Urban Run

Recently we've had some unusual weather. It has been cold but dry and sunny as opposed to the normal cold but wet and dull. It's too cold to go far but there are things of interest nearby. This is a random run through the city generally along the River Clyde.

At the Science Centre I found the paddle streamer Waverley at its winter moorings. The ship was built in 1946 and is the last passenger carrying paddle steamer in the world. The Waverley provides day trips throughout the country during the season and is claimed to be the "most photographed ship in the world".

 

A Clydeside montage - L to R the Armadillo (auditorium), the Hydro (indoor arena) and the Finnieston crane. 

Fair warning - there will be bridges. This is the railway bridge crossing the Clyde into Central Station. Ok, trains are heavy, but this bridge seems like overkill even by Victorian standards.

The Briggait was, for a century, Glasgow's fish market - now an arts centre.

I've always liked the winged sea horses

The place looks a bit rough. I found this photograph of the building when it was painted. I'm not sure blasting it back to stone was a good idea.

Cambuslang Bridge. This is a strange one. I worked for the Roads Department but never heard of this bridge. It was built in 1892 but at some point was found to be under strength. Weight restrictions were applied and eventually new bridges were built that replaced it. The bridge remained for pedestrians, In 1977 the council built another footbridge beside it presumably because demolition was planned. But it's still here with two adjacent bridges carrying out the same function. The bridge is obviously not being maintained but isn't in bad condition. Left alone it'll eventually rust away and fall into the Clyde. Maybe in 100 years or so.

Rosebank Dye Works. The east end of the city has many derelict industrial buildings but this is special. A fine structure with nice Greek key pattern in contrasting brickwork. It was constructed in 1881 for yarn dying. As far as I can find out it has been empty since 1945 (can that be true?). Cambuslang isn't the most desirable area of the city but surely something could be done with this place.

Cuningar Bridge. This new bridge gives access to a redeveloped area of land. It might look rusty - and it sort of is. This is weathering steel - steel with a small percentage of chromium added. This causes it to form a stable oxide layer that does not require painting. In time this should weather to a dark brown finish. The area was variously reservoirs for the city's water supply, quarries and a landfill site. It has been developed into a parkland. This is a good example of the development of the east end of the city - previously a fairly run down post industrial area.

Reel of Three. This is a sculpture on a roundabout on a recent development in Dalmarnock. It's across the road from my site offices (see below) When I was here this was a derelict factory (Phoenix tube works, I think) It depicts people engaged in a frantic dance.

 

Dalmarnock Bridge. I spent a year working on this bridge in 1996. The job was to replace the existing steel deck with a new one. Not too difficult but the existing ironwork - everything red in the photograph - had to be removed, refurbished, replaced if necessary and re-erected. Not any easy job, but hey, that's what I was getting paid for.

It might look bright but it was pretty cold.