Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

Tall Ship 'Glenlee' at Glasgow

This evening, I am focusing on one of Glasgow’s visitor atrractions, namely the Tall Ship ‘Glenlee‘ which is now moored on the River Clyde  close to the new Riverside (Transport) Museum. 

The Glenlee was built in Port Glasgow in 1896, just a few miles away from its current moorings. Here are some important facts and figures relating to the ship:

• Length 74.4m, Beam 11.4m and Depth 6.8m.
• Gross tonnage: 1613 tons.
• Cargo capacity: 2,600 tons.
• Orignally named Glenlee but renamed Islamount i 1899.
• Employed as a cargo vessel under the British flag until 1919 when sold to an Italian company and renamed Clarastella.
• Completed four circumnavigations of the world.
• Acquired by Spanish Navy in 1922 for sail training purposes and renamed Galatea.
• Acquired by Clyde maritime Trust in 1992 and returned to the Clyde.
• Restored and opened to the public in 1999.

It is appropriate that this Clyde built vessel should find a final home on the Clyde and allow visitors to connect with the city’s long ship-building tradition.

A selection of images are provided below.

Wheel, Glenlee, Glasgow

Crew's Quarters, Glenlee, Glasgow

Masts and Rigging, Glenlee, Glasgow

Hospital, Glenlee, Glasgow

Between Decks, Glenlee, Glasgow

Captain's Cabin, Glenlee, Glasgow

Main Hold, Glenlee, Glasgow

To sum up, this ship is a worthwhile visitor atrraction with added benefit of good views of Glasgow and the River Clyde.

This morning, I collected my tour group from the Queen Elizabeth at Greenock, Firth of Clyde and then proceeded as follows:

First to Bearsden Roman Bath House. This was connected with a nearby fort on the Antonine Wall which dates from around AD 142.

Roman Bath House, Bearsden, Glasgow

Next, we arrived at Auchentoshan Distillery where we availed of a one hour tour learning all about the malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation processes relating to Scotch whisky.

Distilling Whisky at Achentoshan Distillery, Glasgow

Maturing Whisky Casks at Auchentoshan Distillery, Glasgow

Auchentoshan Distillery, Glasgow, Scotland

Next to the impressive Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, one of the top such establishments in Europe and which houses some 8,000 exhibits ranging from ancient Egypt to old masters to fossils to engineering.

Kelvingrove Museuam and Art Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland

Here is an image of James Watt’s steam engine. This was transformational as the technology powered the Industrial Revolution. James Watt hailed from Glasgow.

 Next we travelled down to Pacific Quay to view the River Clyde in context of the local architecture and bridges. View included the Clyde Auditorium or ‘Armadilllo’, Science Centre, and ‘Squinty’ Bridge.

River Clyde at Glasgow, Scotland

 Next to visit Glasgow’s 13th century Cathedral. We were fortunate to engage the services of an excellent and expert Cathedral guide who, in the course of an hour’s tour, explained all facets of this important and historic building which sits on a site of Christian worship dating back to around the 6th century AD.

Inside Glasgow Cathedral, Scotland

Next, we walked across the road to visit Provand’s Lordship. This is Glasgow’s oldest house dating back to the 15thcentury and was originally part of the buildings associated with the Cathedral administration.

Provand's Lordship, Glasgow, Scotland

Our final visit was to Newark Castle which sits on the banks of the Clyde in Port Glasgow. This was connected with Maxwell family and dates from the 15th century. A programme of restoration was underway durig our visit. However, we still maanged to viist the key aspects of the interior. 

Newark Castle, Port Glasgow, Scotland

 Finally, we returned to Greenockat around 4.30pm, in time to connect with the cruise ship’s departure schedule.

Overall, a good tour but weather was indifferent with prolonged spells of rain.

River Clyde at Greenock, Glasgow

This evening, I am focusing on the River Clyde, west of Scotland. This river rises in the Lowther Hills in South Lanarkshire and runs for 106 miles, passing the city of Glasgow and into the sea past Greenock.

This river was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, particularly shipbuilding, During the 19th and 20th centuries some 35,000 vessels were built on and around the river in the Glasgow area. Although civilian ship building is almost finished military shipbuilding continues to prosper with orders for aircraft carriers in process.

Today, the Clyde is quite clean and perhaps best known for leisure and sporting activities.

Image at top of this post was taken from site of a Roman fortlet dating from the 2nd Century AD.

Here is the Clyde in central Glasgow showing the Finnieston Crane, a memory of shipbuilding in the area. continue reading…