A Day in Glasgow

I arrived in Glasgow at 8:30 in the morning and my next flight out was at 4:30. Of course with customs, baggage claim, and then check in and security on the other end, I was left with about 6 hours. I took the airport bus into town to run a few errands for the upcoming Glasgow tour, then made my way over to Shields Road to visit the Scotland Street School Museum.

I arrived at the opening bell along with a classroom of school kids. The lady at reception suggested I start my tour on the top floor and work my way down so that I would be going against the flow of the students.

On the top floor are classrooms set up for various time periods to show what school would have been like during that time. First up was the old Victorian Classroom. A staff member, dressed like a school marm, was preparing for the arrival of the school group. And in true school marm form, was quite miserable.

Next up was the WWII Classroom.

Instructions in the event of an air raid

Enough gas masks for each student in the classroom

the Dunce Cap

A child sized gas mask

Then the Cookery Classroom. This room taught domestic skills, not just cooking. 

The second floor had the boys and girls cloak rooms where students coming to visit could go and dress like the kids in the victorian time period. It also had rooms that were more of a museum and showed parts of the life of the school. And a separate room was dedicated to Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the architect of the school. 

Mum dragging son to school

playtime

The Jannie

School Nurse

Gym equipment

Boys Work 

Wringer washer

The headmaster

Headmaster's Desk

Girls cloakroom

About Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Architectural drawing of the school

The school has some magnificent lead glass windows. Of particular interest are the windows on the third floor with portraits of students in each pane

Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Tenement House Museum

A late start this morning as we start to adjust to the time change. Awoke to rain this morning so knew we were in fact in Scotland. Today's agenda for Glasgow included the Tenement House Museum.

We had arrived a few minutes early so decided to wander around the neighbourhood. In doing so, we managed our own wee Charles Rennie Mackintosh tour. First stop was the Glasgow Museum of Art. 

As we headed back to the Tenement House ÿhMuseum, we also passed the Rennie Mackintosh Hotel.

 

Unfortunately that part of Glasgow is built on some serious hills. Including this one:

The Tenement Museum is under the care of the National Trust. Curiously, the NTS doesn't permit photography. Not just flash photography. Any photography. I say unfortunate because the museum houses a wealth of social History. By allowing photography, pieces of that history could have been shared which might have inspired additional visitors seeking to understand the way of life of their ancestors and their patronage could have generated income for the NTS.

And after touring the Tenement Museum, we went to the Willow Tea Room. on Sauchiehall Street.  This is one of five tea rooms that were part of the partnership between Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Kate Cranston. It was at the Willow that he was able to design an entire tea room.

 

His Piece de Resistance was called the Room de Luxe, an exclusive Ladies room that was for the more upscale women in the area. The chairs and settees were upholstered in a rich rose-purple. The tables and high backed, Mackintosh style chairs were painted silver.  The walls were painted white. There was a frieze of leaded glass panels. One side wall held the fireplace. This room, which was more luxurious and elegant than the rest of the tea rooms, charged an additional penny for tea to be taken here.

 

 

The original doors are worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds and are in protective plex-glass.

 

All too soon, it was time for us to leave Glasgow and head to Edinburgh where our research in the various archives will soon begin.