Glasgow. A Walk Along the River Clyde. Part Two. SWG3 Murals. Partick.

                                                 ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.

After we passed Finnieston and the Hydro on our walk along the River Clyde from the city centre waterfront to Partick we also bypassed The Tall Ship and The Riverside Museum. (transport related but with an old indoor street) Both Alan and myself had visited these two tourist attractions before several times in the past so the new murals at SWG3 were more of a draw. This is a long painted lane and a Yardworks enclosure that supports artists with a range of different venues, clubs, galleries, and meeting places scattered around this lane.

 There wasn't much new on the railway arches wall facing the Clydeside Expressway but the lane behind this wall did have a lot of new murals on show.

I already knew girls were golden but here's the proof. ( probably because I don't live with one I still retain that sunny attitude towards them :o)

Boys not so much. A judgement well learned at secondary school where there seemed to be an over abundance of angry young teenagers always queuing up to pick a fight with me. For no real reason I could discover. Even with friends temperaments, hormones/ testosterone, and scheme/ estate attitudes meant moods could change in a heartbeat with certain same age individuals. Three fights in one day was not that unusual there. I do like male company but I prefer girls/women for more sensible grown up behaviour and far less likelihood of serious injury. ( look at the world situation currently in April of 2026 with elderly men in charge. They never really abandon it. The 'alpha male' competitive drive to win at any cost.)

These murals can be found near the River Kelvin where it runs into the River Clyde.

Back in the lane. What might be Frank Herbert's Dune. Maybe because of the current interest in going back to space, the moon and Mars but science fiction films seem to be popular again. I read a lot of science fiction books in the 1960s and 1970s which makes a change as around 70 percent of books are police or detective novels of some kind. So much so that I know immediately which modern films have been inspired by certain books from that 1950s/1960s/1970s period .... like Avatar. ( The Stone God Awakens. Philip Jose Farmer.) I Robert. ( Isaac Asimov's Space detective trilogy but set on Earth instead. Which are still great reads today. The Naked Sun, The Currents of Space. The Caves of Steel.) I am Legend. Richard Matheson the writer and the third time his 1950s classic book of the last man alive in a world gone wrong has been re-imagined for a modern audience into a film version. A cult favourite growing up was The Omega Man, an earlier filmed version. And all of these early books by the most intelligent science fiction writers of that generation have been mostly accurate in their predictions of what the future might look like.  Back then though there was a great deal of optimism about the future and a shared belief that we would soon go on to explore the universe and find new life forms rather than largely abandoning space travel for over 50 years... until today. Too costly and difficult. No profit at the end of it. Issues on Earth always demanding attention and money.

So the nearest we will get to this desert planet is Iran and a closed Strait of Hormuz. 

Decorated street furniture. 

Some of the back wall art inside the Yardworks compound. Female icons I presume.

Current themes. 

So plenty to see here.

Both in the lane and on the River Kelvin Railway walls.

Dove of Peace. Murals usually reflect the troubled times we live in.

Or happy hippo biting everything within range by the looks of it.

Fashion girl.

We then wandered up to Partick via the River Kelvin, seen above, and Yorkhill Park. A pleasant green wooded oasis right beside Yorkhill Hospital.

Which can also be reached via Sandyford or Teviot Street then turning left into the park from this Eastvale Place. The SWG3 lane.

Partick, seen here, is a vibrant shopping district a few miles west of Glasgow's City Centre district. With several large hotels around the Finnieston area I've thought for years that tourists might like the West End better than staying at the city centre these days. Easy bus, train or Underground in Partick means Glasgow's City Centre is ten minutes away by public transport if you want to visit there whereas Partick and Byres Road seems to be bucking the trend by having a thriving busy shopping street of independent local shops, hardly any empty lots and not much graffiti or street down and outs.  Loads of things to do here as well... Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Tall Ship, Hydro, SECC, Botanic Gardens, Byres Road, and The Lanes, University of Glasgow.... all within 20 minutes walking distance.

Byres Road mural.

Mela Poster. An annual celebration of Indian subcontinent culture in the city.

Other side of it.

With interesting period architecture that I hope they keep. (Old buildings so future use is uncertain... at least to me.) Glasgow City Centre, to my mind at least, always looks grubby and chaotic these days with several main streets, including George Square and Sauchiehall Street  dug up with ongoing road works currently. Whereas Partick is thriving. Or looks it anyway.

Period building detail. Byres Road District.

Old Partick. Byres Road area.

Snakes and angels. Probably something to do with healing but I always just see Lilith staring back at me in this. Adam's 'problematic' first wife. She liked snakes... not apples... or healing.... For instance.....The angel on the right has bird wings made with feathers. The left angel has bat wings for some reason.

And onward to 'The Lanes' The West End's trendy restaurant, antique shop, and bar district found either side of Byres Road... near Hillhead Underground Station..... to be continued.

Probably Joni Mitchell's most important song. The Magdelene Laundries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6_XkOgYXVI&list=RDN6_XkOgYXVI&start_radio=1