converted to a gallery in 1999. It makes good use of its grand staircases and high ceilings. The large sculpture shown below begins in the café on the ground floor and rises almost the full height of the building. The coloured tiles are in the Ladies – even the lavatories are artistic!

Sculpture in cafe
Stairwell
Stairwell
Stairwell
Ladies’ toilet

Cut and Paste was interesting and ended with two fun exhibits. Edinburgh resident Craig W. Lowe (b. 1982) covered his childhood wardrobe with stickers. The door was on show and we were encouraged to emulate Craig by sticking our own stickers to the museum’s entrance gate.

Cut and Paste
Craig W. Lowe’s door
Entrance gate

These days, of course, collages can be digital. Cold War Steve is a project by Christopher Spencer which started as a series of photographs of the Cold War era with Eastenders actor Steve McFadden (in character as Phil Mitchell) inserted into each one. Brexit has led Spencer into even more surreal territory with a series of dystopian photomontages peopled by politicians and celebrities, always with Steve looking utterly disgusted and bemused. Confused? There are some good examples on the Twitter feed @Coldwar_Steve which might help.

Harold, the ghost of lost futures

The collage above was created specifically for this exhibition and I can’t even begin to explain the significance of most of the characters – though the more I look at it, the more I recognise. Can you see Stephen Fry, Tom Jones, Kathy Burke, Alan Bennett, Slade, or Phoebe Waller-Bridge for example?

The tuba-playing Harold is a character from Neighbours. The ghastly yellow figure is Kingsley, surely the scariest football mascot ever. He belongs to Partick Thistle and I’ve even had my photograph taken with him after one of my guided walks. Eek! Everything is going to be alright is from an artwork by Martin Creed which is on display at Modern 1. It’s quite good fun looking for points of reference once you start. I should add that I have downloaded the montage legitimately – it is available on the Cold War Steve website in return for a donation to mental health charities.

Scotland puts on a show for family visitors

My sister and her husband were up from London visiting my mum this month, and were lucky to get amazing weather when we went to Irvine, Troon and Lomond Shores.

Irvine with view of Arran
Ailsa Craig from Troon
Lomond Shores

John’s Aunt Anne, along with two of his cousins and their spouses, also visited Scotland from the south of England, staying at Loch Monzievaird in Perthshire. (Don’t pronounce the Z!) We went to meet them for lunch in Crieff and enjoyed a walk round the loch later. Once again, it was a lovely day with Scotland looking its best.

Loch Monzievaird
Loch Monzievaird

Both Mum and John’s Aunt Ann turned 93 in October. Happy birthday to two fabulous ladies!

GlasGLOW

For the second year, Glasgow Botanic Gardens is hosting GlasGLOW, a Halloween sound and light show (on till 10th November). We went on the second night – there are a few highlights below. I particularly liked the pumpkin patch with lanterns carved by local schoolchildren, the three scarecrows, and the Pumpkin God. There were a lot of Brexit jokes – spot the pumpkin with the European stars!

Pumpkin Patch
Scarecrows
Pumpkin God
Light tunnel
Spaceship
Dragon’s lair
Wunderbar
Zombie Tearoom
Trailer for next event

The last bit

I like to have something quirky for The Last Bit! One Sunday, we had a beautiful autumnal walk in part of the Carrick Forest. That deserves a post of its own – coming soon – but for the meantime I’ll share the quirky towel dispenser I found in the Ladies of the café at Loch Doon. I assure you, I still have my hopes and dreams intact.

I’m not exactly an award-free blog, but I’m usually so far behind with the posts I want to write that I don’t have time to take part in awards and challenges, as is the case here. I’d like to thank Flavia Vinci for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition Award. Flavia is Italian, but works in tourism so travels the world taking stunning photographs. I definitely recommend you take a look at her blog at the link above.

Finally, to my Scottish Word of the Month. The clocks went back at the end of October, it’s dark by 17:30, and temperatures have started dropping below zero overnight. It’s time to coorie in or snuggle up. October has been a colourful, outdoor month for the Gallivanter – I’m not sure November will be the same. Have a good one!

Scotland, UK , , , , ,

101 Comments »

  2. I never tire of rainbows and especially like the framing of the second one over the Nethy Bridge.

    Love John’s collection of street art and relieved that he managed to stay alive while shooting it. And thank goodness you left Loch Doon with your hopes and dreams intact.

    I’m glad that you were able to enjoy Edinburgh tourist-free once again. With the exception of our current location in San Blas (which sadly, is as rainy as they say in the low season) I find the best place to visit anywhere is when the tourists are gone. And the amazing weather at Irvine, Toon and Lomond Shores is another case and point that there are treasures to be found in the off-season (magnificent photos)

    The most eye-catching character in Harold, The Ghost of Lost Futures was Harold himself and then there you are being photographed with him! Love it.

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  4. I’ve only been to Glasgow once for a brief stay (though I do intend on returning), but I did see some wonderful street art whilst I was there. Wonderful rainbows and thanks for sharing these wonderful images with us 🙂

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  5. I love your monthly roundups! So entertaining, and so much to learn about…thank you for this public service. And now, I’m off to coorie in with the cat, because it has gotten a little chilly here in Southeast Texas. 🙂

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  7. You’ve been busy – even more than normal by the looks. Good shot of the rainbow. And the light show looks neat. (Does anyone ever use that word these days? Was flavour ofthe month when I was a young teenager)

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  8. I’m glad you shared that fabulous photo of the rainbow, even if it was taken last month. Some rules were made to be broken!
    I also loved the street art and comments on Brexit (I live in the States, and trust me, we have our own political woes here), but I especially liked the sign in the bathroom. Puppies, kittens, hopes and dreams are certainly not for flushing! I guess someone thought we just needed a reminder.

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    • Oh I know, it’s hard to decide which side of the Atlantic has worse problems politically! The very first commenter on this post pointed out that the hopes and dreams poster was based on posters on Virgin Trains. Let’s call it the flattery of imitation rather than plagiarism! I liked it anyway.

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  9. The rainbow picture is stunning – I can see why you didn’t want to waste it! I love the pictures of the Glasgow Street art – need to try and catch it next time I’m back.

    We’ve had some inflatable monsters on buildings in Manchester for Hallowe’en, and there was one which reminded me very much of Kingsley. I assumed he was designed by a child for a contest, rather than an actual prize-winning artist. Makes me feel a little better about my own drawings!

    I haven’t heard coorie in used in ages – definitely an apt phrase for the winter we’re facing.

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  10. Quite a different post this one, but equally interesting. Love your rainbows. We have had so much rain here this month that I think the rainbows have been scared away. And thank John for his work in braving the traffic to photograph the street art. Brilliant.

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  11. I love the “shy weans don’t get sweets” mural. Glasgow is such a good city for street art! And of course I would like to visit GlasGLOW, but that Kingsley looks far scarier than any of the Halloween decorations I’ve seen this year! You were brave to stand so close to him!

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  14. I’m always impressed with how much you manage to “cram” into each month, Anabel. And, I’m glad the October weather allowed for a lot of outdoor activities. A lot of art as well. I’m partial to street art and redefining rundown areas. The GlasGlow looks fantastic as well. A crowd pleaser. I think every citizen and tourist would visit such a place! Happy November!

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  16. what a fabulous month you have had . . .thinking you might be right about November though – and we are heading north again to Edinburgh this month. Hoping won’t be too many dreich days! Maybe I should head west to see you

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  17. Hi Anabel – love the rainbows … we’ve had a few recently … but all those photos of ‘things to be done, things to do, places visited’ are just wonderful … love seeing them – and you had lots of visitors too – cheers Hilary

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  18. Fabulous rainbows Anabel.

    I love Cold War Steve — thanks for the link. I’ll have to go through the tweets and try to make sense of it. Or perhaps just have fun trying to spot the celebs.

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  20. Lovely photos, Anabel. Clear shot of the rainbow, I get quite excited when I see one developing. 93 is a grand old age to celebrate. An English relative will be celebrating his 100th next year.

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  21. Wonderful gallivant, as usual. Loved the “call now, stop graffiti” street art. Thanks for the pronunciation tips and new term. Those lovely ladies making it to 93 deserve a toast!

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  23. Think the new heading photograph is great – where is it? Also I find that things have an annoying habit of moving just as you are about to press the button of the camera or the phone. As for rainbows and crocks of gold, with my luck I’d probably just get an old crock! The other photographs were really good.

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    • I don’t actually know what you are seeing – I have several banner headers which appear at random when you open a post. I haven’t added any recently, so it’s maybe one you’ve not had before.

      I don’t need another old crock, I am an old crock!

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  24. A huge WOW on your heading photo! And you took it with your phone. You also did a great job capturing the murals. I realize how challenging it can be with people passing by. Also, the sheer size of the mural is difficult to photograph. The concept of orphanages seems unreal, only something written about in books. Of course, they were very real. Fun, when even the lavatories are artistic. Eclectic bunch of people in the collage.

    It is time for us to coorie in, too, especially while I still have my hopes and dreams intact.🙂

    Thank you for a great post, Anabel!

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  26. Always nice when weather cooperates for your visitors. A grand compendium of treats here, Anabel, but the garden lights are my favourites. 🙂 🙂 Happy November!

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  27. Wonderful post, Anabel. I especially enjoyed the festive lights and I loved the street art. “Coorie in” is a phrase I use all the time. My boys used to love to coorie in on my lap with a whole load of books. Now they can only really be convinced to coorie in next to me when we are watching a movie on a chilly evening.

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  29. I think I can see Billy Connolly at the front of that montage 🙂 I great post full of a diverse rang of subjects – I love the street art, especially the murals in the Yardworks, and the first rainbow shot is beautiful, definitely too good to waste 🙂

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  33. Regarding the last photo, I’m going to guess you don’t travel on Virgin Trains much? They have a sign in the toilets that says something like “Please do not flush sanity products, your hopes and dreams, unpaid gas bills, your exs’ sweater, goldfish etc down this toilet”.

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  34. You are one of the busiest people I know, Anabel. You always manage to squeeze in so much in a month! I love your rainbow, the street art, the collage exhibit and GlasGLOW. Great that you had fabulous weather for your visitors too. I’d say a great month all around. 🙂

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  36. What a great month you’ve had, the murals look especially interesting. What a fabulous collection of street art. Love the opening rainbow shot too, really good. Your English visitors were lucky with that amazing weather weren’t they?

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  37. As usual, you’ve had a month rich in activities. On a rainy day like today, the desire to ‘coorie in’ is strong 🙂 … now if only I could do a decent rolling of the r when I pronounce it 😉

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