Glasgow
can be a city of extremes. The name Glasgow means dear green place,
whilst conversly, Glasgow was built on industry. The River Clyde brought
imports and sent out exports. We built ships, we engineered, factories
rumbled and we were industrious. Many fantastic buildings were created,
monuments to the richness of the city, with great architects like McIntosh
and Greek-Thomson designing them. As time moves on, industries die,
and for a long time, to the outsider, the city seemed to be a shadow
of its former self, a reputation for being a grim, even grimy, city
was the hangover of so many years of industrial output. We still had
our parks, our dear green places, but the image to many people was of
a hard place, lots of rain, possibly quite bleak.
Over the past 20 years or so, there has been much urban
regeneration and the city, always a vibrant place, has changed almost
beyond recognition. We still have the same rain, but there has been
a real effort to improve the way the city looks, with buildings being
cleaned up and years of dirt washed away, older buildings being renovated
to find a new use and new buildings going up. I always find that when
wandering round the city centre, you look at the buildings that we have,
the ones you see every day and you think it's all very well, they look
nice enough, but it's when you look up, that you see the intricacy of
the architecture, and it's well worth the look. Great Sandstone buildings
and the tenements that give Glasgow a kind of identity, in the same
way Manchester has its red brick terraces.
These days, Glasgow is quite a European city in outlook
and style. We have great infrastructure for music and arts, something
that's always been there, but the age old school of thought that you
have to go to London to succeed doesn't hold water when you realise
that you can do it here. And bands have stayed based here and a better
infrastructure has evolved as a result. There are so many great places
to go and see, and by the way, the rumours are true, Glasgow hospitality
is the best in the world.
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