HYDERABAD: Glasgow is a city of surprises where each turn can bring a new discovery. One of the best ways to experience the city’s diversity is through its different neighbourhoods. From the fashionable West End to the leafy Southside, from Finnieston to the historical Merchant City, Glasgow’s neighbourhoods are a great way of getting under the skin of the city and discovering your own hidden gems on the way. To explore any city, walking is the best mode hence I took a walking tour of Glasgow with the guide, Jean Napoli.
Glasgow’s Street Art
I asked Jean to show me Glasgow’s street art: whichever city I visit, I like to see at least a few of their murals, just to get the pulse of the place. At the onset we spotted Rogue One’s “Hip-Hop Marionettes” (John Street), that added a splash of colour and humour to the otherwise plain brickwork of a building. Another imaginative image from Rogue One and Art Pistol, “Wind Power”, which can be found on Mitchell Street, celebrates the diversity of sustainable energy production in Scotland. Then there was this huge mural – “Strathclyde University Wonderwall” covering more than 1,000 square metres and several stories.
Smug (Sam Bates), an Australian street artist based in Glasgow, has transformed many a bleak wall in Glasgow: his high-quality murals demonstrate a photo-realistic style. The most striking is a couple of murals: one depicts the patron saint of Glasgow - St Mungo appearing to be breastfed by his mother, St Enoch, while a robin, said to signify one of his later miracles – perches on her wrist. This tender and detailed mural, St Enoch cradling her beloved child St Mungo at the corner of High Street and George Street, is a contemporary interpretation of the city’s founding story. The other mural on High Street portrays St Mungo in modern day clothes holding a robin. The robin alludes to one of St Mungo’s miracles when, as a child he brought the bird back to life. What we see here is Mungo and the robin in the modern context. We came across one more of Smug’s murals that represents Scottish wildlife: it is too huge and can’t be captured in one frame.
The Necropolis
I don’t know how many people will be interested in visiting a cemetery, but some of them are exceptionally stunning like the one I have seen in Zagreb, Croatia. Glasgow’s Necropolis has been described as a unique representation of Victorian Glasgow, built when Glasgow was the second city of the Empire. It reflects the feeling of confidence and wealth and security of the time. It is a memorial to the merchant patriarchs of the city with monuments designed by leading local architects and executed by expert masons and sculptors who contributed ornate and sculptural detail of the finest quality. It remains one of the most significant cemeteries in Europe, exceptional in its townscape, its symbolic relationship to Glasgow Cathedral and the medieval heart of the city. In common with other Victorian cemeteries, it was designed as a botanic and sculpture garden to improve the morals and tastes of Glaswegians and act as a historical record of past greatness. Jean said the details of the 50,000 plus interred members of Glasgow Necropolis are recorded in the Mitchell Library’s archives.
We stopped at the grave of William Miller, known as the “Laureate of the Nursery” and the man who coined the popular nursery rhyme – ‘Wee Willie Winkie’. He turned a poet when he gave up his career as a surgeon and turned a cabinetmaker. During this time he wrote poems, which were later, published in multiple languages, gaining Miller fame during his lifetime. I whispered one of my favourite rhymes, “Wee Willie Winkie” paying a silent tribute. I saw an old lady as she walked: the fallen leaves rustled under her calculated steps and the pigeons fluttered perching on the high wall.
The Glasgow Cathedral
As we walked along, the beautiful façade of St Mungo’s Cathedral came into view. The oldest cathedral in Scotland, this most ancient building in Glasgow is at the top of High Street, immediately neighbouring the Necropolis. A massive edifice, the Glasgow Cathedral is some 285 ft long, 63 ft wide, and the nave roof is 105 ft high. One of the few Scottish medieval churches to have survived the Reformation unscathed, it is truly magnificent, full of beauty and spectacle. The history of the cathedral is linked with that of the city and is said to be located where the patron saint of Glasgow, St Mungo built his church: the tomb of the saint is in the lower crypt. The Cathedral has one of the finest post-war collections of stained glass windows to be found in Britain. The most arresting among them is the beautiful “Millennium Window”, one of the most technically demanding stained glass windows ever produced: a range of complex traditional techniques was employed including multiple layer etching, painting and silver staining resulting in a highly distinctive symphony of multiple shades of blue.
As I sat still, watching the different hues of blue playing with light on the Millennium Window, the notes of the choir rose to the high nave roof and filled the cathedral of Mungo.
Fact file:
www.visitbritain.com
www.visitscotland.com
(The author is a documentary filmmaker and travel writer; she blogs at vijayaprataptravelandbeyond.com)