The HM Prison Barlinnie

The HM Prison Barlinnie is a penitentiary found in the northeastern side of Glasgow, Scotland, in the Riddrie neighborhood.

Built next to the Monkland Canal in July 1882, Barlinnie opened to address a need of building a prison facility. To date, it is Scotland’s largest prison, with a regular capacity of holding almost over a thousand prisoners, even though it was built to hold about 1,018. The prison today receives convicts from the

West of Scotland courts as well as maintaining male prisoners who may be returned to custody andthose sentenced to less than four years.

Barlinnie also distributes suitable prisoners from its convicted populace to lower security penitentiaries, which includes HMP Greenock and HMP Low Moss as well as facilitating long-term convicts in the first phase of their sentence, before their transfer to HMP Peterhead, HMP Kilmarnock, HMP Shotts, or HMP Glenochil all of which are long-term prisons.

Consisting of five accommodation halls, Barlinnie prison’s A, B, C, D, and E halls were built with the periods of 1882 to 1897. At the time, each hall held approximately 200 prisoners. It also has a hospital unit with can accommodate 18 prisoners. This includes 8 cells specially built for suicide watch.

Bothwell Castle

On of the most awesome relics of Scotland in the Middle Ages is Bothwell Castle.

The present glory of Bothwell Castle is primarily attributed to Walter of Moray, head of a northern aristocratic clan who took over Bothwell near the second half of the 13th century. He or maybe his son William also known as ‘the Rich’ re-fashioned the spectacular castle in a decadent display of feudal and family pride.

Though the original plans for the castle were never completed because of the outbreak in 1296 of the Wars of Independence it is inconsequential since what is left is still very impressive, especially the great tower (donjon). The building has been described by Dr W. Douglas Simpson as “the grandest piece of secular architecture that the Middle Ages has bequeathed to us in Scotland’.

It is perhaps not surprising that Boswell Castle has figured prominently in the Wars of Independence of Scotland against England. Siege on the castle came one after the other. The most important one was during Edward I’s attempt in 1301.

The Black Douglasses, another prominent and powerful family, took over Boswell Castle after the wars. The castle was renovated in a manner not originally planned by prior owners. But it was impressive, with a vast array of artistic and latter medieval secular themed architecture.

In 1455, after the overthrowing of the Black Douglasses, Boswell Castle was taken over by the Crown, and changes made to it were quite uneventful.

Glasgow Central Train Station

Managed by the Network Rail, Glasgow Central in Glasgow, Scotland is the bigger one of the twomain-line railway terminals today. It was opened on July 31, 1879 by the Caledonian Railway.it is the West Coast Main Line’s northern terminus.

Outside London, the Glasgow Central is the busiest train station in the U.K. According to

Network Rail, approximately 34 million people leave from, or arrive at, Glasgow Central annually.

The station services the entire area of the Greater Glasgow southern town’s urban sprawl and suburbs, the Clyde coast, and the Ayshire coast. It is also the terminus for all services in the inter-city area from Glasgow to areas on the southern border.

The first Central Train Station became available to the public on 1 August 1879 on River Clyde’s north bank. It had eight platforms and a railway bridge on Argyle Avenue connected Bridge Street station

and a 4-track railway bridge which was built by Sir William Arrol. The bridge crossed Clyde River tothe south.

Soon, the station became too congested and a temporary solution in 1890 of widening the Argyle Street bridge and adding a ninth platform on the same bridge was finished. Initially, it was intended to make Bridge Street station big enough to allow eight through lines and to make Central station accomodate15 platforms.

Clyde Auditorium - Armadillo

Best known as the “Armadillo”, the Clyde Auditorium is a famous venue for concerts in Glasgow, Scotland. Located on Queen’s Dock on the Clyde River, the building is an infill of the ConferenceCentre and the Scottish Exhibition.

In 1995, plans were drawn for a new building to further increase the seating capacity of the SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre) complex. Designed Foster and Partners, an award-winning architectural firm, the new 3,000 seating venue was finished in 1997. By this time, it began to be calledby its popular nickname because of the similarity of its shape to the armadillo.
Many have compared the Clyde Auditorium with the Sydney Opera House (built in 1973), but theformer was not the architects’ inspiration. Rather, it was the interlocking patterns of a ship's hulls,clearly attributed to the shipbuilding heritage of Clyde.

The Clyde Auditorium has easily become one of the most recognizable images on Clyde and one of the buildings most associated with contemporary Glasgow. Because of this success, the "Scotland's National Arena", the third venue to be added to the SECC is currently in the works.

The very popular animated show, The Simpsons, featured the famous facade of the Clyde Auditorium. The episode’s title was "Springfield's Got Talent", a parody Susan Boyle’s famous audition for Britain's Got Talent in January 2009 which was filmed at the Clyde Auditorium.

Glasgow Cathedral - St. Mungo's Cathedral

Standing majestically in the center of the largest city in Scotland is the Glasgow Cathedral.

It has the sole distinction of being the Scotland’s only medieval cathedral to have withstood

the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century virtually unscathed.

There was once an area here where bishops, archbishops, and men of the cloth took up residence

called a “chanonry”. The southern side of the cathedral was home to a small town under the

patronage of the bishops. That town has since grown into an impressive contemporary city.

Considered as the epitome of cathedral building of Europe’s Early Middle Ages, Glasgow Cathedral is Scotland’s finest building from that period.

The building’s oldest part dates back from the time of Bishop Jocelin’s (1174–99), known for ‘gloriously enlarging’ Glasgow Cathedral in 1181. With the occurrence of a fire, work on the structure halted and the task of completing it fell to those who succeeded him, namely Bishop William de Bondington (1233–58).

The finished result was a spectacular Gothic array of pointed arcades, slim windows with traceries, and an unusual confection of three vaulted aisles surrounding the choir and the presbytery. It was originally meant to house a pilgrim shrine in honor of St. Kentigern located at ground level, just behind the high altar and above the saint’s tomb whose crypt is located just beneath it.

Glasgow Necropolis - Fir Park

What is now called the Glasgow Necropolis had once been part of the vast property of Wester Craigs but this land had been purchased by the Merchants’ House in 1650. But the west side of the land was rocky and development was difficult, almost impossible. To remedy this problem, fir trees were planted and the area thus became know as Fir Park.

But in 1804, the park’s Scot Firs began to perish and other trees replaced them, mainly elms and willows. The lot then became an arboretum and Victorian park. It was in 1825 that the John Knox monument foundation stone was first placed in Fir Park.

The Necropolis has the distinction of being one of the few cemeteries that kept records of its occupants. These records included their profession, sex, ages, and cause of death.

The Merchants’ House turned over the Necropolis in 1966 to the City Council of Glasgow which now maintains and administers to it. For purposes of maintenance, the grave surrounds and benches have been dismantled and most of the place has been put to grass.

Major sculptors and architects of the period such as JT Rochead, Charles Rennie Macintosh, and Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson designed many structures in the Glasgow Necropolis. These structures

Glasgow Science Center

One of the must-see attractions in Scotland, the Glasgow Science Centre presents ideas of science and technology in inspiring and unique way in the world.

An autonomous Scottish Charity, this Centre aims to build and improve awareness of the opportunities education which encompasses present and future science, technology, and health issues. It also means to provide visitors with a center of excellence and a socially aware environment for children.

The Glasgow Science Centre aims to provide within its walls opportunities for people of all ages as well as those who are socially, physically, and cognitively challenged.

A crescent shaped structure clad in titanium, the Science Mall has over 250 interactive exhibits for science and learning housed within its three floors, as well as the Glasgow Science Centre Planetarium and the Science Show Theatre. The Glasgow Science Centre Planetarium houses a Zeiss projector with optical-mechanical features that can project nigh sky images onto a dome 15 meters in diameter.

The first and only IMAX movie theatre in existence in Scotland is the IMAX cinema. It is a single auditorium which seats 370 right in front of a rectangular-shaped screen which measures 60 ft. by 80 ft. It has the ability to display IMAX format 3D films as well as regular 2D films. In October 2000, it opened its doors to the public, several months before the launching of the other two buildings.

Burrell Stained Glass Collection

The Burrell Collection consists of more than 9,000 artworks collected from all over the world and

over the years by Sir William Burrell, who had started collecting said works of art since his teens.

He and his wife, Lady Constance Burrell donated his collection in 1944 to the City of Glasgow.

This collection is one of the greatest collections by one person in the whole world.

The collection consists of significant medieval art collections such as stained glass, tapestries,

English oak furniture, and alabasters. It also includes several works of Impressionists Cezanne,

Degas, and other European artists as well as an important Islamic art collection and some modern

pieces of sculpture such as works by Rodin and Epstein. There are also a vast collection of art

from ancient Egypt, China, Rome and Greece.

The Burrell House wherein the collection is housed was the winning design of an architectural

competition and was opened to the public in 1983. Special attention was given to provide harmony between the collection and the building, as well as the park wherein it is situated.

The resulting building is airy and light and its setting in woodland and the vastness of the Burrell collection make the visit here a memorable and enjoyable experience.

St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art

A well known religious museum in Glasgow is the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. It is famous for being the world’s only public museum solely devoted to this topic.

Made open to the public in 1993, the museum is housed in Cathedral Square, just off High Street on property owned by the Glasgow Cathedral. The museum was built near the site of the Glasgow Archbishop’s diocese complex of castles from the Middle Ages, some of it can be viewed within the Cathedral and at Glasgow Green at the Peoples Palace Museum. St. Mungo was design in a medieval style so as to blend in with the Provands Lordship House which is very nearby.

The St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art boasts of a wide array of exhibits that showcase the major religions of the world. This includes a Zen garden and an Islamic sculpture covered in Moorish calligraphy. It once had in its collection Salvador Dalí’s painting of Christ and of Saint John ofthe Cross while the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum was undergoing refurbishment.

Just a stone’s throw is Glasgow’s oldest house, the Provand’s Lordship, as well as the Glasgow Necropolis and the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Royal Exchange Square

A public square in Glasgow, Scotland, the Royal Exchange Square is located at the junction of Ingram Street with Queen Street. A prominent landmark, the square has the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art sitting just inside it. A large Borders bookstore is also found here at the entrance of Buchanan Street. The square’s streets are lined with several restaurants and al fresco cafes.

There is a Duke of Wellington statue which stands at the entrance of Queen Street with a traffic cone on his head which had been placed there by youngsters as a joke. The City Council no longer saw this as an offensive prank but as a landmark and allowed the piece to remain where it was.

Around Christmas time, the Royal Exchange Square is a very bright place with a network of lights between the surrounding structures and that of the Gallery of Modern Art.

The Gallery of Modern Art was first opened in 1996 and is housed in a former home of William Cunninghame of Lainshaw, built in 1778 in a neoclassical style. William Cunninghame was a wealthy Tobacco lord in Glasgow and his building has been used for different purposes through the years.

The Royal Bank of Scotland acquired it in 1817 but it later moved to Buchanan Street. Afterwards, itwas converted into the Royal Exchange, David Hamilton was the one in charge of reconstruction.

River Clyde

Shipbuilding in Clyde came to its own in the early part of the 20th century, with considerable output in period covering the two major World Wars. Decline set in during the 1960s. Still, shipbuilding yards are still existence at Greenock, Scotstoun, and Govan. Today, Clyde is being reinvented as an area for residential development, business, and recreation center.

Historically, the River Clyde has a long story to tell, many of which are worth the telling. The Cunard, a shipping line which includes the QE2, the Queen Mary, the Royal Yacht Britannia, and the Queen Elizabeth, was founded in Glasgow and all said liners were built on the Clyde River at Clydebank.

The inventor of the separate condenser (which invention made the steam engine viable economically), James Watt (who was born in Greenock), came up with the idea while walking along the river in 1765 on Glasgow Green.

The last paddle steamer that can is ocean-worthy in the world, the Waverley, was built by A & J Inglis in 1947 in Glasgow’s River Clyde. It is still being used on the Clyde today, for an authentic paddle steamer trip ‘doon the watter’ still being enjoyed by thousands of passengers.

Before becoming famous on the stage, the actor-comedian Billy Connolly, was born in Glasgow’s small town of Patrick in 1942. He worked in a shipyard in Clyde before fame overtook him.

Gordon Street

On the northern side of Gordon Street just between Renfield and Hope Streets stands the Mortgage Shop of the Royal Bank of Scotland. There is also a Bookworld and the William Hill entrance. Downstairs you can find the National Slimming and Private Medical Centre, while upstairs is the Glasgow Partnership Project.

Still on the northern side but this time between the West Nile and Renfield Streets are an ATM machine and the Yorkshire Building Society. At the Renfield Street entrance is the China Sea Restaurant and several shops that cater to women’s casual wear as well as accessories.

The area between Buchanan and West Nile Streets has been converted into a pedestrian center. Here you can find the Woolwich Bank equipped with an ATM machine, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and a TGI Fridays just on Buchanan Street’s corner.

The southern side of Gordon Street, between Union and Hope Streets stands the Quality Central Hotel. On the west entrance is a travel centre and a bus stop. There is also a fish and chips shop called The Blue Lagoon and a newsagent called Newsbox.

In the area between Mitchell and Union Streets are Safeways City Store and the Ca'd'oro restaurant. Upstairs you’ll find a bakery and café known as Miss Cranston and beside it a Cooperative Bank

Glasgow Underground - Glasgow Subway

Travel to the Clyde River’s south end from the City Center through the venues on West End is very convenient with the Glasgow Underground.

First opened in 1896, the original train system was modernized almost a whole century later in the 1980s. The Underground’s two tunnels offer a circular service which links 15 stations, all within a span of 24 minutes. Trains do the rounds every four minutes during peak hours, every six minutes in the day, and every eight minutes in the evenings from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, the trains come along every eight minutes.

Since car parks are available at West Street, Kelvinbridge, Shields Road, and Bridge Street stations, “park and ride” is available. The car park ticket price includes parking as well as journey back on the Underground. Closed circuit surveillance on TV is an added security precaution provided in all the car parks.

The Heritage Trail is a special feature of the city wherein people touring the city can purchase a ticket which includes a day's unlimited travel after 9 in the morning from Monday to Friday, all day on Saturdays and Sundays, and any time during Public Holidays via the Underground with an additional special guided tour to 17 walks to historic and interesting buildings that can be easily accessed from the Underground stations.

Glasgow Tower - Millenium Tower

Today, this is the loftiest tower in Scotland standing at height of 127 meters. It comes in second as the highest free-standing building, the tallest one being the chimney of the Inverkip Power Station. Its ability to rotate full circle from the top to its base earned it a Guinness World Record.

The Glasgow Tower resembles an aerofoil, much as the wing of an aircraft would look if it had been planted vertically on the ground. It is equipped with motors that are computer-controlled to rotate it in

the direction of the wind so as to lessen wind resistance.

O nce known as the Millenium Tower, the Glasgow Tower’s design was the result of an international competition whose goal was to get entries for a design of a tower to be placed in the center of the city of Glasgow. This tower is the Clydesdale Bank’s spiritual successor as the former once stood on more or less the same spot in the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988.

U pon its completion in 2001, it was hailed as Scotland’s tallest tower. Claimed by its website as "The tallest freestanding building in Scotland", it is not recognized as a building by the CTUH (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) because the structure’s floors do not come in succession from the ground even though its observation desk stands at more than a hundred meters high.

Crowne Plaza Hotel Glasgow, Moat House Hotel

Overlooking the Clyde River is the Crowne Hotel, a modern and chic hotel directly linked to SECC

or Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre. It offers an excellent choice for travelers in the area on business or leisure. The Hotel Review Scotland recently awarded it with the Glasgow Hotel of 2007 and Scottish Conference Hotel of 2009 awards.

The Crowne Plaza boasts of 283 air-conditioned modern bedrooms and suites equipped with wireless internet access, spacious Club Rooms with king-sized beds and stunning views of the river, plasma screen televisions, and exclusive entry into the Club Lounge which offers complimentary drinks and cocktails and haven to relax in or hold informal meetings. The hotel’s Leisure Club has an indoor pool, well-equipped gym, spa, sauna, and steam room. It also offers patrons a massage or beauty treatment.

The C rowne Plaza Glasgow is conveniently located just opposite the Glasgow Science Centre, the S T V Headquarters and new BBC and just a stone’s throw away from the Tall Ship tourist attraction. It is also within easy access to the major shopping areas such as Buchanan Galleries, B raehead, Argyle Street, making it an ideal leisure destination.

The hotel is well known for its friendly and cheerful staff, delectable breakfast buffets, well-furnished rooms equipped with mini bars, bathrooms stocked with toiletries, and very clean facilities.