The King's Stones, Glasgow's Celtic & Viking Past

Govan is a slightly down at the heels, working class Glasgow neighborhood, but once it was the seat of power for the kings of Strathclyde. The southside community hugging the river was the region’s most important Christian stronghold in the 6^th century. As Viking conquerors ousted the Celts, they established their own holy sites and they left behind remarkable vestiges of their culture. The Govan Old Church was built in 1888 over the Vikings’ church and burial site. Archeological digs unearthed 31 intricately carved monuments from the 9–11^th centuries, including a massive sarcophagus and “hogback” stones. The Govan Stones are displayed throughout the church, which has a small but loyal congregation that acts as the guardians of this ancient treasure. Every afternoon, people like us can just wander in and see the stones, which you’d expect to find in a place like the British Museum rather than a neighborhood church steps away from a struggling commercial district.

Glasgow & Portland: much more than brewpubs, beans, and bikes

Portland's Willamette River & Glasgow's River Clyde

Part of my Fulbright time at the Mackintosh School has been spent helping to teach a seminar class on the “Creative City.” Along with a half-dozen students, my Scottish colleague and I have closely examined the urban fabric of Portland and Glasgow – two cities widely famed for their creative identities. Stories about them in the popular press are ubiquitous: The New York Times and Guardian clearly have soft spot in their journalistic hearts for both sites. Both are river cities with the same size population and a certain energetic buzz, but they are certainly two different places. Glasgow is older by about a dozen centuries and far denser. Portland is growing, while the number of residents in Glasgow has been steadily declining. Both are working to (re)invent themselves as places for innovation, culture, and hipster coolness. On May 21 the class showcased its work at a symposium that compared Glasgow and Portland’s take on creativity along with public spaces, café culture, and street food, which help define the urban fabric, its culture, and a sense of quirkiness. The projects will be exhibited at the school’s end-of-year degree show in late June and a wee book documenting the work will be published at that time.

Willamette River Scale, Portland Built Form, Population Trajectories, Glasgow Built Form, River Clyde Scale

Both cities are close to nature; the Columbia River Gorge and Loch Lomond are only 45 minutes from each city's center.

Residents of both cities are passionate about their cities.

Which is Portland and which is Glasgow?

 

Kilts, Kilts and More Kilts

Even though we’re lucky if it gets up to 50 degrees (still), it’s not that unusual to see men with bare legs here. Kilts are the attire of choice for wedding parties (rather than tuxedos)—even at Orthodox Jewish ceremonies where a yarmulke completes the outfit. Bartenders sport utility kilts in khaki or black. And, guys on the street or grocery store can be found showing off their clan colors and flashing a naked calf. The first kilts were full-length garments with the upper half sometimes draped over the shoulder as a cloak, so today’s version is actually the bottom half of its predecessor. Kilts virtually disappeared (except for Highland regiments) when the British government banned them and other signs of Scottish nationalism in 1746. The ban was lifted some 40 years later but it wasn’t until Sir Walter Scott came along that kilts and tartans became popularized—both in the Highlands and Lowlands. Scott, who not only was a great novelist but also a PR genius, organized festivities to mark King George IV’s visit to Scotland in 1822 and convinced the men to wear kilts in tartans that became associated with their clans (rather than with regions of the country). After that, there was no turning back.

Over the Loch and Through the Woods - a Semple Ramble

For a taste of the countryside, we took our Portland friends Jonah and Deirdre on a hike in the Castle Semple recreation area. Starting at Howwood, about a 25-minute train ride from Glasgow, our five-mile ramble cut through a cowpie-laden pasture, around an 18th century folly that was used as a hunting lookout, past the ruins of a church built in 1504 by the Laird of the original estate, through the woods, and eventually to a 1.5-mile loch. Slogging through the mucky farmland under the inhospitable gaze of a herd of cattle, we wondered if this was really such a good idea, but a picnic overlooking the lake made it all worthwhile. 

So Easy to Go By Train

Go by Train says the sign on Portland's Streetcar Lofts, and we've totally embraced that idea here. The ScotRail system is cheap, comfortable, efficient, and reliable. It's allowed us to travel far and wide at the drop of a hat, from the seaside of Helensburgh to Renaissance Stirling to northern villages like Pitlochery and Aviemore and south to the birthplace of Robbie Burns. Arriving for a journey at Glasgow Central or Queen Street Station fills us with a sense of adventure and connects us back through the centuries to travelers who couldn't dream of more modern ways to get from here to there.

City Slogans: People Make Glasgow

Most people are familiar with city slogans like The City That Never Sleeps (NYC), Sweetest Town on Earth (Hershey, PA) and, of course, What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas. Cities big and small feel a need for some type of slogan to brand and differentiate themselves. People Make Glasgow is the city’s latest effort in place branding. Replacing Glasgow’s Miles Better, the current slogan is meant to set the city apart, alter external perceptions, and instill pride in its residents. After appropriating Austin’s Keep Austin Weird, is it time to rethink Portland’s The City That Works?

UK Election 2015 - Tories Rule

Despite all predictions, the Conservative Party pulled off a huge victory in Thursday’s national election and won a majority in Parliament for the first time since 1992 (meaning they won’t have to share power in a coalition government).  Although most Scots were disappointed to see David Cameron remain in office, the Scottish National Party came away with an incredible show of strength, winning all but one contest for a total of 56 seats. As The Guardian observed, “Although Scotland may look as it did the day before, it has become a very different country, a psychological change has taken place, part of a process that began with the referendum and was reinforced by the Scottish National Party’s sweeping general election triumph. The thought of independence is no longer scary.”  Besides Cameron and the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon, there was one other big winner in the vote: A Glasgow pensioner had bet £30,000 (in small bills) that the Conservatives would win a majority. The bookies paid £210,000 on that wager!