Cessnock Underground to Claremont Centre via Plantation Park

'How these curiosities would be quite forgot, did not such idle fellowes as I put them down.'

- John Aubrey

'Oh roads we used to tread, 

Fra' Maryhill to Pollokshaws - fra' Govan to Parkhead!) 

- Kipling, 'McAndrew's Hymn'

'Photography can be a mirror and reflect life as it is, but I also think that perhaps it is possible to walk like Alice, through a looking-glass, observe the puzzles in one’s head and find another kind of world with the camera.' - Tony Ray-Jones

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

 Feel free to drop me an email with suggestions, offers of £20 notes etc. The address is damnyouebay@gmail.com. I have had to start watermarking the pics as I have come across one big website using a pic without permission - I suppose there must be others.

If you are a private individual and want to use any of the pics for non-commercial purposes please get in  touch and I will usually be happy to say 'Aye' for free - just give the Album a credit. If you want to use a pic for commercial purposes a small mutually agreed fee and a credit will suffice.

And you can follow me on Twitter if you wish: Edwin Moore@GlasgowAlbum

Today is  Sunday, 25 August 2013 and we are going for a wander from Cessnock Underground to the Claremont Centre via Plantation Park (a few weeks apart but you won't notice the join)

But let us start in Portman St.  For previous ambles round here see

Kinning Park and Govan and Tradeston: the Loyalist Borderlands

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/kinning-park-and-govan-and-tradeston.html

Cessnock & Kinning Park 

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/cessnock-kinning-park.html

Tradeston 2: the Co-op Funeral Parlour Fire

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html

Tradeston 3: a Walk among Inconvenient Buildings

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tradeston-3-walk-among-inconvenient.html

News Inernational  - long gone from here now

Our Lady's

Looking back

Reflections

Love the flowers - nature takes over all empires, including Murdoch's

Thousands of £1 lines

Make an offer

Now onto Paisley Rd

Polish cyclists

We are heading west up Paisley Rd to Cessnock

Past the Lion Bar

Church and crane

The Grapes bar - famous Rangers pub

Looking back

Reflection

For more on the the Loyalist traditions of Cessnock see 
Kinning Park and Govan and Tradeston: the Loyalist Borderlands

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/kinning-park-and-govan-and-tradeston.html

Scottish Independence: a Communist Perspective. Wonder how many turned up

Cessnock Underground over there, we are crossing over 

Fire engine down there: we'll have a look in a moment

The lovely Cessnock entrance arch has been taken down - described by the SPT bosses as a 70s pastiche of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's work  it was in face a charming homage to the Thomson buildings beside it. After  a quick twitter campaign this silly decision is being reserved. See
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/anger-as-subway-station-sign-removed-by-workmen-133903n.21916824 

The side one is safe

Back onto Paisley Rd West 

Seems to be the off sales that went on fire

Adam Sandler - why?

Special Eyes

Donations

A Scooby Gang?

Now in Edwin St, heading for Plantation Park

Plantation Park. From the Kinning Park wiki entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinning_Park

'. . . The same Robert Ogilvy map of 1741 also shows a field called the "Plantation" in the area which later became known as Plantation, which is likely to be the origin of that local name. There is a story that a later owner of the area, a Mr Robertson, named the area Plantation in the 1780s because he also owned property in the West Indies. However, the Ogilvy map suggests that the area was known as Plantation well before Mr Robertson's period.'

Took a pic for this chap of himself and his mother enjoying the bench in the sun

Let's go down to the fence

Best leave well alone

Kinning Park Subway

We'll pop up on the flyover for a quick look

A dog having a crap. It's owners are advancing, hopefully to bag the poo

Looking down on the park

The Finnieston Crane

Salvation Army

Islamic Relief

Impressive entrance to this wee lane

Kinning Park Complex

We'll take a wee shufti in the back

Back out on Paisley Rd West 

Looking back

Heading up Cornwall St now

In Scotland Street West

Looking back

Back into Portman St and CCTV

Hello Glasgow

Kinning Park Underground

And now we must do the time warp backwards to Sunday, 16 June for a look across the carriageway at the Claremont Centre

The park again (or before rather - time is confusing)

Onto the bridge

Looking east into the city

Looking west

Approaching other side

Looking back

Finnieston Crane dominant. See
Finniestonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5buYLOanF8

An unfriendly place to leave a can in a windy city. We deal with it

Despite being laid out in a grid this  is an oddly confusing area, with few people about, 
even in cars; this may help -

http://www.estatesgazette.com/propertylink/advert/claremont_centre_15_durham_street_glasgow-durham_street_glasgow_g41_1bs-3449445.htm

Clutha House. See
http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=s762&loc_id=3022

Ah in the distance we see. . .

. .  .our old acquaintances the school wall and the crumbling Gray Dunn factory in Stanley St. Will have a look again at the end

Trespass. We feel a bit like trespassers here. This is a spookily empty grid of streets

Boycott Palestine. . .

. . .well, a new one to me. A prankster I guess

Heading back to the bridge

We're heading down Scotland Street West there in a moment

Back at Portman St

Great poster

Nae change  here in Stanley Street

Scotland St West left, Portman St right

Thank you for browsing, dear visitor. And finally, I must plug  my wee book Brief Encounters - the KIndle edn is now available on Amazon for 99p!!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Brief-Encounters-Geronimo-ebook/dp/B009MAO9FG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371034153&sr=1-2&keywords=brief+encounters+edwin+moore

There is much Scottish interest in the book, including Macbeth's pilgrimage to meet the Pope, Flora MacDonald meeting Dr Johnson, Walter Scott meeting Burns  and much more. For glowing reviews of the print edition, see the end of this post.

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