'How these curiosities would be quite forgot, did not such idle fellowes as I put them down.'
- John Aubrey
Welcome to my wee photoblog on Glasgow, where we feature the joys and unjoys of walking and cycling through a fascinating, beautiful and often badly run city. For the blog's origin and a list of all posts see the 'Introduction' post -
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/introduction.html
Today is Friday, 17 February 2012 and we are going to walk the Bermuda Triangle of Cessnock to Ibrox to Govan as we take a wander round Ibrox Park, the troubled home of Glasgow Rangers Football Club. The walk is not actually in the shape of a triangle - Bermuda or otherwise - but the finances of Glasgow Rangers certainly seem to come from that mythical sea of dark depths. The club went into administration a few days ago. For the club's 'invisible' 24 million pounds see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-17067141see
And see Ewan Murray's excellent assessment in the Guardian -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/17/craig-whyte-rangers-owner-scrutiny
For earlier pieces on Govan see
Govan
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/govan.html
Govan Underground to Ibrox Underground: 40th anniversary of the Ibrox Stadium Disaster
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/01/govan-underground-to-ibrox-underground.html
For the day after the
Pope's visit to Bellahouston Park see
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/bellahouston-park-2-after-pope-is-over.html
And for more on
Cessnock and Kinning Park see
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/cessnock-kinning-park.html
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| We begin at Cessnock Underground. . . |
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| . . . which always, as noted in an earlier post, makes me think of the entrance to the Morlock world in the 1960 movie of The Time Machine |
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| Note the barber sign |
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| 'BITE ME' menu |
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| We are heading west along Paisley Road west |
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| Tartan fish and chips - and chapatis |
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| Get your Ally McCoist mask here |
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| Looking back |
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| The west end of Walmer Crescent |
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| Zen newsagent |
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| Crossing over to the other side of the road now. . . |
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| How to get your passport |
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| Why dog fish in brackets? |
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| Ibrox Library |
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| Clothing Bank for Islamic Relief |
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| The local mosque |
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| Nice building |
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| We're heading up Edmiston Rd for Govan - Ibrox down there on right |
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| Demolition going on |
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| 'Property Headaches'; not uncommon in Glasgow. Note 'Blue Order' - Rangers fan group |
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| More Rangers stickers |
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| At Ibrox Park now |
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| There are small groups of fans about staring through the bars - one or two in tears |
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| Looking back |
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| 'Tim' - an uncommon name among Rangers fans, who would rather not look at happy Tims at Ibrox |
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| Rangers Ticket Centre; tomorrow's home game is a sellout |
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| Looking back |
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| We will cross over to the other side of Edmiston Drive there to take a few pics of the stadium |
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| A message from a fan |
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| Field of Dreams |
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| John Grieg, Rangers legend, with fan's scarf |
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| A message for Rangers management perhaps |
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| Heading down `Copland Rd |
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| Last view of Ibrox - until tomorrow |
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| Ibrox Underground |
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| Clothing Bank for 'Glasgow the Caring City' |
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Now in Woodville St; this is an oddly confusing and quite uncommon form of street sign in Glasgow
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| Looking down Kintra St |
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| So,e really nice buildings in Woodville St |
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| More awkward signage |
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| Now at the Woodville Arms, Broomloan Rd |
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| The probably libellous graffiti we saw last time has been removed |
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| The most uninviting bench in Britain |
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| For sale: don't all rush at once |
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| For pics of that bit of Broomloan Rd up there just before Ibrox Park, see previous Ibrox post |
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| Looking back |
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| Trudging on |
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| We'll head down there in a minute |
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| Looking back |
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| Following this path |
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| We are now on Govan Rd |
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| Govan Fire Station |
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| For more pics of Dorset St, see previous Ibrox post |
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| Govan Underground; where we are heading |
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| Looking back |
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The Govan Drinking Fountain; see
http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_images.php?sub=aitken_fntn
'A rare example of the decorative, cast iron drinking fountains produced by Cruikshanks & Co.'s foundry at the Denny Works, Stirlingshire. Cruikshanks produced public drinking fountains of various types, sizes and degrees of ornamentation, with their larger patterns occasionally being erected as commemorative fountains. The only known survivor of their large-scale, commemorative work is the Dr John Aitken Memorial Fountain at Govan Cross, Glasgow (1884). '
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| We're going to head over to the Shopping Centre |
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| In we go. . . |
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| . . .full of discount stores. Pretty depressing place |
Feel free to drop me an email with suggestions, offers of £20 notes etc. The address is damnyouebay@gmail.com
My other wee blogs are
http://parkeddogs.blogspot.com/
http://buddhasblackdog.blogspot.com/
Reviews of
Scotland: 1000 Things You Need to Know
RADIO AND TELEVISON
'I love it - I'm giving this copy to a friend and buying another for
myself' - Darren Adam, Presenter, Radio Forth, 17 November 2008
‘It’s a great wee book’ – Stephen Jardine, introducing Edwin Moore on Scottish Television’s Five-Thirty Show
'A fantastic book' - Scott Wilson , talk 107 Breakfast Show host
'A great read' - Dougie Jackson, Drivetime host, Smooth Radio 105.2
THE PRESS
'Despite its apparently humorous format, this is a serious and extensive
dictionary on all things Scottish; from Jean Redpath to Lorne sausage,
from Flodden to the Corries. Is particularly good on history and
minutiae. There's a useful chapter on famous Scottish legal cases and
another on literature. Excellent' - Royal Scottish Legion, Feb 2009
'This is the ultimate Scottish reference book' - Waterstones Christmas catalogue, 2008
'This is a fascinating look at the history of Scotland: its languages,
politics and great achievements, from its origins in the ancient
landmass of Laurentia 400 million years ago, to devolution and Billy
Connolly. Edwin Moore has collected a thousand important facts about
this beautiful country, covering Scottish history and culture,
correcting misconceptions, and examining the mysteries of haggis and
bagpipes with insight, warmth and impressive attention to detail' - The
Good Book Guide, November 2008
'This is a recipe for revealing how horribly ill informed you are about
your country. Although, if you are skillful, you can nod sagely as you
read some new fact and mutter 'Ah, yes!' as if recalling the information
from your excellent schooling. Where else will you find a real recipe
for making haggis from scratch side by side with a potted biography of
David Hume; a section of the Declaration of Arbroath and the curiously
touching fact that Lulu was only 15 when she had a hit with 'Shout'? The
whole thing is of course, silly - but oh so addictive.' - Matthew
Perren, i-on Glasgow, December 2008
'. . . well crafted and witty' - Bill Howatson, Aberdeen Press and Journal, 18 October 2008
‘While most of Edwin’s entries are entertaining and scholarly – he
writes like a Scottish Bill Bryson – it is when he takes an interest in
the backwaters of history, the details lost down the back of the sofa,
that he is at his best’ – Jack McKeown, The Courier, 27 October 2008
'History, it is said, is written by the victors. Trivia, meanwhile, is
written by the guys with the smeared spectacles and the breathable
rainwear. The first discipline is linear and causal; to quote from Alan
Bennett’s play The History Boys, history is “just one f****** thing
after another”. Things look different, though, when viewed through the
prism of trivia. The past is reduced to one big coleslaw of fascinating
facts that in their randomness tell a more mixed-up tale entirely.
The first approach leads to big, frowning books by the likes of Tom
Devine and Michael Fry. The latter results in small, cheerful books such
as Scotland: 1,000 Things You Need to Know, Edwin Moore’s valiant
attempt to navigate the more trivial contours of enlightenment and
clearances, crown and parliament, dirt and deity.
Moore proceeds from a sincere and controversial first principle:
Scotland is really a rather pleasant and interesting place. . .As a work
of popular scholarship, though, it’s in a different league to the
Scottish novelty titles that get stocked next to the bookstore tills as
potential impulse purchases, those little handbooks of parliamo
Caledonia and regional braggadocio, such as Weegies vs Edinbuggers.' -
Allan Brown The Sunday Times, 21 September 2008
'In his book, Scotland: 1000 Things You Need to Know, Edwin celebrates
all that sets us Scots as a race apart - our language, law, flora, food,
and of course, our people. From our poets, architects and inventors, to
our artists, entertainers and fighters. But he doesn't shy away from
the more unpleasant aspects of our history. . .' - Robert Wight, Sunday
Post, 14 September 2008
‘We think we know all about William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and the
Union of the Crowms. However, according to Edwin Moore, author of ,
Scotland: 1000 Things You Need to Know, we’re still in the dark about
many aspects of our history and culture. . . The Big Issue looks at 20
of the most astonishing examples of secret Scotland.’ – The Big Issue,
18-24 September 2008
'What's the connection between Homer Simpson and Larbert, and why are
generations of lawyers grateful to a Paisley snail? Need to know more?
Author Edwin Moore has gathered 1000 facts like these about Scotland in a
quirky new book. Brian Swanson selects a few favourites. . .' -
Scottish Daily Express, 13 September 2008
'The palm for Christmas-stocking books seems to have passed recently to
popular science, with best selling titles every year such as Why Don’t
Penguins’ Feet Freeze? This year there has been a gallant attempt at a
historical fight back. Scotland: 1,000 Things You Need to Know(Atlantic
Books, £12.99) asks (and answers) such post-turkey questions as ‘How
many kings of Scotland died in their beds?’, ‘Who on earth decided that
the Declaration of Arbroath was the cornerstone of modern democracy?’ or
‘Why is iron brew spelled Irn-Bru?’ Mark Mazower,History Today; The
Best of History in 2008, December 2008
'A real treat for the serendipitous Scotophile' - Reginald Hill
FROM THE INTERWEB
www.Booksfromscotland.com (on the new paperback edition)
Book of the Month, May 2010
'Whether it's Scottish lochs or Enlightenment philosophers, the facts of
the devolution referendums or the mysteries of Irn-Bru, myths will be
debunked and truths revealed in this light-hearted but rigorous overview
of Scottish history and culture.'
Also available for download on Amazon's e-book store is my 100 Brief Encounters (only £3.06!)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Brief-Encounters-ebook/dp/B006CQ8G84/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322393003&sr=1-1
Here are some reviews of the print edition (published by Chambers in 2007) -
Edwin Moore's quirky collection of a hundred encounters between (mostly)
important historical figures is a gem of a book. Where else could you
get concise enlightening accounts of Henry VIII wrestling with Francis
I, Geronimo surrendering to General Miles, Ernest Hemingway presenting
Fidle Castro with a fishing trophy or (as seen on the books cover) a
baby faced Bill Clinton shaking hands with John F Kennedy. A marvelous
'little window on human history. ' - Dominic Kennerk, Waterstone's
Product Planning and Promotions Co-ordinator (From the Waterstone's 'We
Recommend' list for 2008)
Witty, light and packed with information -- The Sunday Herald
In 1936, in the wake of winning a clutch of gold medals at the Berlin
Olympics, the great athlete Jesse Owens was snubbed by an imperious
leader, on racial grounds. Popular belief would have it that the leader
was Hitler, who is said to have stormed off, furious to see a black man
beating European athletes. In fact the man in question was President
Roosevelt, who worried that paying attention to Owens' triumphs might be
a vote loser. Although Owens and the German Chancellor never talked,
Owens claimed that Hitler greeted him with an enthusiastic wave. Such
near-misses, shakings of hands and ships-in-the-night meetings are the
subject of Brief Encounters – Meetings between mostly remarkable people,
a likeable new book by Edwin Moore (Chambers £7.99). Flicking through
the index, you will find some expected encounters (Dante stares at
Beatrice, Corday stabs Marat, The Beatles strum along to a Charlie Rich
record round at Elvis's house), and the book's intriguing and memorable
cover shows a baby-faced Bill Clinton manfully gripping the hand of JFK.
But Moore has navigated past some of the more obvious collisions,
collusions and confrontations of history (there is no Dr Livingstone, I
presume) and much of the book's pleasure derives from lesser known
incidents.
Inevitably, some of the accounts of earlier meetings are somewhat
sketchy but Moore offers some piquant speculation, laced with humour
(the book is tagged Reference / Humour, rather than History and this
feels right, but the book, though wry and opinionated, never stoops to
wackiness). I was intrigued to discover that, though Attila the Hun did
die on his wedding night, it was not in drunken and lecherous
debauchery, as his enemies maintained, but supposedly because he was
generally a simple and clean-living man who had a few too many which
brought on a particularly bad nosebleed.
Moore's book is full of such tales – it would be wrong of me to steal
the tastiest morsels of his research and pepper this article with them,
but look out for a subsidiary reason for the Gunpowder Plot (too many
dour and powerful Scots in Parliament); a great meeting of great beards,
as Castro wins the Hemingway prize for sea-fishing; Dali bringing a
skeptical Freud round to the art of the surrealists; Buffalo Bill's wife
claiming an aged Queen Victoria had propositioned him; Oscar Wilde
getting a kiss from Walt Whitman, while Walter Scott was more taken with
Burns's charismatic eyes. This is an enjoyable and vigorous rattle
through some fascinating and believable yarns. My only quibble is that
it's a little on the short side – let's have Volume 2 please Chambers! -
Roddy Lumsden, www.Books from Scotland.com
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