This is the organ of Glasgow University Chapel – the same chapel I explored the roof of recently. This was a visit by invitation. Continue reading →
May 07
Inchgreen is a large drydock in Port Glasgow, on the Firth of Clyde – built to handle the largest ships of the ’60s, it’s still owned by BAE Systems and used occasionally. There are three lovely big level-luffing cranes. I’ve climbed the Inchgreen cranes before, but I wasn’t entirely happy with the images I got shooting handheld, so kept meaning to go back.
Continue reading →
Inchgreen Drydock Cranes II
Inchgreen is a large drydock in Port Glasgow, on the Firth of Clyde – built to handle the largest ships of the ’60s, it’s still owned by BAE Systems and used occasionally. There are three lovely big level-luffing cranes. I’ve climbed the Inchgreen cranes before, but I wasn’t entirely happy with the images I got shooting handheld, so kept meaning to go back.
Continue reading →
Mar 26
University Chapel
Back again to Glasgow Uni, and this time an attempt on the main part that’s eluded me – the roof of the chapel.
That’s the chapel in the middle of the above picture. Built in memory of those from the University who died in WWI, it was dedicated in 1929, and designed by Sir George Burnet to blend in with the Gothic main building. Continue reading →
Feb 20
University Rooftops II
Glasgow University’s imposing Gothic main building stands on a hill in the West End, dominating views from all over the city. Designed by George Gilbert Scott and opened by Queen Victoria, at the time it was a move to a fresh leafy suburb from the university’s old location in the city centre.
Jan 31
Shakespeare Street School
Shakespeare Street School in Maryhill was built in 1915 as one of the new School Board schools to educate the masses – and clean them, it was well provided with showers for the grubby little tykes.
Jan 12
La Scala / ABC Cinema
Clydebank’s La Scala cinema opened in 1938 – seating 2,648, it was described as the pride of Clydebank, and survived the Clydebank Blitz unscathed.
Dec 31
Lochaline Silica Mine
Lochaline is a pretty wee village in, basically, the middle of nowhere – when you need to take a ferry and drive down 20 miles of singletrack to get somewhere, it’s very un-urban exploring!
Continue reading →
Dec 17
M8 Scaffolding
No idea why I didn’t report on this before – probably because it wasn’t all that exciting, but there were some decent views of the Mitchell Library, so here you go 
Nov 26
Barnton Quarry Bunker II
Barnton Quarry has had several lives – first it was a stone quarry of course, then in WWII it was the operations room for the Turnhouse sector of Fighter Command. After the war it was unused for a few years, then in 1952 a whole second bunker was built underground to turn it into a R4 ROTOR bunker – ROTOR was a radar early warning system. Abandoned again, it became a Regional Seat of Government (RSG) in the 1960s, where the Scottish government could hide in the event of nuclear war – a BBC studio was built where encouraging messages could be broadcast to the surviving population.
Nov 20
NISA / Chris Hoy Velodrome
The Commonwealth Games are coming to Glasgow in 2014, and as usual with these big things it means lots of construction – existing venues are being reused a lot, but we’re also getting a big new sports arena – the National Indoor Sports Arena and the Chris Hoy Velodrome. This was a visit from May.
