Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 26 on 21/04/2006.

This article is 27 months old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.

Riverside city (Glasgow)

Glasgow has long been a city worth seeing. But now, says Rob Allanson, it’s making use of its past and focusing its appeal on the Clyde

There is no real excuse to go to Scotland, visit Edinburgh and not slip out to the west and visit the jewel of the Clyde.

Glasgow, for many, is considered Scotland’s premier city to visit and take a longer holiday than a day trip.

Edinburgh has its government, coronets, crowns, castle and grey winding streets; but Glasgow is really the nation’s powerhouse.

The mighty Clyde bisecting it, the city has always been seen as the industrious neighbour to Edinburgh providing a home for shipbuilding and heavy industry.

If you find yourself on Clydeside in July, you will be able to take part in one of Glasgow’s newest festivals – The Glasgow River Festival.

The Clyde yards built ships of all sizes, helping to put Glasgow on the international map as the ‘second city of the Empire’ in the 19th century.

John Brown’s yard in Clydebank built three of the world’s most famous liners: the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Elizabeth II (QE2). From 1870 until the start of World War I, Glasgow produced an estimated 20 per cent of the world’s ships.

Glasgow also built around a quarter of all the locomotives in use anywhere in the world.

The locomotives were exported by ship all over the world, and a massive crane, able to lift 175 tons, was built in 1931 on Stobcross Quay for the job of loading them onto ships.

This crane, once known as the Stobcross Crane, is now known as the Finnieston Crane. It’s still in use today and is one of Glasgow’s best-known landmarks – look out for it .....

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By Rob Allanson

Section : Regional Focus

Page number : 33