Glasgow, historically known as "The Dear Green Place", is the largest city in Scotland. Its wealth was initially due to the tobacco trade with America. Glasgow was strategically positioned to be a natural port for early transatlantic trade with the River Clyde being the artery which fed the city. Glasgow people have, by and large, a reputation for being friendly and of good humour. Being a mixture of lowland Scots, Irish, Highlanders, western Europeans and Italians, amongst others, you can certainly call Glasgow a cosmopolitan city! Even the Glaswegians who have migrated to other cities, will always fondly regard Glasgow as their true home.

A short ride from Glasgow will take you to the glorious scenery surrounding Loch Lomond and the Western Isles, through the majestic mountains of the awesome valley of Glencoe. This can be breathtaking, no matter what season you visit!

In recent years, a large Asian community has settled adding to the rich blend of cultures which made Glasgow the curry capital of Europe! Many immigrants like the Greek, Rio Stakis, who began his business empire selling potatoes from door to door before opening a chain of restaurants and hotels, made their fortunes here in Glasgow. Generally all these communities work side by side and get on well together. This blend of cultures makes today's Glasgow a fantastic place to work and live. But this wasn’t always so. At the turn of the century there was severe overcrowding in the tenement buildings, which led to very poor living conditions. One particular area, the Gorbals, was famous for its poverty and gang culture which continued into the early 60's. It is now one of Glasgow's success stories, currently being reborn as the New Gorbals.

Today, Glasgow is very much improved. Stone-cleaned tenements, luscious green parks, new housing, busy shopping areas, both in the city centre and outlying areas, add to the beauty of the city. It is today, second only to London for attracting a large amount of retailers and shoppers.

It is a well-known fact that most people wander through the famous streets such as Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street, St Vincent Street and Argyle Street without even casting their eyes upwards. The city centre has a variety of magnificent Victorian architecture which should not be missed. The assorted buildings vary in beauty and style, where you can see an impressive mixture of ornamentation of the last century. When rebuilding takes place, it is common to keep the original façade while interiors are modernised. This blends the old with the new and is a great solution to the ever-improving appearance of Glasgow.

Glaswegians famously love their sport, especially football, with the world-renowned rivalry between Rangers and Celtic (known locally as 'The Old Firm'). Both these teams have what can only be described as a stranglehold over Scottish football, simply because of the massive support they attract, both at home and abroad. Nothing can compare with the intense atmosphere of an Old Firm game. If Rangers and Celtic could get onto a bigger stage they would surely be able to compete with the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona. The fact that they attract more than 50,000 spectators to home games against teams like St Johnstone every second week speaks volumes. The mind boggles when you consider how much interest they would attract if they were playing the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal every week. Also not forgetting Partick Thistle, whose fortunes have ebbed and flowed over the last decade. In the south of the city Scotland's national stadium Hampden Park held a record crowd of 149,415 in 1937 and was famous for its 'Hampden Roar'. Sadly Hampden is no longer regarded in the same light as it once was, and we can only look with envious eyes to the new Cardiff Stadium in Wales to see how it should have been done. Although, can we really justify a state of the art national stadium just for a handful of football matches a season? Still, if Cardiff can do it, why not us? Also not forgetting Scotland's two world boxing champions, Benny Lync and more recently in the 80's, Jim Watt.

Glasgow’s History

Glasgow's history dates back to the first century when the Romans first set foot on Scottish soil. They introduced money to Scotland and built walls across the borderlands, mainly to guard against attack from the unruly Picts. The Picts are a bit of a mystery as so little is known about them. What we do know however, is that they eventually merged or integrated with the Scots, who originally came over from Northern Ireland to settle in Argyle in the West Coast. Later in the 5th Century came St Mungo who founded Glasgow Cathedral. This is a fine medieval Cathedral and the only one to survive reformation on the mainland. It was stopped from being put to the torch by a Provost Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill who said "Ding down the Kirk if you have a mind, but not till you have built as good a one to take the place of it". So it still stands. It once had a Bishops Castle where the new Museum of Religion now stands but the castle was unfortunately demolished 100 years ago.

Glasgow's oldest standing house is the 'Provand's Lordship' which in the early 19th century became a pub. Later it became three shops, and an aerated warehouse etc., before being saved from demolition in the 1920's. It was also visited briefly by Mary Queen of Scots.

Glasgow's Motto
The Fish, the Bird, The Bell, The Tree. Glasgow's motto "Let Glasgow Flourish" was taken from one used earlier on the bell of the Tron Church cast in 1631. The jingle to go with it is:

Here's the tree that never grew,
Here's the bird that never flew,
Here's the bell that never rang,
Here's the fish that never swam.

Glasgow Cross
In the 15th century, this area was the oldest and most important part of Glasgow. This included, of course, the Cathedral and the original Glasgow University was established here, the second oldest in Scotland. The presence of the University led to overcrowding of lodging houses and caused the worst slums in Glasgow. In 1870 the present University was built in the cleaner area of Gilmorehill in the West End. Glasgow Cross also has the old Toll Booth where public executions took place. The wealthy Tobacco Lords conducted their business in the nearby streets. This is where Virginia Street gets its name, for example.

William Wallace battle in Glasgow
William Wallace, a great Scottish hero, was betrayed to the English by a man called Menteith and captured at a farm in Robroyston, Glasgow, in 1305. He was then imprisoned at Dumbarton Castle and finally taken to London where he was hanged, drawn and quartered. This incidentally is why we now have a Lake and not a Loch Menteith, as it was changed to the English name (Lake) because of Menteith’s act of betrayal towards his fellow countryman. You may have seen the film ('Braveheart') which starred Mel Gibson and told the story of William Wallace who fought the English to achieve freedom for Scotland. Thankfully, nowadays, we have a much friendlier relationship with our neighbours south of the border (well, most of the time).

Mary Queen of Scots and the Battle of Langside
This battle took place in Glasgow's south side which sealed Mary's fate as her forces capitulated to those of her half brother, the Protestant James Stewart. She escaped to England hoping for support from her cousin, Elizabeth 1st. Instead, Mary was locked up for 18 years and finally executed for her part in a plot against Elizabeth in 1587. Catholic Mary was obviously deemed far too much of a threat to the Protestant throne of England. Her son however, James VI/I (a Stuart) was reared as a Protestant and was crowned as the next King of England and Scotland, in 1603. This is known as "the Union of the Crowns". One of his first acts as King was to have the castle where his mother was executed demolished, and her body placed beside Elizabeth's in London’s Westminster Cathedral.

Places to visit in Glasgow include...
The Glasgow Art Gallery, The Modern Museum of Art, The Museum of Transport, Glasgow Cathedral, Provand's Lordship, The Museum of Religion, The Necropolis, Pollok House, The Burrell Collection, Glasgow University and the Hunterian Museum, Haggs Castle, Crookston Castle, Templeton Carpet Factory, the Botanic Gardens, People's Palace, The Barras, The Italian Centre and Princes Square.