Summer 2010 Recap
The second year of Photos from Glasgow University has started, and with it came a few changes, such as larger photos, a simpler theme, and attempts to streamline the captions. Feedback on the changes and the new look would be much appreciated.
The poll for the last three months was a simple question: Where are you from? There were 65 answers, which were quite well spread out. Scotland, not too surprisingly, came out on top with 20 entries, followed by the United States (with 5), England and India (with 4), and Canada, Finland, Germany, and N. Ireland (with 3).
The only real surprises were that no one said Ireland or Wales, and I’ve never heard of a country called Marvelous.
Moving on, you might have noticed that there have been a few technical difficulties with posting photos on a daily basis. In other words, my laptop decided to go on strike, refusing to turn on, as well as being incredibly slow and lazy, taking about a day and a half to open even a single image file, having been getting progressively worse since February or March. Please bear with me while I claw through these temporary difficulties and get every the blog up to date and up to speed. Which I guess means I need a new laptop soon. Oh well.
The poll for the next two months is as follows:
What societies have you been a member of at Glasgow University?
The poll only includes a small sampling of different societies around campus, one per letter of the alphabet where possible. If there’s a society that you have been a member of that isn’t on the list, go right ahead and enter it in the Other section at the bottom of the poll. There’s no limit to how many societies you can enter, so go ahead and enter every single one that you’ve ever been a member of.
Below, as per usual, are the thumbnails from the past three months. Which one was your favourite? Least favourite?
June 2010
![June 13th: U is for... University Avenue [ABC Sundae]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1140/4598365693_c6ed0e15f0_s.jpg)
![June 27th: V is for... Via Veritas Vita [ABC Sundae]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/4174077537_75116a3cd2_s.jpg)
July 2010
![July 11th: W is for... Weddings at the University [ABC Sundae]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4577561967_6f55bc6ab8_s.jpg)
August 2010
![August 8th: Y is for... Young Elephant [ABC Sundae]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4984452561_a405855c88_s.jpg)
![August 22nd: Z is for... Zoology [ABC Sundae]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4893109985_021defd4f2_s.jpg)
Kelvin Building of Physics and Astronomy
From the mid-1940s there was a a dedicated effort by the Principal at the time, Sir Hector Hetherington, to establish the Natural Philosophy Department at the University of Glasgow as one of the foremost Physics Departments in the United Kingdom. With three phases of extension to the original Kelvin Building (built in 1907), which were completed in 1954, 1959 and 1966, the goal was essentially achieved as currently the School of Physics and Astronomy is one of the leading schools in its field in the UK.
One of the items installed in the building during this time was quite helpful in building up the University’s reputation in the field: an electron synchrotron, an important piece of equipment used in the study of particle physics, and the first one in Europe. Imagine the synchrotron in the Kelvin Building as a very early, and very small version of the Large Hadron Collider. (I’m not a physics student, so if someone understands synchrotrons better, please leave a comment about what it does and why it matters. It’s also one of the many things in the Kelvin Building I really want to find and photograph.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Dual Spires
As seen from University Avenue, the two main spires at the University of Glasgow. The only other spire of note that you can find is on the Pearce Lodge, as well as very small ones on the John McIntyre Building, the Graham Kerr Building and the West Medical Building. (Did I forget any spires around campus?) The notable thing around campus is that of the three churches along University Avenue (the Wellington Church, Gilmorehill Centre and the Sir Charles Wilson Building), not a single one of them has a spire.
The white spire on the Memorial Chapel, as I mentioned a few weeks back, has an identical twin on High Street, close to where the University of Glasgow began in 1451. The Barony Church, across the street from the Glasgow Cathedral and built some 30 years before the Memorial Chapel at the University of Glasgow, incorporates an identical spire. The real connection and reason for why they’re identical that I can find is one of the architects for the Barony Church, John James Burnet, was also one of the architects who designed the Memorial Chapel. Interestingly, Barony Church also has a university connection, although not to the University of Glasgow: it is used as a ceremonial hall for the University of Strathclyde.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Parking in the Gardens
One of the many random ways of entertaining yourself while wasting time between lectures or waiting for a friend who’s always late to arrive is following the traffic on University Gardens. No, seriously, bare with me here. There are always a large number of cars parked on the one-way Victorian-era loop, which obviously hadn’t been designed with modern cars in mind, and the tight bend outside the Queen Margaret Union can be tricky for larger vehicles. So, with people with varying parking skills and vehicles of many different sizes using the road amongst hundreds of students scurrying off to lectures, the odd traffic jam can be somewhat entertaining. Unfortunately the bit between the QMU and the Maths Building can be opened to allow larger vehicles to pass from University Gardens to Lilybank Gardens.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Murano Street from Gilmorehill
Around a thousand Freshers will call this their home for their first year at the University of Glasgow. The light sand-coloured buildings that make up the Murano Street Student Village in Firhill is the largest concentration of Glasgow University student in the city, but it’s by no means the only one. There’s also the catered Wolfson Hall up in Garscube, the relatively new Queen Margaret Residences in Kelvinside and the combination of Cairncross House and Kelvinhaugh Street in Kelvinhaugh close to the Clyde, with Maclay Residences quite close by.
I never stayed at any of the Student Halls of Residence in first year, but in Student Flats on Great George Street (the difference being that I didn’t have to share with anyone I didn’t know beforehand), so I can’t recount any really crazy stories of first year in halls, stories which most people who have had this experience will have a number of. If you want to share some of those stories with everyone else, please leave a comment below this post.
The above photo was taken from the Special Collections on the 12th floor of the University Library. Murano Street is actually a lot further from the University than the photo might make it seem, because I had to zoom in to actually find it. The unzoomed view from the 12th floor has been posted before, which you find here.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Courtyard of Links
The innards of the Wolfson Building, the West Medical School Building and the Davidson Building are all connected, quite interestingly in a few places, such as above. The building on the left is the older Wolfson Building and the one on the right is a part of the newer Davidson Building. The Wolfson Building is sometimes presented as the Wolfson Link Building, which is in keeping with the way they’re all linked on the inside. Even the little cafe in the Wolfson Building, located just to the left and behind of where I took this photo, is called the Links Café. The area where the above photo was taken is known as the Courtyard.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Autumn Colours in the Spring
Although the colours of the leaves, this photo was not taken in the autumn, but rather in May. In the fall the two larger trees outside Adam Smith Building (which is slightly visible between the trees above) seemingly don’t follow the rules set by nature but rather make up their own as they grow. The colours in the photo above are the natural colours, with no editing, although the street lamp next to them might be boosting the colours a little bit.
I haven’t really featured the nature around Gilmorehill before, at least not much. Do you know of any other interesting trees or bushes or flowers or any other interesting bits of nature around campus?
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Roond Cludgie
The round wooden centrepiece of the Round Reading Room (where pretty much everything is round) features a small staircase to another floor and beyond, to the toilets. Yeah, glamorous, isn’t it? Apparently there’s also a study room down there, but in posting this I realized that I’ve never actually gone down those stairs. At one point I was thinking of all the different places around campus which I want to feature, for example as many lecture theatres and cafes and libraries I can get around to photographing. Toilets? Should they be included in this list?
I don’t know why I decided to title this post in Scots, but it sounded better than “Round Toilets”. If the translation is wrong, blame online translators, and my ineptitude, of course.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Inside the Orbicular Building
A slightly HDR-esque view from inside the Round Reading Room, which is no longer really a reading room, but rather a an interesting circular array of computers and desks. Built in 1939, the listing building on University Avenue is really quite remarkable, filled with little bits of interesting detail and decoration everywhere. The best thing about the Round Reading Room (or the McMillan Reading Room, as it used to be called, or is officially known as) is that it is still a relatively unknown entity, as you’re pretty likely to find a free computer there during the week, when the University Library is absolutely packed. The round bit this the middle of the building will be featured tomorrow. Any idea what it could be?
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
From the Adam Smith Building to the Tower
Another one of my very old photos (October 2008) from the first few months I spend at Glasgow University. I quite like this one because is does demonstrate, in a way, how much architectural styles have changed in a few hundred years, from University Gardens (early half of the 1800s) to the Gilbert Scott Building (1870s) to the Adam Smith Building (1960s). Not exactly a commendable or pleasing change in that hundred years, it it?
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Z is for… Zoology [ABC Sundae]
![Z is for... Zoology [ABC Sundae]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4893109985_021defd4f2_z.jpg)
The Hunterian Museum‘s zoological collections are one of the “hidden” museums around campus (the Anatomy Museum in the Thompson Building is probably the most elusive one). Hidden in the Graham Kerr Building since 1923, the Zoology Museum is packed full of a large variety of animal life (dead and alive), and also includes areas for teaching and studying.
The original specimens in the zoological collections come from the private collections of William Hunter and were mostly composed of shells, insects and corals. The collections have been substantially extended over the years. The insect collections are especially extensive, with drawers upon drawers upon display cabinets full of insects and invertebrates, again both dead and alive. When I say extensive, I mean extensive, because some 90% of the roughly 600,000 specimens in the Zoology Museum are insect specimens.
It’s well worth an elongated visit, as there really is a wealth of stuff to see. I’ve paid the museum three visits so far and only on the third visit did I notice that there are live specimens in some of the display cases (except for the iguana at the entrance to the museum, which is quite hard to miss. Wait, was it two iguanas? I forget.), as well as dead insects in the pull-out drawers.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
University Avenue
I was just wondering the other day when the last time was that the street signs along University Avenue were painted. Everyone of them looks slightly worn and weathered. A little bit, not much. Just something that caught my eye. The little things always seem to slip through the cracks, don’t they? (Instead of being worn, the street signs also might have just been painted quite hastily.)
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Students in the Sun
Just to balance out this week’s posts, especially with the unorthodoxly (I know that’s not a word) wintery photo I posted yesterday, here’s a view of the green area outside the Fraser Building from March last year, one of the first sunny warm days of that year. If there’s one area around campus which is packed pretty much every single sunny and warm day during term time, this is that spot. There are a few other green spots around campus, although never as packed as the above. The large green area at Lilybank Gardens is rarely packed with people, for instance.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Snowy University of Glasgow
I was wondering what would be the most random photo I could post at the end of the summer, and what could be more out of place than a view of the University Tower and the back of the buildings on the north side of University Gardens, during winter? I do hope at least one of the two remaining winters I have left in Glasgow will be nice and white, with plenty of snow.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
White Spire
Undoubtedly you’ve spotted this white spire on the War Memorial Chapel within the Gilbert Scott Building at the University of Glasgow. It kinda sticks out amongst the sandstone that the Gilbert Scott Building and the adjoining buildings are made out of. Now, here’s a question: there is at least one identical spire somewhere in Glasgow, do you know where? You might have spotted if you’ve been touristing it up around Glasgow, especially at that spire also kinda sticks out from its surroundings. One day I’ll reveal the answer in the comments section below.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
The Unicorn on the Staircase
Almost 60 years after the Lion and Unicorn Staircase had been moved from the Old College to Gilmorehill in 1870, the construction of the War Memorial Chapel, which enclosed the West Quadrangle within the Gilbert Scott Building, also significantly altered the Lion and Unicorn Staircase for the first time since 1690. At the Old College on High Street and similarly on Gilmorehill, the staircase turned right at its middle landing, but as the Chapel was constructed the staircase was altered to turn left, as you can see in Monday’s photo.
In addition, other new facilities were added on both sides of the Chapel, as well as underneath it. The staircase at the north-west corner of the Gilbert Scott Building was removed, and new rooms were added, notably the Fore Hall (note to self, find Fore Hall and photograph it). At the top of the centuries old staircase is the Chaplaincy and the Department of Accounting and Finance, which can also be accessed from the West Quadrangle.
The first two parts of this tiny little mini-series on the Lion and Unicorn Staircase can be found here and here. I’ve featured and written about what the Unicorn stands for as recently as last June, so there’s no need to repeat what has been said before. The previous post is here.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
The Lion on the Staircase
Today the 320-year old Lion and Unicorn Staircase is located in The Square, attached to the Gilbert Scott Building by the Chapel. The Principal’s Lodging is just at the foot of the staircase. There have been a few changes to the staircase since 1872, including some restoration work and for some time recently the Unicorn and the Lion were enclosed in wooden boxes to protect them (I presume). The most significant change to the staircase came when the Chapel on the western side of the Gilbert Scott Building was built in 1929.
When the Gilbert Scott Building was constructed in 1870, the West Quadrangle was open to what was then Professors’ Square, a landscaped garden with two staircases leading into the Gilbert Scott Building, one at the north-west corner, and the Lion and Unicorn Staircase at the south-west corner. It was through these two staircases that professors of the University would use to enter the Main Building. So, what was the significant change to this staircase in 1929? The story, which began yesterday, continues tomorrow.
The meaning of the Lion has been featured before, and you can find that post here.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
The Lion and Unicorn Staircase
On this day in 1690, the Lion and Unicorn Staircase was completed at the Old College of the University of Glasgow. The staircase itself already existed, but a mason was hired in the summer of 1690 to erect the stone balusters and the figurines of the lion and the unicorn on the stairs. The stairs led from the Outer Court to the Fore Common Hall and the Principal’s Residence. When the University moved its campus from High Street to its current location on Gilmorehill in the 1870s, several aspects of the Old College were moved brick by brick across the city and are now incorporated into the Pearce Lodge and the Gilbert Scott Building. As such, these are the two oldest parts of the University. More on the Lion and Unicorn Staircase tomorrow.
More “On This Day” entries can be found on Glasgow University Story website at universitystory.gla.ac.uk, maintained by the Archive Services. Information also from University Story site.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
From the Highland Light Infantry Memorial to the Tower
Another view of the University of Glasgow, from behind the Highland Light Infantry Memorial in Kelvingrove Park. The soldier atop the plinth, which was erected in 1906, looks on across the Prince of Wales Bridge, towards the Monument to Thomas Carlyle and the University of Glasgow. The bronze letters on the statue reads: TO THE MEMORY OF THE OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY WHO FELL IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 1900-01-02. ERECTED BY COMRADES AND FRIENDS. The other side of the plinth recounts the names of the fallen.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
From Byres Road to the Tower
Going through some of my older photos, I remembered that this particular view was my very first proper look at the University of Glasgow, when I came to the city in April 2008 for Open Day, in an attempt to decide which of the three Universities in Scotland I had been accepted into would be my home for the next four years. Needless to say, but after walking from this end of University Avenue to the other, I had made my decision and never gave Dundee or Aberdeen another thought. The above photo, taken at a later date, is from the corner of Byres Road and University Avenue.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
From Kelvingrove’s St Mungo to the Tower
Continuining with the theme of different views of the University, here’s a view of the Tower from behind the statue of St Mungo which sits above the north entrance to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The statue, which depicts St Mungo with a female figure on both sides, is called St Mungo as the Patron of Arts and Music, and dates from 1900. The figures on the sides, facing away from St Mungo, are associated with the Liberal Arts, as the figure on the right (when looking at the statue) is holding a portable organ, and the one on the left, partially pictured above, is holding an open book. And no, St Mungo is not trying to grab her head, it just looks like that because of the angle of the shot.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
From the Stewart Memorial Fountain to the Tower
An different view of the University Tower, from the Stewart Memorial Fountain in Kelvingrove Park. Must go attempt this shot again one day, and at the time my only camera was a cellphone (5mp N95, so not the crappiest cameraphone around back then).
The fountain was erected in 1872, to commemorate Lord Provost Stewart of Murdostoun, who was instrumental in the delivery of Glasgow’s fresh water supply system from Loch Katrine, a bit north of Loch Lomond. The granite, sandstone, marble and bronze fountain was extensively restored in the late 1980s after years of neglect and disuse, after which it was vandalized and closed down. After been closed again for restoration, the fountain opened again last October.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
From Partick Bridge to the Tower
One of the most popular photos of the University of Glasgow is the above view of the University Tower from Partick Bridge, especially on a nice sunny day. I must admit that I too have way too many photos of this postcard view, although I am still missing a very autumny one and a wintery one. The reason I’m posting this photo is because I’ve been digging through my archives of photos and I’ve found a bunch of different interesting views of the University Tower, which I’ll post some of in the coming days.
In case you’ve ever wondered, the ivy-clad bridge next to Partick Bridge is the original Old Partick Bridge. Built around 1800, it is now known as the Snow Bridge, and is one of the oldest surviving river crossing at the southern end of the River Kelvin. Yes, there’s actually a cream sandstone arched bridge underneath all that overgrowth. The bridge was deemed unsuitable for the new tram network which was put in place in the 1870s and Partick Bridge was built to replace it in 1878. Snow Bridge remains today as a footbridge. Apparently the name “Snow Bridge” comes from the fact that the central portions of the railings could be opened to allow cleared snow to be dumped in the river.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
Monkey-Puzzle Tree
You’ve probably walked past this tree several times if you’ve ever been at Glasgow University, and perhaps thought to yourself “that’s an odd-looking tree”. Right between the Main Gate and The Square is a Monkey-Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana). The name comes from the 19th century when it was cultivated and one owner is said to have remarked “it would puzzle a monkey to climb that”. The tree is native to parts of Chile and Argentina.
More information on monkey-puzzle trees on Wikipedia.
[Summer 2010 Poll: Where Are You From?] Click on the photo above for a larger version. Please rate the photo below! © 2010 GlasgowUniPhoto.com
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