Scotiana » Buchanan Street

Our Top 15 Most Popular Posts!

MAJA — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:54:50 +0000

Mairiuna, before the New Year ramps up, why not investigate about our most popular posts to see what are our readers’ favourite subjects?

Let’s see what the stats reveal. Suspense….

And the winners are :

1. Rannoch Moor: First Steps Into The Scottish Wilderness

People seemed to be energized in the clear and fresh atmosphere of the place and everybody looked happy and cheerful, not to say euphoric.

It’s one of our best travel memories. But beware of the appearances!

The weather is very changing in Scotland and Rannoch Moor may suddenly offer a gloomier face to its visitors and even prove to be dangerous for unprepared walkers …

Read more…. | Watch Video ( Royal Scotsman entering Rannoch Station)

The Complete Book of Tartan by Iain Zaczek and Charles Phillips

2. Scottish Tartans: “Children Of The Mist”, The Clan MacGregor

Scottish clans have more than one tartan attributed to their name and the only person to make a clan tartan an “official” one is the chief. Surprisingly enough, the “clan tartans” date no earlier than late 18^th century.

That means this tradition was not in use when the battle of Culloden took place in 1746!. The clansmen were wearing different tartans….

So how did the clansmen recognize who was who? By the colour of ribbon worn upon the bonnet !

Sherlock Holmes - Playing The Violin

4. From Conan Doyle’s Sycamore to Sherlock Holme’s Violin

If you question people about Conan Doyle’s nationality many will probably answer : ‘English’. But let’s try to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.

If Conan Doyle did spend most of his life, died and was buried in England, he was born, spent his childhood and studied medicine in Edinburgh.

That is why, on 22 may 2009, the day of his one hundred and fiftieth birth anniversary, he was paid a very moving tribute in Edinburgh, his native town.

Art Nouveau in architecture - Princes Square Peacock

5. Art Nouveau Peacock On Princes Square Shopping Center In Buchanan Street, Glasgow

At the end of the nineteenth century, Art Nouveau transformed towns and countryside around the world. Even though its style had gained popularity from just the last ten years or so, Art Nouveau permeated many arts & crafts: jewellery, book design, glasswork, textiles, wrought iron, and architecture, to name just a few, with its high Victorian design and craftwork.

The peacock being the most spread Art Nouveau pattern, a great example is the one adorning the Princes Square building facade on Buchanan Street in the heart of Glasgow.

In 1985, Hugh Martin & Partners were commissioned to renovate the Princes Square building. They had several meetings with Alan Dawson to create the Princes’ building decorative art program consisting of gates, balustrades, the famous “Peacock” and other associated decorative ironwork.

While studying at the School of Art, Mackintosh met sisters, Frances and Margaret MacDonald and they were to form a group along with Herbert MacNair, to become known internationally as the Glasgow Four.

On our trip to Scotland in 2007, it was with great excitement that we arrived on Sauchiehall Street, to visit and admire one of his greatest masterpiece! We took pictures of the elements composing the building’s facade, and upon examination of these mysterious, or should I say, mystical elements, I wondered about the meaning that Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife Margaret, and the group all together were trying to convey through the symbols of the tree, the rose and the flower heads, to name just these few.

Glencoe Lochan

10. Lord Strathcona’s Glencoe Estate Bought Back By Macdonalds of Glencoe Descendance

Donald Alexander Smith had always been interested in Scotland’s most popular glen, Glencoe, that was owned by the McDonalds of Glencoe until 1894, when Archibald Burns McDonald put the land up for sale.

Upon taking possession of the Glencoe Estate in 1895, he moved from Canada to Scotland with his wife Isabella Sophia Hardisty and built a very imposing house, the Glencoe House.

Even though he planted a Canadian-like tree forest on the Estate to resemble his wife’s native land’s environment, she could not overcome home sickness. They consequently moved back to Canada and a portion of the land was transformed into a beautiful park offering three different walking trails, known as the Glencoe Lochan Walks.

Edmund J Sullivan, the man behind the beautiful illustrations contained in Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus.

Born in London in 1869, he studied art with his father. He was only 20 years old when he began contributing to various magazines including the Daily Chronicle, The Daily Graphic, The Pall Mall Gazette and Punch magazine.

To give you an example of his unique style, take a look at this superb drawing to illustrate one of the characters of the book, Blumine. (page 169, of the 1898 George Bell and Sons edition of Sartor Resartus, see book cover at the end of the post)

Read more… (includes links to 79 illustrations!)

12. Buchanan Street: Up and Down One of Glasgow’s Most Popular and Coloured Streets

We never stayed long enough, alas, to be able to visit all the treasures hidden in the rich and fascinating Scottish metropolis but it did not take long for us to feel the sense of place there and to love it. Glasgow speaks with a very specific accent which mixes with many other ones due to its cosmopolitanism. A harsh accent, not easy to understand for foreigners

I never saw a town singing in the rain as Glasgow does with its coloured umbrellas. “Can I help you ?” will say the Glaswegian to the drenched visitor desperately looking for his way on a map. For that and for many other reasons too, we do love Glasgow and it was love at first sight when we got out of the plane, at Paisley, one wintry day, in may 2000.

Painting by Sir Francis Grant of "Sir Walter Scott in his study at Abbotsford writing his last novel 'Count Robert of Paris' ", 1831. Source : SCRAN

14. A Writing Day For Walter Scott In Company of His Favourite Dogs

(…) to help us trigger our imagination, let us open again A Day with Scott. In this little old book I had mentioned in my last post, May Byron seems to have catched the sense of the place particularly well. I still don’t know when this book was published, but I will check that soon in our Sir Walter Scott Bibliographical History. For biographical purposes we’ll also make some incursions in Lockhart’s Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. The author of this very interesting biography happens to be Sir Walter’s son-in-law, so he must know better.

(…) I’ve often wondered how a man like Sir Walter Scott can have posed for so many long hours with his dogs, keeping still and quiet …But I let the master speak for himself and for the dogs. In his Journal, on 7 saturday 1826, Sir Walter has written something full of humour and tenderness about the question…

I’d like to write a word or two today about the world-famous Scottish tenor, Mr Kenneth McKellar, who sadly died last week in the USA at the age of 82. Following a short but serious illness, Mr McKellar passed away at the home of his daughter, Jane, in Lake Tahoe, California, on 9th April. Scotland has lost a most worthy and distinguished ambassador.

I find it tremendously sad when a great singer leaves the stage; it’s as though a bright light has gone out.

I’m reminded of the words of John McCormack, quoted by his wife Lily in her memoir, ‘I Hear You Calling Me’ : “I live again the days and evenings of my long career. I dream at night of operas and concerts in which I have had my share of success. Now, like the old Irish Minstrels, I have hung up my harp because my songs are all sung.”

Read more… | Watch Video 1 / 2 / 3 / and 4/…

A special mention and great thanks to our dear Scottish friends, Iain & Margaret, who provided such great and moving Scottish stories in ”Letters from Scotland“ .

We wish to thank everyone who visits and reads, on the site or via email or RSS feed. Your feedback/comments on the blog are very much appreciated and we love to hear from you.

I’d also like to call your attention to Mairiunas’s series-of-posts (7) featuring our travel on the ”Blue Road” through the Province of Quebec, inspired by Kenneth White’s novel: The Blue Road

Following the Blue Road on the Steps of Kenneth White in Quebec =>

As soon as Mairiuna recuperates her voice, we will continue the ongoing audio recording of Walter Scott’s most popular novel: Rob Roy

We’re looking forward to an even more active 2011. Stay tuned for more reporting on our favourite Scottish authors and themes. We’ve already introduced a few of them on Scotiana but there is so much more to read and share with you.

Of course, we’ll go on with our reading of Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Iain Rankin, Thomas Carlyle, Kenneth White but we also intend to introduce many other Scottish writers (Neil Gunn, Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown, Margaret Oliphant, George Douglas Brown, Lewis Grassic Gibbon…)

We are also eager to introduce on Scotiana some of our favourite subjects in the historical and archaelogical fields (The Pictish Stones – The massacre of Glencoe…) and, while preparing our next trip to Scotland, we will share with you many more photos of our previous Scottish travels. There is so much to say about the Scottish landscapes, cities and towns, the old abbeys and castles… and what about Scottish lifestyle : whisky and food… and delicious recipes : scones, pancakes, soups!

If there is a subject you would like us to tackle, do not hesitate to contact us and share your thoughts.

Have a wonderful 2011!

Best,

Mairiuna and Janice

Art Nouveau Peacock on Princes Square Shopping Center in Buchanan Street, Glasgow

MAJA — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:04:51 +0000

The peacock being the most spread Art Nouveau pattern, a great example is the one adorning the Princes Square Shopping Centre building facade on Buchanan Street in the heart of Glasgow.

They had some doubts about the delivery dates promised by Alan Dawson, for such an extensive project would require much time. They were also sceptic that it would all fit inside the budget, but Alan Dawson was confident that he could accomplish the task within deadline and budget.

Following a partnership with the Workington firm Shepley Engineering, he teamed with traditional artist-blacksmiths. They started the program in 1987 and in 1990, in time and within budget, the main exterior peacock was added to the Buchanan Street facade, in part as a contribution to the City of Culture Festival in Glasgow that year.

The Princes Square’s peacock is a magnificent piece of metal art and deserves we take some time to know more about its features.

Located on the top of the facade, the peacock’s sculpture is made in coloured hand-forged wrought iron and steel, extending to its colossal dimensions of 10m high and 20m wide. It comes out from the iron ring which is located in the center of the attic balustrade.

Its tail, outspreading in the air are tipped with bronze aluminium rods making it an eye-catching sculpture and definitely a dominant landmark of the Buchanan Street’s south section.

Peacock - Princes Square Galleries by night - Photo by gordonjc (Flickr)

The use of a consistent pattern of imagery throughout, as well as a candid dependence on Art Nouveau precedents in the style, enables the scheme to be read as a visually and conceptually unified whole.

Public Sculpture of Glasgow by Raymond Mckenzie

Glasgow is notable as being one of the few British cities to have resisted artistic centralization based in London. Only in Glasgow were there significant local workshops, often family-based, training dynasties of native sculptors. Public Sculpture of Glasgow includes work by some of the most influential British and continental sculptors during the last 200 years including John Flaxman, John Gibson, J.H. Foley and Carlo Marochetti. Ray McKenzie has in this volume for the first time demonstrated the importance of Glasgow’s architectural sculpture and explained its function with a wealth superbly arranged and carefully marshaled detail.

I cannot write about Art Nouveau without mentioning the name of Charles Rennie Mackintosh!

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

He was an architect-designer and has put Glasgow on the map with the formation of the Glasgow School of Art, along with other local artists around the turn of the century. His work can be seen around the city in the shape of many historical buildings, and his designs and architectural works are still a source of inspiration for many modern designs of today.

During our last trip to Scotland, we visited some of Mackintosh’s heritage sites : The Hill House, Glasgow School of Art ( founded in 1845 which makes it one of the oldest creative institutions in the UK ), The Willow Tearooms, The Mackintosh House ( Hunterian Art Gallery), The Queen’s Cross church and Mairiuna and I are eager to write several posts about them.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was more than just an architect. He was also an outstanding international artist and designer, so stay tuned for more!

Enjoy the read and leave a comment below to share your thoughts.

Talk soon.

Janice

Princes Square, one of Glasgow’s Leading Speciality Shopping Centres

MAJA — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:23:34 +0000

James Campbell Lord Provost of Glasgow Scotland

Back in 1840, Glasgow architect John Baird was commissioned by Sir James Campbell, to design the large block of business premises in Buchanan Street, known as Prince’s Buildings. The buildings formed a four-storey merchant square in yellow sandstone, named in honour of the birth of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII)

A year or so later, the building was ready for occupancy and the then Lord Provost of Glasgow, James Campbell, having gone into partnership with his brother, expanded their clothing business within the new premises under the company name of J. & W. Campbell & Co.

The medallion picture beside shows the favourite occupation of Sir James Campbell: using his compasses. His expertise on planning and erecting buildings was of great reputation.

He put the emphasis on one particular element: lighting! He thought that architects were neglecting this key factor and insisted that the construction of any building should always provide for plenty of light in all areas.

That’s exactly what the architectural firm of Hugh Martin & Partners took into consideration, in 1985, when they undertook the restoration of the building to deliver the actual structure of the Princes Square Shopping Centre.

From the magnificently designed peacock on top of the facade, that guards the entrance without rustling its feathers, to the beautiful finishings inside the atrium along with more than thirty stores covering fashion, beauty, art, jewellery, gifts and lifestyle, all under a magnificent Art Nouveau glass roof, the Princes Square Shopping Centre is now Scotland’s leading specialities leisure centre.

What really catched my fancy when we last visited, was the central entrance from Buchanan Street leading up into a 2 storey escalator which takes you directly to the upper terrace gallery.

The walls of this entrance adorns the series of “Trompe L’oeil” artistic paintings designed by Dai Vaughan to commemorate famous Glaswegians of the past: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, James Watt, Lord Kelvin, David Livingstone, Thomas Lipton, William Burrell, James Maxton et Sir John Moore…

Mairiuna and I were so impressed by this superb work of art, as Jean-Claude was also, that we spent more time going up, again and again, the escalator passage than we took time shopping.

A feature of this design is that the figures come and go in focus as a visitor moves slowly up the escalator!

As we were experiencing with this awesome visual effect, we took some footage which is now inside this video put together by Jean-Claude. The images speak for themselves. Check it out! You won’t regret it.

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Princes Square Atrium,Buchanan Street, Glasgow-Copyright 2007 Scotiana

Circulation around the square, as in any building, is important in a centre with 3 upper levels of shopping. With the spirit of the ‘theme’ however, movement is seen as part of the pleasure and not a cause for anxiety.

Visitors are ‘invite’ to explore all corners of the building. The lifts, staircases and escalators are designed to allow people to feel part of the theatrical display of pattern and colour.

The ‘grand’ staircase, lifts and escalators are all clearly visible from the entrances. The grand staircase is a double helix designed to allow people to progress gradually between the lower ground, ground and first floor levels. The curved landing between each flight also allow people to stand and look around.

We sincerely hope that Princes Square will set a trend towards the creation of more shopping centres where the shopper not only enjoys the experience, but received good service and quality merchandise, and most of all feels a sense of place .

Source : www.princessquare.co.uk

Even though you are not in a shopping mood, it is definitely worth a visit.

For a good choice of hotels with discount prices, visit Where to stay in Glasgow for more information.

Talk soon.

Janice

A Colorful Video Tour of Buchanan Street, Glasgow’s Main Shopping Avenue

MAJA — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:30:51 +0000

Escalator leading up to Princes Square Galleries, Buchanan Street

Hey Mairiuna, before we hop unto Princes Square’s inviting blue escalator leading up to it’s animated galleries, let’s stroll a bit longer on Buchanan street, the most popular and well known shopping street of Glasgow.

I was so impressed by the urban design that I would happily spend more time in this premier pedestrian thoroughfare housing more than 125 shops & venues.

You can find anything and everything on this street from a variety of shops fit for all budgets to museums, restaurants and bookshops.

There’s even a stamp shop! We were past opening hours last time around, but since we are both fond of topical stamp collecting, I’ve listed the Buchanan Street Stamps as a store to explore on our next trip to Glasgow. It’s on the west side, between Nelson Mandela Place and Bath Street.

There’s much to be seen and done on Buchanan Street. Watch this video to get a feel of it. Enjoy!

Buchanan Street : Up and Down one of Glasgow’s most Popular and Coloured Streets

MAJA — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:27:26 +0000

From our different trips to Glasgow, we came back with a great number of photos and unforgettable memories.

As we generally focused, during the day, on monuments and museums, we were left with little time to wander about the streets, but let me tell you that if you have the opportunity to visit Glasgow by night don’t miss it. It’s magical…

In Buchanan Street, for example, as soon as the street lights are on, the whole area becomes blue and of a most beautiful kind of blue. I had never seen such a thing before. Quite exciting to walk in such strange atmosphere!

Is blue going to replace black up the hierarchy of colours generally used to describe the town? Industry blackened the city but it had been green before, as its names indicates, and now, in the post-industrial era, it is gaining new colours. Indeed, blue is a colour which is not restricted to the city centre, as we shall see in our next posts about Glasgow. Our vision of the Scottish metropolis is vivid and multicoloured though it has its grey and black shades too.

So let us walk about the street and try to discover some of its secrets.

Glasgow Subway Places of interest St Enoch Buchanan Street map

On the road to Scotiana’s ‘Glasgow Top Ten’ we’ve begun our virtual visit of the city at St Enoch Square, one of its busiest districts. In our last two posts, we’ve taken the subway and visited St Enoch centre with Janice, as our guide.

Buchanan Street Scotiana-modified Google Map

Let us cross Argyll Street now to walk up Buchanan Street and, following our map, from St Enoch Station in the south to Buchanan Street Station in the north.

Bordeaux Rue Sainte-Catherine Source Wikipedia

Buchanan Street Source Wikipedia

It’s a long walk to go, about one kilometre. Not so long however, I would like to add with a French “clin d’oeil”, as “La rue Sainte Catherine” in Bordeaux which, with its 1.25 km is reputed to be the longest pedestrian street in Europe. I can’t help comparing the Scottish and French streets as they seem to share a number of features as do indeed Glasgow and Bordeaux as a whole. I’ll try to widen the comparison in my next posts.

Bordeaux Rue Sainte Catherine Meeting with a friendly Scotsman

On rue Sainte Catherine you even happen to fall upon a son of Scotland… tall stature, tartan, and… a smile! Many thanks to the gentleman for the photo!

Back to Buchanan Street now. No need to say it has undergone big changes since the 18th century when the street was called Virginia Street after a house belonging to Andrew Buchanan, a rich tobacco merchant. If he came back today this “tobacco lord” would certainly not recognise his estate nor the street to which he had given his name. Most of these changes are quite recent, in fact. A whole process of refurbishment seems to have begun in the area after the demolition, in 1971, of the old buildings of Buchanan Street Railway Station which had been closed in 1966. The street was then entirely repaved with beautiful pink granite cobblestone and equipped with that blue neon lighting which gives it, at night, its strange and blue atmosphere. For all that, together with the construction of new buildings mixing rather harmoniously with the old Victorian architecture of the place, Buchanan Street won, in 2008, the Academy of Urbanism “Great Street” Award. Quite deserved!

There are a number of very interesting places to visit in Buchanan street for the Art Lover as well as for the shopper. For the first one let us mention the Gallery of Modern Art and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall which are highly reputed. The Lighthouse, this artistic temple which stands like its ocean counterpart amidst the city flow and which is parlty devoted to Mackintosh sublime art, is not very far either.

We did not have time to do our shopping in the very attractive stores we found on our way but if we only passed in front of the famous Buchanan Galleries we did not fail to enter Princes Square which had appealed to us at once with its superb modern style roof ornamented with a stylized wrought-iron peacock that has become one of the emblems of the street.

Donald Dewar statue Source : Google Photo

I would not leave Buchanan Street without paying my tribute to Donald Dewar, this great Scottish politician whose statue stands just in front of the Royal Concert Hall. He was the first holder of the office of Prime Minister in the new Scottish Parliament which opened in 1999. He is often considered as the “Father of the Nation”. Unfortunately, he suddenly died in 2000, while in office. Dewar’s funeral service was held at Glasgow Cathedral and his ashes were scattered at Lochgilphead in Argyll.

On the above photo, behind Donald Dewar statue, on the wall of the Royal Concert Hall, the coat of arms of Glasgow is clearly visible. The famous Scottish rhyme goes :

This is the tree that never grew.
This is the bird that never flew.
This is the bell that never rang.
This is the fish that never swam.

And why not end our walk sharing a delicious cup of tea and a few delicacies in the famous Willow Tea Room, at number 97, which happens to be situated next to the building where Mrs Cranston’s original Buchanan Tea Rooms were located. Chin Chin ! A bientôt. Mairiuna.