Partick. Kelvingrove and Anderston Walk. New Look for Glasgow's Suburbs.

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As I had to go into Partick for something I thought I would make a longer day of it and check out the new buildings appearing in this vicinity. West Village student flats have been up for a couple of years now but the builders haven't stopped there.

More student flats have just been completed a stones throw away... also on the banks of the River Kelvin at Partick. Benalder Street and Beith Street to be precise- just behind Partick Train Station, Bus Station and Subway hub. Incidentally, turning round the other way, the popular west end nightclub Volcano used to stand here on a patch of empty land- Benalder Street, where Renton met Diane in the original 1990s Trainspotting film. Although the novel was set in Edinburgh's council estates they filmed a huge chunk of it in Glasgow as the powers that be in Edinburgh maybe didn't fancy the idea of a film about violence, shoplifting, and heroin addiction there. A risky bad image to get behind and promote. Or maybe it was just cheaper to make it in Glasgow ( it usually is cheaper in Glasgow :) with Edinburgh's main period street network continually packed with camera holding tourists eager for a photo of anything unusual happening..Once it was an iconic worldwide cult hit however they relented for Trainspotting 2 which had many more outdoor Edinburgh locations in it. ( Although in the Arthur's Seat segment the colours were far too vivid as if it had been green screened with the actors filmed elsewhere then superimposed on top. Funny looking and over-saturated compared to elsewhere. )

Yorkhill Hospital seen across the River Kelvin gives a better impression of where we are. This is the view from the student flats. Yorkhill is half empty now, most facilities being transferred over to the  new super hospital complex at Govan. New hospitals, universities and student flats make up the bulk of new build properties in Glasgow at the moment.

Especially student flats- thousands of them- so it must pay the city/ university/ colleges somehow. Every second building now seems to be student apartments. With three universities and a handful of 'super' colleges ( ie three or four old ones combined together) Glasgow is very definitely a major teaching hub in the UK. Edinburgh has universities as well but not to the same extent as Glasgow's very visible and more modern infrastructure which is one area where they can compete fully and hopefully win into the foreseeable future with brand new buildings. It's as if losing out to Edinburgh in the Hogmanay celebrations /Christmas Lights /Princes Street skyline, Festival and Castle attractions, plus old town tourist history vibe Glasgow has claimed the consolation prize of various state of the art hi rise student complexes within the city. And it can compete for nightlife here with trendy Byres Road and Ashton Lane a short walk away. Watching Francesco da Mosto's Venice programme tonight where tourists outnumber dwindling local Venetians many times over throughout the year I was reminded of Edinburgh slightly. Although it has many excellent visitor attractions Glasgow still feels like it belongs to the local residents and is not just a tourist magnet but a place where most of the population lives year round.

 One benefit of this is that it might help to stem the hemorrhaging of foot fall from traditional inner city shopping areas like Partick and Glasgow City Centre with thousands of students spending money in the local shops, bars, cinemas, and restaurants as well as ordinary punters. Lidl I've noticed have been very astute in this aspect as every new build student complex has a Lidl store in it from the off. With Lidl, Aldi, B & M and other discount stores making large inroads into the UK's big four traditional supermarkets of Tesco, Morrison's,Sainsbury and Asda a major shift has occurred in the last decade. Not really a surprise after 10 long years of austerity, low paid jobs and uncertain employment squeezing people to shop to tighter budgets. Many items are half price in the discount places and you are just as likely to see car parks full of expensive new cars there nowadays as old bangers.

Right in the midst of all this new age, new build utopia however I noticed this modest little church. Situated in a cul de sac, hidden and surrounded by higher modern buildings I couldn't help thinking of Andre Norton's Witch World again as the hero in that walks down a similar lane to a much older structure from a different era and enters another world entirely. Many books have that common theme however, probably all the way back to pre- biblical times and the first cities 7000 years ago in rapidly evolving Sumerian streets and turrets - a similar mishmash of different buildings and styles from ages past.

And so did I.........enter a different world that is. My first visit to St Simon's Church.

I soon found out Polish soldiers and other groups came here during the war years to worship in their native tongue and received a friendly welcome. Lost count of the number of times I've been in Scottish towns and cities and memorials to the Polish contribution to the UK war effort is celebrated with a tribute at some point so they have a strong history with Britain in the past and still today.
Interesting link here to this- the third oldest Catholic church in the city, opened in 1858.
https://www.stsimonspartick.org.uk/history/

  More info telling that particular story.

Some stained glass radiance.

A lovely church and very unexpected considering the number of times I've been in Partick (100s) and never noticed it before. A half hidden gem. Ancient history buffs have speculated that the mother and child iconography dates back long before the bible as well to early Egyptian and Mesopotamian origins. Makes sense- what image is older and more relevant to the human race than that of mother and infant together. Survival and continued existence in one.

Next up after Partick was the neighbouring district of Anderston, another inner city ward and one even closer to the heart of Glasgow. The 200 foot high 21 floor Anderston Centre Complex in the distance here. Scottish Comedian Billy Connolly grew up in Anderston, as well as other Glasgow city districts.

The attraction here for me was that I'd noticed new buildings springing up when I passed on the bus and was curious to see the changes in this area on foot. Scottish Power building and renovated flats which have looked this way for over a year now.

But this was different. A new right hand side to St Vincent Street and a brand new statue/sculpture on a plinth.

What was it I wondered? Who was the mystery man sitting in the uncomfortable looking high back chair? At least he has a splendid view of Kelvingrove's Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha's golden dome in the distance to compensate for his sore bum. (Well, would you like to spend a full night on it watching TV? Bet he'd rather recline on a comfy sofa these days. Nae luck Charlie. I have had the pleasure of similar wooden chairs in bothies with no other seats available and after four hours on it a cushion is a desirable extra.)

Of course, being Glasgow, it's none other than renowned architect Charles Rennie MacKintosh, probably totally scunnered at being placed slap bang in the middle of one of today's modern architectural wastelands... or he might approve... you never know.  A very good statue/sculpture anyway by another Glasgow great,  Andy Scott, the local artist behind The Kelpies, Cumbernauld's Arria (she's still my favourite) and the Heavy Horse on the M8.. and many many more. A very prolific talented guy. ( and his team as it's probably too much for one person nowadays to handle I'd imagine with commissions pouring in.)

I am joking about the wastelands as these new builds are not too bad. Very similar in style to other current projects I've wandered around like the Union Canal/ Fountainbridge development in Edinburgh and Shawbridge in Pollokshaws in this city's south side  rising as we speak and type. I have noticed there's never a lot of grass, trees, or vegetation in these new estates. Very bare landscapes compared to older estates with generous green spaces, front and back gardens, even in some of the roughest council estates of old. A bit like the gig economy jobs today where if you want any company perks of yesteryear you pay for them yourself out of your own pocket. Luckily, for children here, the large and leafy Kelvingrove Park is only a few streets away.

Being fairly savvy with recent new build developments I do see a unified recent style in action. After years of weird design types,funny shapes and peculiar roof structures, square and rectangular tenements are back in vogue. Not much in the way of gardens or sit outside verandas and deliberately low maintenance to save any future upkeep costs but....

... as this photo shows not that different from the 1950s and 1960s tenement council estates I and many older Glaswegians grew up in. The basic template is exactly the same here just given a modern twist with car parking and safe play areas within the central back court instead of washing poles and grass. History does repeat itself in some ways if you wait long enough to see it.

Anderston/ Kelvingrove Church.

Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha.

A close up of the artwork detail around the doors. If you have no money to travel to exotic places and cultures ... they sometimes come to you. Every large city and town experiences successive waves of immigration going back thousands of years. It's not something that's bothered me much but then I've always lived in predominantly white working class districts so it doesn't really impact on me much either. Most people do like to live in different tribes though who get and understand each others ways and beliefs without explaining them all the time or standing out as different and that too dates back to ancient times. It may well be genetically ingrained into the fabric of many humans despite any multicultural higher ambitions and desires of governments. After all, in nearly every big city worldwide there's a Chinatown, a Little Italy, Asian, Jewish, Polish, Jamaican, African, Irish, Scots, Welsh and English clusters,etc etc,... thriving mini communities within a larger urban area with their own self regulating borders, sometimes based on the cheapest places to live but not always. Most living happily side by side but still separate in many ways.

Grand period upmarket tenements along Sauchiehall Street.

Hippo Family. Anderston.

Park Circus Towers.  The end.

Ayr Harbour and River Ayr Walk.

                                               ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.

Still in the west coast seaside town of Ayr.   As I had not explored Ayr on foot for at least ten years and some of it was barely remembered while other parts had changed considerably I still had a lot of exploring to do here. Above is Ayr Bus Station, hub for around 8 to 12 buses at a guess. Some of these bus stations, like Perth, are hidden away on an obscure side street, sometimes a fair old distance from the main shopping area so I always take good notice of my surroundings now to find my way back in the dark. Surprisingly easy to miss them at night- in the case of Perth. The last thing you want after a hard day's walk is a search for the bus station.

As reported in the last post I made for the town harbour but I've been to Ayr a few times now since Christmas so this is a different walk.

This time I went the other way along the beach in the direction of the pier and harbour entrance. Fighting dogs come as standard extras here. Book them early to avoid disappointment.

View of Ayr and harbour looking back from the pier.

More cormorants at the pier end.

Like a lot of seaside towns in the past, when boats carried most of the trade goods, exports and imports, Ayr Harbour used to be a vibrant busy port with dozens of vessels plying their trade from here to the Scottish islands, England, Ireland, America and beyond. Now its mainly a few cargo ships delivering building materials like this one here. Low in the water at one end as the hold is still full.

A range of housing stock had been built along the seafront since my last visit but I did wonder about this high brick wall in front blocking the sea view from the ground floor apartments. I couldn't see a purpose for leaving it up.

You can see the wall height better here on the far left of the photo.

But there was a reason for it as it was part of the old docks, no longer in use.

South Harbour... and at its far end the 'Watchful'. A herring fishing boat originally from the Maidens, a small coastal community further south near Culzean Castle. This old boat was repainted and restored in 2010 but it's in a bad way again almost ten years later, after being exposed to winter storms, salt and spray.

New wooden bridge over the harbour/ abandoned repair dock.

Back view of a second cargo boat.

Unloaded materials at the port.

The seafront houses from the rear.

And this strange building... which reminded me of a modern castle and sunken moat design in many ways.
I soon found out it was the Citadel leisure centre. And it may well have been modeled after a castle or fortress as Ayr was a major garrison town during Oliver Cromwell's brutal conquest of Scotland in the mid 1600s. Where the citadel leisure centre stands today was the barracks for some of the army of occupation in the vicious wars between Scotland and England.

And right beside the leisure centre and swimming pool is what remains of Oliver Cromwell's original fortress. The 1600s Citadel.

I also fancied this modern building was an architectural nod in some way to the nearby St John's Tower, a 15th century soaring beauty that still stands proud above the surrounding houses. But what came first I wonder? Oasis or the Beatles... Madonna or Kylie... Elvis or Cliff Richard... Tori Amos or Kate Bush? All perplexing mysteries to solve for a modern young human.

A view from further up the River Ayr, looking back towards the harbour.

The town's famous 'old brig' with a stone core dating from the 1500s although it has been renovated and strengthened several times since then but still a remarkable structure which transports thousands of  pedestrians over the river into the shopping district to this day. 500 years old- if stones could recite memories think of the tales they could tell. The poet Robert Burns may well have crossed this same bridge seeking out a pub or a new sweetheart to spend an evening with. In Burns day, by the mid 1700s, it was already well into its second century of use spanning the river. And well within walking distance of his house a few miles away.

Ayr has a long history as a community and from this angle you would never guess buses and cars run across this bridge before disappearing between the walls. Two lanes of traffic yet it looks like a solid stone barrier with no gaps.

Upstream we start to get into a more placid reflection zone.

The oldest pub in Ayr. 1754... and a pub Robert Burns (1759- 1796) may well have crossed the old bridge to reach on his travels around town on foot.... or maybe not.

A graveyard. River Ayr Walk.

A wild bunch. Herring gulls.

The iron pedestrian bridge.

More reflections. Getting on for nightfall.

Passing train.

Dark underpass on walkway.

Ayrshire College. At this point I headed away from the river and into town to see the Christmas lights and shops.... to be continued.