glasgow hide-away

I know Glasgow wouldn't necessarily be on the top of everyone's list of places to hide away and write for a few days. I'm sure others would prefer something a little warmer/prettier or more rural/isolated/unpopulated, but I love coming to places like this to work. I can't imagine being shut up in a quiet place and trying to ransack my imagination when there is nothing to contrast externally with what's going on internally in my mind. Even though I don't get out much when I'm working, I do like to know that there is something happening nearby, as a sort of counterbalance to all the activity in my brain.

I also happen to love Glasgow, with its incredibly confident architecture and characterful streets. I'm most definitely not here to shop or eat out, but I'm here for the buildings. Even though it's very cold and windy, a long walk round the West End of Glasgow is quite a treat and a great antidote to sitting in my room sorting out recipes and book references and wondering how best to pickle limes (as in Little Women). I must have found dozens and dozens of beautiful houses I'd be happy to live in - solid, plush, beautifully designed and proportioned Victorian and Edwardian houses and terraces built in smooth red or pale sandstone, with fabulous wrought-iron fences and gates and stair-rails and all kinds of lovely details, but never showy or over-the-top. And never have I seen such an amazing collection of stained-glass windows in domestic buildings, especially in the big doorways and porches.

It's so easy to start wondering about the people who live or have lived in these houses, some of which reveal a commitment to never knowingly underfurnishing a room (I've also never seen so many paintings/pot plants/massive mirrors/lampshades/pianos as those glimpsed through the windows). In fact, I wanted so much to find out more about West End domestic life, I realised that if I couldn't find a book to satisfy my curiosity, then I would just have to imagine it. And that, I suppose, is how writers of fiction come to their subjects?

But then I came back to my room and returned to a different world. Tomorrow I get time off for good behaviour before going home, and am looking forward to going to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum (itself an amazing building) to revisit the wonderful paintings by the Scottish Colourists such as the one below. And to imagine yet another world of high-ceilinged interiors, elegant women, orange and pink roses and silver tea services...

FCB Cadell 'The Orange Blind' c1927

Comments

[Kathleen]

I love looking in windows also, the bright glow of lights and halfway revealed items through the windows. Your right I suppose that is the beginnings of fiction for writers. I think Glasgow is facinating, so many crazy streets to get lost in.

[Heather]

Oh Jane - if only I'd known you were here, I bet there'd be even more colourful sides to Glasgow I could have shown you :0) I love it too. I grew up in Edinburgh but have spent most of my adult life in Glasgow and don't tell anybody but I think I like it better than Auld Reekie now. There's none of that lace curtain gentility ...... the city and the people both embrace you full on.

[sarah]

No one told me how wondrous Glasgow was. Last July I visited there for the first time. I fell in love, the West End truly is a delight to behold ... I got happily lost in the back streets a few times ... each time I vowed to stray from the known path the next day. Nice to hear someone sharing my sentiments for the place.

[Ulrike]

Hi Jane!
I used to live in Glasgow some 27 years ago and had a wonderful time there - although it was love at second sight, I have to admit. I also love the West end, but al together, Glasgow is a fascinating place to be! Have fun in the Kelvingrove Museum - and do not miss the beautiful Victorian glass houses in the Botanical Gardens!
I envy you for being there.....have a good time and enjoy your stay!

[Margot K]

How interesting the name of the painting is simply 'The Blind'. It has made me think of the usual time of day for tea, the intensely blinding sun in the late afternoons of Fall and Winter, the elegant 'period' outfit of the lady. Rather drew me in to ponder it all. Thanks for posting it.

[Luise]

If you can't find a book about the houses in the West End, how about writing one? You'd have a blast -- and I'll bet you could find funding from an appropriate foundation. (Perhaps I'm just projecting; I'd so love to visit Glasgow.)

[Katherine]

Glasgow is a wonderful city, if you get a chance, K1 Yarns on Queen Margaret Drive is a brilliant shop.

[Karbee]

I love those very houses in Glasgow myself and every few months when we drive through Glasgow to visit my parents near Loch Lomond I look at them and aaah. My favourite collection is the Rennie Mackintosh collection in the Kelvingrove Museum and also the Dali painting of the Crucifixion. My first visit to the museum was when I was 9 years old. My latest visit there was in summer 2006.

[Karbee]

I love those very houses in Glasgow myself and every few months when we drive through Glasgow to visit my parents near Loch Lomond I look at them and aaah. My favourite collection is the Rennie Mackintosh collection in the Kelvingrove Museum and also the Dali painting of the Crucifixion. My first visit to the museum was when I was 9 years old. My latest visit there was in summer 2006.

[hazeljoy]

jane, i love the way you write. i find it incredibly inspiring and it never fails to make me more creative. you've spurred me on to get on with a birthday present today! thankyou and happy new year xx

[Tessa]

I wish I could lend you my 23 month old Glaswegian grandson to show you the joys of the baby section at Kelvingrove.He loves it there.
Thanks for The Blind, I haven't seen it before.

[m]

if you are in the west end go to Otago Lane and have tea at the Tchainova Czech Tea house overlooking the kelvin river.

[c]

Jane,

This is a bit off-topic, but do you have a post or list of your favorite spots in London? I'd like to visit some spots that may not be listed in the average tour book and you always seem to know or find the neatest spots...

[Pauline]

How your post took me back..I lived in Glasgow for a year in 1990 and loved it. I had a poster of this painting but never knew what it was called - its a bit battered and rolled up in the back of a cupboard now! Thanks for the reminder :-)

[blueberryhillblog]

As a girl from Glasgow (now emigrated to England!) I can imagine all the places you are describing. The west end is wonderful, I love to go to the Botanics and then wander down Great Western Road - visit the cheese and bread shops and Roots for Fruits. The Bothy down Ruthven Lane (off Byres Rd) is fab for scottish food and the service is nice. I started work on Byres Rd so I have very fond memories of that area.
Enjoy the rest of your Glasgow escapade!
Annie

[SnapdragonJane]

A woman called Sally Rush did a lot of research into stained glass in the 1990s when I worked at the Hunterian - she researched the windows in the same way as you, wandering round after dark.
The work was published I think by the West End Preservation Trust. You'll also find a number of books at Kelvingrove when you get there.
We were going to pay a family visit there today but, as it is snowing, we are sledging instead,
J
x

[RuthDavies]

You might like the books by O'Douglas - sister of John Buchan, who wrote very gentle domestic fiction based mainly in Scotland. Two of her books 'Eliza for Common' (published 1930)and 'The Setons'(1917) are based in Glasgow. She had a great love for that city.

[Robin]

Hi Jane, we have a Glasgow, Montana, named by the Scottish immigrants, but I'm willing to bet it doesn't have the beautiful architecture you describe. Maybe I will go check it out some day!

[Andrea]

What a stunning painting. I enjoy the artwork you've shown on your blog so much. There are often paintings I've never seen before and this was one of them. Thanks for posting them!

[Liz]

oh how I love that neighborhood in Glasgow... the walks, and the peeps into homes as people come and go... oh how I love Glasgow in general... cush a place... and a lovely place to hide out and work I'd imagine happy new year

[Charis Griffin]

I was born and brought up in Glasgow,(though I now live in Cornwall and love it)and always thought it an amazing and vastly under-rated city.I at school for six years in my teens in the west end so know it very well indeed-especially the sweety shops!There is just so much to see and do,you are completely spoilt for choice.An absolute must is a visit to the Burrell Collection in Pollok Estate on the south side of the city-so many wonderful art works and especially pieces of needlework to pour over and lust after-and all housed in an absolutely amazing building!I am glad you are enjoying your visit as I am still very proud of my home town!

[Di]

I studied and lived in Glasgow for 4 years (but that was about 15 years ago!) and love the city - really gritty! The Merchant City is full of wonderous buildings and Glasgow is certainly the place where you need to look up in case you miss something!

There is a Quentin Blake exhibit on at the Kelvingrove that I am sure will be worth checking out!

[Cybèle]

I'm reading a series of historical books with my 8 year old daughter at the moment, about a house in Chelsea in different times (the Historical House series http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0746073127/adelegeras-21) They are children's books but I love the way the authors use a main female character who seems to be aware that she is able to do more than conform to society's expectations - you can see the beginnings of feminism in them (we have read 3 now and this theme seems to recur in most of them). It's also a great way to see what happens over time in one house.

[paula luckhurst]

i'd like very much to go to Scotland.

[Margaret Powling]

Just love that painting! The colours are so vibrant. I'd not even heard of the Scottish Colourists until I read the novel Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher (in which one of the characters buys such a painting as a Christmas present for another character.)
I also have, with reference to another comment, three books by Olive Douglas, John Buchan's sister. I bought them as they looked so pretty (well, a good enough reason to buy them in my opinion: books as art.) They are Nelson edition pocket books and have the most lovely cover illustrations. The titles are: Pink Sugar; Jane's Parlour; and Taken by the Hand.