Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

This evening, I am presenting some images of Glasgow’s Southern Necropolis.

This is located close to the Gorbals area and is home to the last resting place of some 250,000 deceased in a space of some 21 acres.

The site was opened in 1840.

A fascinating pace with grave markers recording wealthy citizens of what was then an upscale area.

Winter view towards Hutchesontown and Glasgow City

View of the cemetery looking towards the Gorbals

Avenue of trees with view to the entrance and high rise block behind. Ancient and modern!

Formal entrance to cemetery. It is possible to drive a car through the entrance and around the site.

This site is a ‘must’ for visitors wishing to get an understanding of the people and history of the Gorbals and Hutchesontown.

This evening, I have finally been successful in uploading some images of my recent visit to the Gorbals district of Glasgow. Historically, the name ‘Gorbals’ has been synonymous with extreme social deprivation but the area has now been transformed, certainly in terms of its housing conditions for what remains a local income area.

Here is one of the few remaining old tenement ( apartment) buildings for which the Gorbals was notorious.

This is a street sculpture named the ‘Gorbals Boys’ by Liz Peden and dates from Aug 29th 2008. The statues are named Joe, Nicky and Lee.

This is the entrance to the Southern Necropolis which holds the remains of wealthy citizens dating form the 18th and 19th centuries when this part of Glasgow was considered ‘upscale’. Some of the memorials have been vandalised, albeit in the past, which adds a somewhat eerie tone to the the place, especially in the evenings. Would make a good film set for a horror movie!

Here is an example of some modern architecture at the junction of Caledonia Road and Laurieston Road. I find this very impressive and stylish.

This is ‘Greek’ Thomson’s Caledonia Road Church dating from 1856-7 and is a building of national importance. It was gutted by fire in 1965. Interestingly, Thomson is buried just a few hundred yards (meters) away in the Southern Necropolis.

Here is a street scene showing the pub with tower blocks (social housing) in the distance.

This is a former church on Pollockshaws Road which is now used as a hostel for the homeless.

Here is the Brazen Head Pub at 1-3 Cathcart Road. This is patronised by Celtic supporters.

More Gorbals images and comment tomorrow.

This morning I undertook a tour of the Gorbals area of Glasgow, an area formerly notorious for poor housing and social problems. However, the area has since been transformed and now boast a very interesting selection of architecture.

I have lots of images to post, but regrettably, there seem to be technical problems with blogger.com tonight as a function of which it has taken about 1 hour to get just one image posted.

This is of the Gorbals Parish Church (Church of Scotland) located at 5 Cumberland Street.

Hopefully, Google will allow me to post a wider selection of images tomorrow.