So – another month of Covid restrictions meant we did not stray far from our front door, with the added frisson of a couple of weeks of snow and ice. Beautiful to look at, less good for walking in. Here are another few shots of the frozen canal – locals might recognise embedded in the ice a discarded bottle from the tipple of choice of a certain type of Glaswegian.
In my last post, I wrote that a chance viewing of a tweet from Glasgow City Archives took me to Anniesland and Temple to look for a particular clock. Two things sprang from that. First, despite having lived in the area for decades, while looking for the clock I discovered green space that I didn’t know about tucked away behind two busy roads. Temple Walkway and Anniesland Meadow both offer good views of Anniesland Court, a 22-storey residential tower block, completed in 1968, which holds the distinction of being the tallest listed building in Scotland, and the only tower block in Glasgow to have been granted a category A listing. (A listed building may not be demolished, extended, or altered without special permission from the local planning authority). Not everyone appreciates its architecture, but I think it has a certain presence and I’d love to see the view over Glasgow from the top.
The name Anniesland is something of a puzzle. The next-door neighbourhood is Knightswood, thought to be named after the Knights Templar who might have had a hospice in the area. Local writer Jack House suggested the name might therefore derive from annis, Gaelic for destitute. Alternatively, the Knights might have owned plots of land which they rented out annually. Or maybe the land at some point belonged to someone called Annie! I definitely prefer the last theory.
The other thing to spring from my clock post was that several people told me about their own favourite clocks, inspiring me to look for images online, and a couple even wrote their own clock posts. Here are the clocks in the order that the comments came in, with links to the bloggers who recommended them, or to specific clock posts. Thank you to everyone for the ideas.
Ali was prompted to write her own post full of clocks: Even a broken clock is right twice a day (which led us to discuss whether that phrase was even true anymore in an age of 24-hour digital timepieces).
Jude referred me to one of her previous posts which featured the iconic projected clock in Guildford, which in turn reminded me of the projected clock in Winchester which I featured a few years ago.
Birgit loves the astronomical clock in Prague, and by chance that popped up on Twitter a couple of days later.
Astronomical Clock( installed in 1410) Prague Czech Republic 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/SpmmiqyWRL
— My Beautiful Destination (@MyBeauDes) February 25, 2021
Eunice mentioned the Irish Times clock in Dublin, another projection.
Su and Suzanne directed me to the splendid University of Auckland clock. (All images from here on are by Wikimedia Commons).
Hilary’s choice was the Corpus Clock in Cambridge, also known as the Grasshopper Clock.
Jessica relayed happy childhood memories of the giant cuckoo clock in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
Carol selected another astrological clock, this time in Rouen, France.
Finally, Kev included a section on clock towers in his latest post, Saturday Saunter: Clock towers, maps and virtual experiences. I hope I haven’t missed anybody! And to round off, in another coincidence, the Word a Day blog happened to feature the term Shrewsbury clock last week. I now feel I am an expert on clocks, and am grateful to have got two posts out of that at a time when new experiences are thin on the ground. Will March be any different? Unlikely, but at least Spring is in the air. Have a good month!
The next sculpture is part of a national artwork project called Local Heroes. Not being from Falkirk, I didn’t recognise Dr Harold Lyon, founder of Strathcarron Hospice in 1981, Reginald Adams who trained numerous Scottish swimming champions, and Robert Barr – although I’ve certainly heard of the latter. Barr’s Soft Drinks are a big thing in Scotland, producing its other national drink, Irn-Bru (made from girders, according to one of its advertising campaigns, and originally called Iron Brew in 1904).
Whisky bottles adorn the banks opposite the old Rosebank Distillery which stopped production in 1993. However, new owners have bought the site and trademark and it seems that a new distillery, but with the same name, will soon be rising like a phoenix from the ashes.
In like a lion, out like a lamb? March certainly lived up to the first part of that proverb: in fact snow has been a feature of most of it. There were plenty of snowmen/women about, but this year igloos seemed to be in fashion too. This one is in the Botanic Gardens.
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What’s your favourite food memory, a meaningful meal that you will never forget, and why? What was so special about it? Well, at the moment Airds Hotel, mentioned above, is uppermost in my memory. Unlike many fancy hotels and restaurants, which usually only offer one vegetarian choice, often bland, I had a whole menu to choose from and everything I ate was delicious. In fact, everything everybody ate was declared delicious and dinner was a real event on both nights. As you can see, Mark and John were most definitely relaxed afterwards.
