the people's palace

There's a public space in Glasgow  called Glasgow Green, on which stands the People's Palace. It's a museum of the population of Glasgow , warts and all.

The area was gifted to the people of the city in 1450's.

This is what Glasgow used to look like.

As is common these days, the population had no teeth and were drunk most of the time.

This is the image that modern Glasgow lives to portray.

This is the Hydro concert hall.

I kill somebody in the burger queue   here in my new book.

I grew up  in an old tenement, vertical villages some social philosopher called them.

Our close was quite posh but not as posh  as to have tiles like these.

Imagine walking into  the hall of your flats and the walls were coloured as brightly as this.

The floors were often highly polished marble.

There were many more, not as posh as these.

The tenements were pulled down and replaced by these high rise.

Many of those have now been pulled down.

Probably the site of an early football match.

There's not a lot to do in Glasgow so we amuse ourselves by cultural activity like this.

PS winter started on Monday.

The masses of Glasgow all had their holidays at the same time, when the shipyards closed. It was called the fair fortnight- 'The Glasgow Fair'.

It still starts the first Tuesday after the second Saturday in July.

Or is it the first Saturday after the second Tuesday in July.

Something like that.

They'd all get on a steamer and sail down the Clyde.

Usually to Dunoon or Rothesay.

Where they'd don attire like this. 

Before the notorious Barlinnie Prison, ( the BarL)

Glasgow's main prison was Duke Street. 

 As you see here, many naughty Glaswegians were transported to America!  Crimes included housebreaking  which is what we call burglary.

This used to ring for executions.

House breaking could carry the death penalty.

Weirdly, this bell has a small red robin on the top.

The long list of men and women hanged for murder and housebreaking.

The museum has a very large section given to the Glaswegian obsession with drinking.

I found this barrow from Govan!

Here is one in action, I think this could come into some use at Bouchercon.

And this is a little Paisley joke, as the river through Paisley is The Cart, where Black Cart Water meets White Cart Water.

I suppose this is comfortable if you have had a complete skinful.

I wrote this on Thursday, so there was no point in having any political content as it would have changed by tomorrow.... I despair.

Caro Ramsay
A European 06 09 19