The Clyde, The Clyde

A few weeks back we were fortunate enough to acquire tickets to go and see Michael McIntyre at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow. As it was in an area of Glasgow that we were not too familiar with we decided to book into a hotel near the Hydro and make a weekend of our trip. The Michael McIntyre show was fantastic but I wanted to say a little bit about the area around the venue.
The Hydro, the SECC and the Armadillo are all top-notch venues which sit next to each other and are built in an area which was originally part of Glasgow's docklands. These arenas are on the north bank of the River Clyde, known locally as the Finnieston or Stobcross Quay and some of the original dockland features still exist, such as the North Rotunda (part of the defunct Clyde Harbour Tunnel) and the giant Titan Crane:

Finnieston Titan Crane

Finnieston Crane at Night

This huge crane was one of many along the length of the Clyde, of which only four remain; and to put this in context that is four out of the remaining eleven there are worldwide. This particular crane was built in the early 1930's and saw many years service lifting heavy equipment such as steam engines on to ships before containerisation and the demise of Glasgow docks made it redundant.
It now stands as an icon to that era and shares its spot on the riverside with more modern icons such as the Armadillo, the Hydro and the Clyde Arc Bridge:

The Clyde at Finnieston

Finnieston Titan Crane and Clyde Arc Bridge

Across the river from the Titan Crane is another docklands area which has also seen recent re-development and is known as Pacific Quay. It is a bit of a conundrum why it is now called Pacific Quay when the ships coming to and from the docks previously situated there plied their trade across the Atlantic? A similar docklands regeneration area in Leith near Edinburgh is known as Ocean Terminal and is not specific (or Pacific) about what ocean it served!!
On this southern bank of the Clyde there are also some well known buildings, well they are if you watch the TV News:

STV Studio

  

BBC Scotland Studio

BBC Scotland and Glasgow Science Centre

 Whilst the STV Studio and the BBC Scotland Studio make and present the news, the Glasgow Science Centre is more likely to feature on the news...............for all the wrong reasons.

Glasgow Tower at Science Centre

The tower at the Science Centre (which is reputed to be the world's tallest rotating tower) has had more news coverage than the Science Centre itself. Plagued with thrust bearing problems and lift failures the tower has been shut longer than it has been in operation over its 14 year life.
The good ship Waverley which is anchored next to it could give it a few pointers regarding longevity:

Waverley Paddle Steamer

Built in Glasgow in 1946 to replace the original PS Waverley (circa.1899) this ship started life in the service of London and North East Railways (LNER) as a steamer on the Helensburgh to Arrochar (on Loch Long) route. This was when staying at home with day trips to nearby seaside resorts, weekend camping trips to the hills or other places of interest, etc. was the traditional holiday for many in Scotland. In the Glasgow area this often meant a trip 'doon the watter' on a paddle steamer such as the Waverley.
Cheap package holidays abroad and increased car ownership in the late sixties and early seventies saw passenger numbers falling; and in 1973 the then owners Caledonian MacBrayne retired the vessel.
Calmac sold the ship to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society for £1, a registered UK charity, who have been running PS Waverley as a pleasure cruise ship to various destinations in and around the Clyde Estuary for the last 40 years.
About half a mile further down the river and back on the northern bank lies the Riverside Museum (aka Glasgow Museum of Transport) and this features many of the exhibits (although not all) from the old Museum of Transport that was in the Kelvin Hall. We stopped in here for a cup of coffee before having a quick wander round some of the exhibits.
When we arrived we had just missed the DalmarnockTram:

 

Horse Drawn Tram to Dalmarnock

It was getting dark so we thought we could hitch a lift on this old Albion lorry, unfortunately it was on axle stands:

Albion Truck

Luckily Moira managed to make friends with some undertaker's horses, so we were assured a lift back to the hotel:

Moira and the Cuddies

Only joking, but the early 1900's street was very interesting.

Moving forward a few decades Arnold Clark's prices seemed quite tempting back in the 1950s, this tidy little Ford Popular 103E for example:

Only £425, I'd check the service history

Ford had other 'popular' successes in the 1960's and 70's:

 

Ford Anglia

Ford Capri 1600L

Ford Capri 1600l in traffic

And in the 1980s they even made the iconic 'Jam Sandwich' ................the scourge of all motorway drivers:

Ford Granada Police Car (aka Jam Sandwich)

"alright Stirling, oot the car" a phrase well known by many??

It wasn't just the Fords that were on show here; we had offerings from Talbot and MG:

Talbot Sunbeam and MG B GT

And there was the 'futuristic' Hillman Imp; which was built in Linwood, Renfrewshire and held the accolade of being the first mass-produced car with an aluminium engine block and cylinder head, the first to use a diaphragm spring clutch, etc. Some early reliability problems damaged the reputation of the small, economical, rear-engine car; otherwise we may be talking about it with the same fondness as the Mini

 

Hillman Imp

Perhaps the Imp drivers saw a bit too much of the following vehicle, rather than the 'Jam Sandwich'

 

AA Motorcycle and Sidecar

No ride in a comfortable AA recovery truck (with your car on the back) in the 1960s. It was all a bit more Wallace and Gromit.

However my favourite car in the museum was this beautiful Rover 3.5 Litre P5B Saloon. Fitted with Rover's legendary three and a half litre V8 engine it was produced from 1967 to 1973 I think it is still a lovely looking car (even though it is not very environmentally friendly).

Rover 3.5 Litre Saloon

Well that was our whistle stop tour of the Riverside Museum, but there is a lot more to see.

I really enjoyed our trip to this part of Glasgow, and to top it all we saw a great show at the SSE Hydro with Michael McIntyre.

 

Have a very merry, teddy Christmas

 

cheers

 

Teddyedward