Tel:  0141 287 5108

Admission:  Free (but some events on the Green may be ticketed)

Opening hours:  The Green is open 24 hours per day

Check out what’s coming up in Glasgow Green

By far the oldest park in Glasgow, Glasgow Green is home to a number of big events each year, and to some of Glasgow’s most prominent historical landmarks.

Glasgow Green is situated within walking distance of the city centre, towards the east end of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde.  It has extensive open spaces, modern play facilities, and is home to the historic People’s Palace and Winter Gardens which allow the park to cater for all age groups whatever the weather.

History

Dating back to the 15th century, Glasgow Green is by far the oldest of the Glasgow’s parks.  The Green was initially created in 1450 when King James II granted the land to Bishop William Turnbull and the people of Glasgow, for use as common grazing ground which was it’s main use until the 19th century.  Back then the Green was quite different from what it is today, being an uneven swampy area composed of a number of “greens” including the High and Low Greens, the Calton Green and the Gallowgate Green.

The park served a number of purposes in its first few centuries; as a grazing area, an area to wash and bleach linen, an area to dry out fishing nets and for activities like swimming.  The city’s first steamie (or washhouse) opened on the banks of the Camlachie Burn in 1732.

Between 1817 and 1826, efforts were made to improve the layout of the park due to frequent flooding.  Much of the land was levelled and drained, and the Calmachie and Molendinar Burns (the latter of which is traditionally believed to be where St. Mungo baptised Christian converts in the sixth century) were both chanelled underground.  Most of the work was carried out by unemployed weavers, made redundant by the introduction of power looms.

In recent centuries, events have taken place on the ‘Green’ that continue to touch the lives of millions worldwide.  The following are just a few:

• 1732:  The Washhouse, Glasgow’s first ‘steamie’, is built in the middle of a field on the banks of the Camlachie Burn.
• 1745 – 1746:  Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) arrived in Glasgow with his army, their clothing in tatters.  Rather than have the city sacked, merchants provided them with new garments and a revitalised Prince Charles reviewed his troops on Flesher’s Haugh.
• 1831 – 1932:  Massive demonstrations on the Green associated with the Reform Bill.
• 1830 – 1914:  The Green became a favoured meeting place of suffragettes.
• 1867:  Hundreds of thousands met on the Green to hear about Gladstone’s Reform Bill.
• 1888:  Sir Henry Doulton donated a terracotta fountain to the city.  This was moved to the Green in 1890.
• 1889:  Templeton’s Carpet Factory completed.  The design of the façade is based on the Doges Palace in Venice. The façade collapsed on 1st November 1889 killing 29 women and girls.
• 1898:  The People’s Palace and Winter Gardens opened.
• 1920′s:  Football pitches and changing facilities appeared on Flesher’s Haugh.
• 1996:  Glasgow received Heritage Lottery Award of £6.6m towards the £10.2m capital cost of renewal and revitalisation of the Green.

Features

• The Doulton Fountain:  Moved to the Green in 1890 after the 1888 International Exhibition in Kelvingrove.  After a £5m refurbishment the fountain has been relocated to the front of the People’s Palace.
• The naval victories of Viscount Horatio Nelson are commemorated by the impressive grade A listed column erected by public subscription in 1806.  This was the first monument in Britain to be erected in his honour.
• The Collins Fountain:  Erected in 1881 by the temperance supporters of Sir William Collins.
• The McLennan Arch:  Designed by Robert and James Adam, the arch is a remodelling of the centre of the piano nobile of Robert and James Adam’s 1890 Assembly Rooms, Ingram Street, as a triumphal arch.  The building was demolished – and the arch was subsequently resited twice – the most recent being in 1992.
• Land and Environmental Services’ Park Rangers lead free tours of Glasgow Green.  To book a tour call 0141 287 5064

Facilities

• Play village (open 8.30 am – dusk)
• Local play area (open 8.30 am – dusk)
• Orienteering course – opens June 2004
• Clyde viewing platforms
• Heavy Horses:  stabled and exercised daily within the park
• People’s Palace and Winter Gardens
• Glasgow Green football centre
• Public toilets
• Public telephones

Events in the Park

The Green boasts a purpose built events space capable of holding major national and international events, all within walking distance of the city centre.  These include:

The Green is currently undergoing a renaissance with major investment through the Lottery Heritage Fund providing a catalyst for the redevelopment of the local neighbourhood.

Getting to Glasgow Green (View location on map)

• By train:  Glasgow Green is approximately 25 min walking time from Central Station and Queen Street Station. High Street and Bellgrove Stations are approximately a 10 min walk.
• By bus:  Various routes operate from the city centre
• By car:  Car parking is currently being redeveloped within the Green at the front of the Peoples Palace, access will be from Green Street and Greendyke Street. On street parking is also available on Greendyke street and car parks are located at Moir Street, Molendinar Street and High Street.
• By foot:  Access on foot is available via The Saltmarket at McLennan Arch, Greendyke Street, Monteith Row, Greenhead Street and Kings Drive, Adelphi Street via the St Andrews Suspension Bridge, Richmond Park via the Polmadie Bridge.
• By bike:  The park forms part of the Glasgow to Edinburgh Cycle Route, National Cycle Network Route 75.

Admission:  Free.

Opening hours:  All day, every day.  But be sensible about the times you visit the park.

Originally created at the West End Park in 1852, Kelvingrove Park is a classic example of a Victorian Park.

Glasgow’s first area of ‘common land’, used for clothes drying, sheep grazing, concerts, sports and political meetings through the centuries was Glasgow Green, in the heart of the City next to the River Clyde.  However, in the 1800′s, the foresighted Town Council of the time noticed the rapid expansion of the city, and purchased large areas of land which until then represented the Kelvingrove and Woodlands estates to be made into public parks.  The sum paid for the land was £99,569, the current equivalent of around £8 million.

The first park created was Kelvingrove, and was the first purpose designed and constructed park in Scotland.  As one of many Victorian parks created in response to the appalling conditions created by rapid urban growth, resulting from the industrial revolution, it rapidly became a considerable attraction.

Kelvingrove Park was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, the leading landscape designer of the time and head gardener at Chatsworth House, whose other works include The Crystal Palace in London.  He also designed the Crystal Palace in London.  Its design and setting on the banks of the River Kelvin enhance and compliment the magnificent buildings which surround it, such as those of Glasgow University, the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, and Park Circus.

Features

The Kelvingrove Park Heritage Trail comprises 35 points of interest within the park, including many of the features listed below.  It will take you approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to follow the Heritage Trail from Kelvingrove Museum to The Kelvinway Bridge.  Download the Kelvingrove Park Heritage Trail Map, and for more information about each feature of the trail you can also download the Heritage Trail Leaflet.

• The granite staircase near Park Gardens, 1854
• The Stewart Memorial Fountain, 1872:  built to commemorate Lord Provost Robert Stewart (1851-1854) and his achievement of providing the city with fresh water from Loch Katrine.
• The River Kelvin walkway: a peaceful natural haven within a densely populated area of the city, home to a diverse range of wildlife.  Some animals to look out for include the Grey Squirrel, Magpie, the Grey Heron, the Cormorant, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Redwing, Carrion Crow, Kingfisher, Mallard (Wild Duck), Goosander, Red Fox and Brown Rat.  The river also contains Brown Trout, Salmon and Sea Trout, and there have been sightings of otters in the past.
• Sunlight Cottages, 1901
• Statues of physicist Lord Kelvin, writer Thomas Carlyle, Field Marshall Lord Roberts and chemist Joseph Lister
• Bandstand and Amphitheatre, 1924
• Memorials to local regiments the Cameronians and the Highland Light Infantry
• The Honeyman Garden, 1972

Facilities

• Play areas for children
• Skateboard park
• Tennis Courts
• Croquet Green
• Bowling greens
• Park Ranger Information Centre:  located off  Kelvin Way, close to the tennis courts and bowling greens.
• Toilets
• Beautiful riverside walks
• Orienteering course
• Herbaceous borders
• Azalea and Rhododendron borders

How to get to Kelvingrove Park

• Underground:  Kelvinbridge Underground Station is a 5 minute walk.
• Train:  Charing Cross Rail Station is a 10 minute walk from the Park and Glasgow Central Station is approximately a 20 minute walk.
• Bus:  Various routes operate from the city centre to Sauchiehall Street.
• Car:  The Park can be accessed from the Clydeside Expressway following the signs for the Kelvin Hall, Museum and Art Gallery.  Parking is available at the Transport Museum and Art Galleries off Sauchiehall Street.
• Walking/Cycling:  Kelvingrove Park is a twenty-minute walk from the City Centre.  It also forms part of the Kelvin Walkway, which links with the Glasgow Loch Lomond Cycleway and the West Highland Way.

George Square

George Square
Glasgow
G1

Admission:  Free.

Opening hours:  All day, every day.

See what’s on in George Square

Named after King George III, George Square is Glasgow’s biggest and most famous central square.  Most celebrations including Christmas, New Year and St Andrews day will be celebrated in George Square in true Glasgow style.

George Square was laid out in 1781, part of James and Robert Adam’s emerging innovative Georgian central grid plan that initially spanned from Stockwell Street east to Buchanan Street.  For the first few years it was quite simply a muddy hollow, filled with dirty water and used for slaughtering horses.  But between 1787 and the 1820s, the square was gradually encased and lined with Georgian townhouses at its east and west ends, as well as hotels, and the square was a private garden for the surrounding townhouses.  By 1850 the surrounding area had become a centre for mercantile activity, with the Merchants House moving to the square in 1877, and after frequent disturbances and pulling down of railings by an angry and discontented mob the square became an established public space.

The square was named after George III, a statue of whom was originally intended to occupy the centre of the square.  But the chaos and concern caused to the city’s Tobacco Lords by the American War of Independence in 1776 and eventual British defeat in 1782, coupled with the King’s recurrent fits of madness had created mixed feelings toward him.  So the centre of George Square was instead used to commemorate Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish historical novelist and poet.  Notably, this was the first memorial to be dedicated to Sir Walter Scott.

Historically, the square has often been the scene of public meetings, political gatherings, riots, protests, celebrations, ceremonies, parades and concerts.  Perhaps the most famous was the Black Friday 1919 rally, when campaigners for improved working conditions (particularly protesting a 56 hour working week in many of the city’s factories) held an enormous rally, with at least 90,000 protesters filling the square and the surrounding streets.  But more recently, George Square has also been home to various protests and meetings, including protests against the Poll Tax and Iraq War, and it is also home to the annual Remembrance Day parades.

The square has also become the venue for Glasgow’s massive Christmas and Hogmanay celebrations (see photos below), and is the meeting point for many other events including the annual “Santa Dash”, 10k and half marathon runs.

Christmas lights at George Square	Glasgow’s Hogmanay at George Square

Sights within George Square

George Square is centred around a 24 metre high column features the statue of author Sir Walter Scott, erected in 1837.  The eastern side of the square is the site of the city’s Cenotaph, designed by JJ Burnet and originally built to commemorate Glaswegians killed in the First World War when it was erected in 1922 by the Earl Haig Fund.  Many of Glasgow’s public statues are situated around the square and include memorials to poets Robert Burns and Thomas Campbell, inventor James Watt, chemist Thomas Graham, generals Sir John Moore, Lord Clyde and politicians William Gladstone and Robert Peel, plus the only known equestrian statues of a young Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert.

Sights bordering George Square

You will find Glasgow’s main Tourist Information Centre on the south side of the square, adjacent to the former General Post Office (1878).  The east side of the square is dominated by the beautiful and ornamental Glasgow City Chambers building (1888), headquarters of Glasgow City Council.  To the North side of George Square you will find Queen Street Station, the Millenium Hotel (formerly the North British Railway Hotel), both of which date from the1840s, and the offices of Ernst & Young, which date from the 1970s.  Queen Street borders the square’s West side, and features Glasgow’s Chambers of Commerce building (1874), which was designed by John Burnet.  In 1907 two storeys were added by JJ Burnet, and these are topped by a domed tower on which is perched a ship on a globe; a reminder of the significance and importance of sea trade to Glasgow’s prosperity.