18-21 August, 2019
I was born into what was really a slum in the east end of London. The house, on Lessada Street (now covered by a park) was one of several terraced houses that ran down each side. At the end of the street were prefabs (prefabricated buildings meant to be temporary) and I assume built over age- or bomb-damaged other houses. The house was simple, three rooms downstairs plus a tiny step-down scullery, three rooms upstairs. Downstairs in the scullery was a sink with cold running water, upstairs there was no plumbing so water had to be carried up to the makeshift kitchen on the landing. Every room had a fireplace for burning coal. The toilet was attached to the house in the back yard.
At the end of the row of houses where Lessada Street hit Roman Road, was a large bombsite, where we played and discovered artifacts (and once a dead cat…etched in my memory!).
Enough about my childhood home for now but it forms the basis of why I have always felt comfortable in areas others think of as dirty, derelict, crowded or rundown. That’s how I also fell in love with Liverpool, back in 1964 when the city was so ravaged.
When I tell people I’m going to Scotland, their eyes light up. They imagine glens, highlands, heather and country dancing. When I tell them I’m going to Glasgow, their first reaction is puzzlement, their second is to ask ‘Not Edinburgh?’ (the prettier of the two cities). No, Glasgow! It’s more urban and far more gritty than its pretty near-neighbour to the Southeast.
At first glance, the buildings of central Glasgow are often dirty and grim. I look beyond this and see the beautiful carving and structure. On my first visit I stared at one structure and said, ‘If this were in Europe, people would marvel. In Scotland it’s considered ugly.’ In fact, while I haven’t researched this as much as I could, the Italian influence in Glasgow architecture is everywhere. Sometimes I imagine myself in Florence or Rome.
One of my favourite places, which also evokes Italy, is the Princes Square shopping centre. There are a few very modern shopping malls. True to nature, I photographed none of those! However Princes Square is an amazing building. There’s a fantastic metal structure on the inside, a great esclator entrance, and the most beautiful interior with small boutiques and airy restaurants that spill onto the landing.
The tenement style houses of Glasgow grab me every time. I think about living in one, even at the top – up steep and relentless staircases, ouch – and then I pull back, thinking of the rain and the grey sky and the cold.
One of my goals for this trip was to discover more work by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He was born in 1868 and was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His stunning style was close to European Symbolism. And it went further. He influenced Art Nouveau and Secessionism. Looking at his designs, and those of his wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, all of the hallmarks are there. Glasgow is where he was born, lived and worked and his light shines on so many things.
And, like most cities, Glasgow has many sides. More to explore. More to blog about, so I will.