Ian : Hello again, and the snow report is that there hasn't been any yet. Our street went white for a few minutes or so last week, but it was very small hail.

Last sunday we went to have a look at the Peoples Palace and the indoor winter garden in Glasgow Green on the east side of the city centre. The outside at least, because we we're running late for a BBC orchestra concert which Michael will tell you about in a tick.

Winter Gardens at the People's Palace

Michael: This is the restored Doulton fountain, recently relocated in front of the Peoples Palace on Glasgow Green. It is the largest terra-cotta fountain in the world and represents the four of the great conquests of the British Empire: India, Canada, Australia and South Africa. It was built for the Empire Exhibition that was held in 1888 at Kelvingrove Park, but was moved to Glasgow green quite soon after. You may remember our blog entry on visiting Kelvingrove Museum, which is located within Kelvingrove Park. This tableau represents Australia, complete with sheep and grain.

Nearby is the Templeton's carpet factory building ...

Ian: In other news, a rainbow erupted over the German market in city on Saturday, while we were there to sample more Geraman delights including Glühwein (German Mulled Wine). Mmmmmm... very warming on a cold winter day.

In Merchant city, near the Gallery of Modern Art, they've decided not to rely on the sky to provide the show ( and just as well ) but have hoisted there own stars up into the air. I must say, the lighting displays at Christmas here are beautifully simple and stunning !


Michael: We just got back from the last of the BBC SSO concerts entitled Reed between the Lines. The orchestra played Richard Strauss' Serenade in E flat, Op.7 (13 winds)and Mozart's Gran Partita. The quality of the playing was extraordinary. I'm sure we'll be back! The concert was held at the newly refurbished City Halls venue, an interesting combination of a very Victorian exterior with a modern concert hall inside. After the concert, we went along to Merchant Square for a snack at a Spanish tapas restaurant. Again, there was an excellent lighting show in the square. It seems they go all out with their christmas decorations in this country!

Ian : We had heard about New Lanark, a mill town created in 1786 near Lanark, south of Glasgow.


David Dale, a Scottish entrepreneur set up a cotton mills here on the bank of the Clyde river, together with housing for workers. However, it was his son-in-law Robert Owen, originally from Manchester who secured its future fame as a socialist utopia. He built a school for the children of the workers, had free visiting health care, paid workers a better wage and said children should be in school, not working. So much of his thinking was ahead of his time ! At the mill town there was a store which sold better quality produce at cheaper prices than in Lanark, where local merchants charged rip-off prices. That store was the start of the Co-operative movement around the world.
Anyway, there's more about him here - but after doing the tour of the cottages and school and learning about the rest of his life, I'm amazed there isn't a Robert Owen day!
A statue commemorates him in his native Manchester.


Looking back at the housing and facilities from this point in time, it's all a bit basic and harsh, but excellent by the standards of the period. Robert Owen went on to create a utopian community (with some others) in America, apparently not very successfully, but an ideal which was once again, ahead of it's time and showed his characteristic humanity.

Unfortunately the sun is quite low in the south at the moment casting long shadows.

Robert Owen's study

The kitchen in Robert Owen's house

Robert Owen

As well as New Lanark, we walked up the Clyde river past a hydro-electric station and a wide low falls, on to the bigger Falls of Clyde - and with the past two weeks of rain and drizzle, this was a gob-smacking sight - the amount of water is just mind blowing.

The Corra Linn waterfall (30m). There are three others that are together known as the Falls of Clyde

Near the falls is this building which was a Camera Obscura for the more genteel visitor to experience the wonders of new technology!

One thing about being in Europe I notice compared to Australia is the sheer number of vapour trails left by planes going over ! But this day, three going all to the west was almost like a meteor shower.

And finally, we may have mentioned earlier, how much the people of Glasgow love to shop, how any day you go into Buchanan street mall it's packed with shoppers - raining, cold, whatever ! I guess it explains why the tv ads I see with such monotonous frequency are from companies offering their services to get you out of debt. Going by the ads on tv, you'd think people in the U.K. are obsessed with insurance, sueing someone after falling over and getting someone to fix their huge debt problem. While the average personal debt bill of the U.K. citizen is going thru the roof, the government is welcoming internet gambling companies with open arms !

So, until next time, Keep y'selves NICE ! and keep those comments coming in !