March is Women’s History Month and Friday 8th was International Women’s Day (IWD), for both of which I have been suitably occupied this week. I am giving my talk on Suffragette Jessie Stephen again next week so I have been revising my slides and script. Coincidentally, I started the week at a talk organised by the Glasgow Society of Women Artists given by none other than Sheana Stephen, Jessie’s great-niece, whom I first met in 2018 when we were celebrating the centenary of the first women to get the vote in the UK. Sheana is super-talented and also made the banner we marched behind in Edinburgh that year. The Suffragette necklace in the above image is one she gave me a few years ago and says Deeds not words on the silver panel.

I spent IWD glued to my screen at the virtual conference detailed on the left – feminism, libraries and women’s history all tick my boxes! It was lovely, too, that I knew several of the speakers taking part. As one observed, we are all connected like rings on the same tree.

Of course, I have also been canal walking and it will not surprise you to know that I paid another visit to Bella the Beithir. Something I had not noticed, but saw pointed out online, is that her snout is embellished with the elements of Glasgow’s Crest. And yes, there is the tree that never grew, the bird that never flew, the fish that never swam, and the bell that never rang. I thought at first there was something missing from the wee circle beneath her left nostril until I realised that the gap was encircled by the ring which is normally in the fish’s mouth.

The other images are of the White House, Maryhill’s oldest building, which since 1800 has served as a lock-keeper’s home, a pub, a post-office and a dookit (dovecot) for keeping pigeons. It’s now part of Free Wheel North, hence the bike art.

Bella and Stoockingfield Bridge

Bella’s snout with Glasgow Crest

Bella’s snout with Glasgow Crest, close-up

The White House

This machine fights climate change

Sticking with the canal, John had a couple of long cycles this week, one of which took him to the Falkirk Wheel – unexpectedly: the group was aiming for a café elsewhere which turned out to be fully booked, so went to the one at the Wheel instead. The Wheel is undergoing maintenance at the moment so I’ve included a picture of it in full working order from a couple of years ago.

June 2022

Maintenance at the Wheel

Maintenance at the Wheel

His other trip was solo and took him out Lochwinnoch way. Pretty scenery, but not as spectacular as last week.

Barcraigs Reservoir

Road from Lochwinnoch past Barcraigs Reservoir

Finally, on Sunday we walked to Yardworks on Eastvale Place to see Bottlecelli, a new mural created in conjunction with Lidl, the supermarket chain, to highlight the success of their deposit return scheme pilot project, which has now recycled more than a quarter of a million bottles and cans. The 25 foot tall reimagining of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is made from more than 30,000 bottle caps. It’s certainly spectacular, but I was expecting it all to be made from bottle tops, not just the background.

Bottlecelli

Bottlecelli

The rest of Eastvale Place and the railway arches which form part of the site have an ever changing display, so there was plenty of other art to view.

Street art on Eastvale Place

Street art on Eastvale Place

Yorkhill Community Gateway

@Boxvincent (?)

By HMG

@funky-bside

By James Klinge

Thistles and coos, can’t see artist’s name

Scotland, can’t see artist’s name

Walking home up Kelvin Way we observed that the tradition of capping statues with traffic cones only really works when the statue has a big head, and that the Suffrage Oak has a new sash.

Statue with traffic cone head-dress

New sash

So that was my week – I hope yours was good too.