Kelvin Hall transport exhibits

I have to be honest, and say that I felt double-crossed by Glasgow City Council many years ago, after hearing the announcement that the original Museum of Transport (established in a former tram depot in Albert Drive in 1964) would move to the Kelvin Hall in 1987.

Not being a sporty type, I thought it was some sort of joke as I watched the Kelvin Hall became a massive sports arena. All the shows I used to go and see there came to an abrupt end, and the Museum of Transport was relegated to what was, in my opinion, little more than a corner at the back of the vast building.

Many years later, now that the Museum of Transport has moved to Riverside, it looks as if things might be coming good for the Kelvin Hall, as the sports are ejected and it returns to its proper duties, as intended before it was hijacked.

The building we see today dates from 1927, but this was preceded by another building on the same site, the Industrial Hall – a temporary wooden structure built for the for the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901, which was held in Kelvingrove Park. The original hall burnt down in 1925, and was replaced by the new Kelvin Hall of 1927, designed to house large-scale exhibitions.

A scheme to turn Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall into a cultural, research and training centre has been given initial approval for almost £5m of lottery funds.

The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a first round pass for the plan to create a safe home for Glasgow’s city and university museum collections.

The city council said it would provide access to the city’s cultural legacy.

…

The Kelvin Hall scheme would house a combined 1.5 million treasures from Glasgow’s civic collection and from The University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery.

The hall’s international athletics track is also due to close with the opening of the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. The Glasgow Club leisure facilities would remain at the site.

via BBC News – Kelvin Hall museums plan on track for £5m lottery funds.

Athletes who attend the few days of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, for which we are footing a bill of millions and suffering disruption for, and having our intelligence insulted on a regular basis by being told these games will leave a ‘Lasting Legacy’ (lasting bills more likely), are now to escape income tax.

Not for any good reason, but simply because they might not come if they are made to pay their dues – and we can’t upset celebrities these days, can we?

I might not have mentioned this if the move had been aimed at up-and coming athletes who may not be making a penny (yet), but they made the mistake of naming Usain Bolt in the news about this tax evasion, and I doubt if he is short of a penny or two.

(Even I , who care not one jot about him, know he has a sponsorship deal with Puma, and has already done a lucrative deal for his autobiography, so his pension is in the bank.)

Athletes from outside the UK who compete in the 2014 Commonwealth Games are to be given an income tax exemption.

The Treasury has decided to grant the incentive to encourage top international competitors to attend the Glasgow event.

Chief Secretary Danny Alexander is expected to confirm the move during a visit to the west of Scotland.

A similar measure has been put in place for the London 2012 Olympics.

Any athlete not normally resident in the UK is subject to UK income tax on any payment for performing in the country.

‘Memorable Games’

This can include a proportion of worldwide endorsement income.

The exemption could be particularly valuable to top stars such as sprinter Usain Bolt.

In the draft text of a speech Mr Alexander intends to make during a visit to the Commonwealth Sports Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, released to the media, he explained the move.

Mr Alexander said: “With six months tomorrow to go until London 2012, I’m pleased to announce this special exemption for Glasgow 2014 which will prolong the Olympic legacy and help spread the long-term benefits into Scotland.

“Everyone wants to see the best athletes compete at Glasgow 2014 and this exemption will make that more likely.”

via BBC News – Tax break offer to 2014 Commonwealth Games athletes.

Not quite what I expected to find when I opened the box!

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At a time when millions are being poured down the drain to promote the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, on the basis of some fantasy known as ‘Lasting Legacy’ (promised to follow all such events, but seldom delivered afterwards), this idea is just t0o sensible to ever see the light of day.

But, I hope my first thoughts on this are proved wrong.

Rather than the grand ideas that attract publicity, this is sort of thing we desperately need to see more of in Scotland if it is to profit from its role as a ‘tourist trap’ now that it has no industry to speak of.

There must be (and there are) many more ideas such as this floundering around out there, too expensive for inspired individuals to finance and turn into reality without backing, but still costing just a fraction of the huge money-pits like the 2014 Games, whose high-profile, but here-today-gone-tomorrow nature, sees grabbing all the investment.

We need more smaller projects which are sustainable and here to stay, spread across the country and keeping a steady drip of visitors moving around and parting with their tourist cash, rather than big-bang one-off events that cost more to stage than they can ultimately return.

Rail chiefs are looking at the idea of building a viewing platform for visitors to be hoisted more than 300ft to the top of the Forth Rail Bridge.

Network Rail, which manages the bridge, has confirmed it is examining the feasibility of establishing visitor access.

The platform would offer impressive views of all around the Firth of Forth.

via BBC News – Plan for viewing platform at top of Forth Rail Bridge.

Also Viewing platform could turn Forth Bridge into Scotland’s Eiffel Tower | News | Edinburgh | STV

Forth Bridge no scaffolding in 2011 © James Allan

Update

It seems the above idea made it into the news only a few days before the 122nd anniversary of the first train crossing the Forth Bridge.

You can see hundred of images of this iconic bridge, dating from its very beginnings to the present day, here:

Site Record for Forth Bridge Forth Rail Bridge; Forth Railway Bridge; River Forth; Inner Forth Estuary; Queensferry Narrows; South Queensferry; Dalmeny Digital_images

Original PS Comet

Thurston's illustration, 1878

The original PS (Paddle Steamer) Comet was constructed for Henry Bell in 1811, by John Wood, a Port Glasgow shipbuilder, and completed on January 18, 1812. The first passenger vessel built in Europe, PS Comet was a wooden vessel of some 30 tons, about 40 feet in length, and 10 feet in beam, and originally fitted with four paddle wheels, arranged as two on each side, driven by an engine rated at three horsepower. The two sets of twin paddle wheels were later replaced by single wheel on each side, and the length has been reported as having been extended by 20 feet to increase her capacity. Two engines were fitted to the vessel (not at the same time), but the changeover date is unknown – perhaps the change was carried out when the number of paddles was reduced, and the hull lengthened. The completed boat was put into service on a 24 mile route between Greenock and Glasgow, departing Greenock on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, returning on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. A fare of four shillings (£0.20) was charged for the best cabin, and three shillings (£0.15) for second class. Although Bell was reported to have made heavy losses at the start of the venture, and some months passed before the craft was considered trustworthy by its passengers, it proved itself to be safe and secure transport on the route.

Replica Comet

Replica Comet on the Clyde

The Provost of Greenock came up with the idea of building a model of the Comet to celebrate the forthcoming 150th anniversary of her inaugural sailing. Despite the fact that she was built in Port Glasgow, then a separate burgh, he felt the links with James Watt and Greenock were worth celebrating. There was much discussion as to the scale the model should be built to, and where it would be displayed, until Lord Lithgow suggested building a full sized replica. He canvassed support from other ship related businesses and offered the services of his own shipyard.

On Saturday, September 1, the replica Comet was launched from the same berth that the original boat was built on by Mrs Walter Lucas, and afloat in the fitting out basin to be finished off.

On Sunday, September 2, eleven invited dignitaries plus Lord Lithgow, all attired in period costume, and with two engineers as crew, assembled at the yard and boarded the Comet. The parade of floats arrived, and she cast off at 3.30 pm. Once out of the yard she was met by a large flotilla of canoes, sailing dinghies, yachts, and motor boats to escort her on her journey to Helensburgh. The boiler, fired by lignum vitae logs, worked well and the engine achieved the design speed of 5 knots.

The occasion was further remembered with the issue of a special commemorative envelope designed by John Brown, an art teacher at Greenock Academy.

The above summary comes from out slightly longer Wiki page: Secret Scotland – PS Comet

Bicentenary

There have been a few sites popping up over the past couple of years, and these looked quite hopeful, especially those suggesting that the replica would be restored to steam ans be seen on the Clyde for the bicentenary. As far as I can see, those sites evaporated or went dormant, and were never updated after initial enthusiasm. They also seemed to be devoid of contacts, so I never mentioned them, or returned to them after a while.

That doesn’t include Comet Rebuilt though, which is well worth a visit, and provided the following clip (which is just one of many):

Another has been Helensburgh Heritage.

There have been two newsletters to date, with the most recent being issued in January 2012. You can read the details here (these are downloadable PDF files):

Comet 2012 Newsletter-1

Comet 2012 Newsletter-2

This confirmed that the replica would not be seen on the Clyde. Although it has recently been restored and returned to its site on display in Port Glasgow, the work carried out was not able to be extended to include restoration to full operation, but has ensured that the replica will be able to survive its exposed outdoor display for many years to come.

While many of the events are still to be finalised, a couple have been announced:

Friday 22 June 2012 will mark the start of the annual Comet Festival in Port Glasgow with a street parade and party. The following day the main event – the Gala Day with all sorts of activities – will take place in Coronation Park. Because 2012 is a special year, the Festival will run for longer than usual, with a variety of events taking place daily until Sunday 1 July – see our website for fuller details.

Saturday 4th August 2012 is when events will start in Helensburgh. These will include a visit to Helensburgh by a number of small steam boats. Where they will be on the day will be dependent on weather and (to a lesser extent) tides. These small vessels should prove to be an attractive feature on the day. It is also hoped that the Royal Navy will provide a ship of some sort.

The Comet Bicentenary Website

The final piece of news regarding events concerns the appearance of dedicated website, not yet populated, but promised to be coming along shortly, so keep checking:

Comet-2012

Comet Archway for Helensburgh

I almost forgot to mention another benefit that the bicentenary appears to have spawned.

As the newsletter mentioned above notes, while Port Glasgow has the historic Comet replica on display, and Helensburgh has the Henry Bell obelisk to remember him by, and the flywheel from the PC Comet is displayed on the shore, there is not really anything in the town that makes an obvious link to the past events around the vessel(s).

This looks set to change in the not too distant future, as it has been revealed that plans are well underway to produce a steel archway as a permanent reminder to those past events surrounding the Comet, and is to be sited somewhere on, or near, Helensburgh Pier.

The main steel work for the memorial is to be carried out by the apprentices being trained by Babcock Marine at Faslane, while other services will be provided free of charge by those involved and supporting the project.

I really look forward to seeing this.

To me, given the Scottish Government’s edict of a 50% increase in the amount collected from tourists, issued a few years ago (and I think seldom referred to nowadays – other than by me, it’s a regular in this Blog), this is something unique, and which should have been jumped on as an asset, and relatively valuable USP (unique selling proposition).

But it wasn’t, at least not in any obvious way in those past two years – opportunity lost.

So called Dark Skies Tourism may be small, but it doesn’t take much to cater for enthusiasts. They bring their own equipment, which can be as simple as the naked eye, as dark skies mean that a lot can be seen compared to anywhere near a light polluted city or urban environment. What they really need is just a little organisation, hotels and guest houses that don’t make an issue of, or have silly rules about guests leaving and returning during hours of darkness. I’ve stayed in a few odd places with odd rules in the past, hopefully a thing of the past and they are all gone now, but nonetheless, for dark sky observers, it would be a disaster to land in such a place.

It’s not too clear, but the clip from a NASA view of the night-time Earth does show the notable difference between the north-west of Scotland, and the rest of the country.

The BBC recently made a short film on the subject:

BBC News – Dark skies tourism boosts Scottish economy

At the same time, it also covered the matter of light pollution, and referred to the annual Star Count:

BBC News – Light pollution: Is there a solution?

See also:

International Dark-Sky Association

Organisation of parties to suitable viewing places in the deserted north-west of Scotland might not be a bad idea either. I used to tour the area in search of specific historic locations, and to save time would often travel at night. Being something of an insomniac, I could make the most of daylight to explore, without wasting daylight hours on travel. However, one thing that often stopped me in my tracks was the simple act of filling my car with petrol. Sorties into some areas meant ending my days prematurely as I could only travel 300 miles on one tank of fuel. Since petrol stations are both rare in such areas, and run to shop hours (usually shut before 6 pm), trips into dry areas had to be planned to reach one before it closed, or I had to give up before running out of petrol. Seriously.

On more than one occasion, if I had been held up on the road, I had to park up in a small village and sleep in the car, waiting for the local petrol station to open up in the morning. Hard to believe for city folk used to 24/7 fuel supplies, but if I could not fill up before 6 pm, I could only go as far as the remains in my tank allowed until thing opened up the next morning – and a spare gallon in the boot didn’t help much. Id have had to go a lot further than that to get to a 24/7 garage, and I had them all logged in my GPS. This was a few years ago, so I can only assume things are even worse now, given the various media stories of more and more petrol station closures in the north as the price rises and sales fall.

Even though it seems to be missing opportunities, the numbers seem to show that visitor numbers to Scotland are rising…

However, it also warns that a closer look at the number shows that while they may be on the increase, they are not bringing in the new money the decree call for, as the rise is in staycations (people choosing to holiday at home), while the number of overseas visitors is actually dropping.

Maybe they have discovered the advantages of the staycation too.

BBC News – Rise in Scottish tourist numbers

Most people around Glasgow know the vessel as ‘The Carrick’ from its days moored on the River Clyde, where it lay between 1923 and 1989. Unfortunately, it also sank there on  more than one occasion, and ownership eventually passed to the Scottish Maritime Museum. During the period 1992/1993, the remains were moved to a private slipway adjacent to the museum, and a number of scenarios followed, including the proposed deconstruction of the remains, and demolition. Fortunately, the latter option was deemed not to meet the requirements of deconstruction, which would have seen a proper historical record made of all parts and construction methods found.

There are more detailed listing of various incidents and proposals regarding the decaying vessel as it lay neglected in Irvine, and many of these were noted in the Forum thread mentioned above, and we will not be trying to list them here. Please refer to the thread for more information, if desired.

We also have two past Blog entries relating to the City of Adelaide:

June 1, 2011 – City of Adelaide is still rotting away in Irvine

January 4, 2010 – City of Adelaide rots while authorities dither

The Forum followed more current developments, including this article from August 31, 2010 – Culture Minister announces plan to save City of Adelaide/Carrick with Australian bidder

I had largely forgotten about things after this, as there did not seem to be much happening.

WRONG!

It seems that the wheels had indeed been ‘set in motion’ following the Scottish Culture Minister’s announcement, and I just found the following Media Release from the latter part of 2010, which I am pleased to be able to reproduce in full below:

Clipper Ship Cradle About to Set Sail for Scotland

Media Release

28 October 2011

The project to return the world’s oldest clipper ship, the ‘City of Adelaide’, to Port Adelaide will reach another important milestone tomorrow with the completion of the base of a giant 100 tonne steel cradle. A ceremony at Gillman will herald the completion of the cradle base that will support the clipper during its transport from Scotland to Australia. The cradle base has been pre-assembled for integration checks and will be shipped to Scotland in a week’s time.

Valued at $1 million, the cradle has being jointly donated by over a dozen Adelaide and SA regional firms. The ceremony will take place at Samaras Structural Engineers who have donated both labour and materials to the project and will be marked by the cutting of a ribbon by Senator Don Farrell, a staunch supporter of the project and the descendant of a clipper ship captain.

Senator Farrell said “This is an excellent project that helps to mark South Australia’s 175th year. South Australians should be proud, as I am of the collegiate spirit of the engineering firms from across the State that have combined forces to build the cradle. The ‘City of Adelaide’ is an icon of the foundation era of Australia’s social and economic history. It is one of only four surviving sailing ships in the world to have transported emigrants from the British Isles to any destination and will be the only surviving sailing ship in Australia to have brought migrants here.”

Senator Farrell, George Samaras, the General Manager of Samaras Structural Engineers, Creagh O’Connor, the Chairman of the City of Adelaide Preservation Trust, and a group of supporters from the Trust and other donors will also attend the ceremony.

Adelaide firms Aztec Analysis and Bown Contracting and Drafting have designed the cradle so that it can be built over multiple South Australian sites, and then shipped to Glasgow in shipping containers for assembly underneath the ‘City of Adelaide’. The clipper and cradle will then be rolled onto a barge for transfer to a deep port, where it will be transferred onto an ocean-going ship for the voyage to Australia.

Background

The ‘City of Adelaide’ and the ‘Cutty Sark’ are the world’s last two surviving clipper ships. Built in 1864, the ‘City of Adelaide’ is the elder of the two. It made annual runs for a quarter-century from London to South Australia carrying thousands of UK and European migrants. In Australia today, a quarter of a million living descendants can trace their origins to passengers that sailed on the ‘City of Adelaide’.

The ‘City of Adelaide’ currently sits on a slipway in Scotland and its owners, the Scottish Maritime Museum, are being evicted from the site. With few options, they called for tenders to demolish the ship. The City of Adelaide Preservation Trust lodged a bid to ‘demolish’ the ship by taking it to Australia in one piece. Late last year the Scottish Government announced that the Australian solution was the preferred bidder.

To date 75% of the project costs have been funded through contributions from Scottish Government, Adelaide City Council and Port Adelaide Enfield Council, as well as public and corporate donations. The South Australian Government is contributing land to display the clipper at Cruickshank Corner in Port Adelaide

Legend

From left to right, then top to bottom, the details of the above images are as follows:

1. Parts pre-fabrication at Samaras Structural Engineers at Gillman. Photo by Richard Smith.
2. Cradle fabrication at MG Engineering at Port Adelaide. Photo by Richard Smith.
3. Cradle fabrication at MG Engineering at Port Adelaide. Photo by Richard Smith.
4. Finished cradle components at SJ Cheesman Engineering at Port Pirie. Photo by Richard Smith.
5. Cradle integration assembly at Samaras Structural Engineers at Gillman. Photo by Richard Smith.
6. Laser-survey silhouette of ‘City of Adelaide’ on cradle. Cradle design by Aztec Analysis; cradle detail design and graphic by Steve Bown.
7. The transportation cradle.  Cradle design by Aztec Analysis; cradle detail design and graphic by Steve Bown.
8. End view of transportation cradle and silhouette of clipper. Cradle design by Aztec Analysis; cradle detail design and graphic by Steve Bown.
9. Colourised (real colour) laser survey scan. Laser survey and graphic by Headland Archaeology, Edinburgh.

via Clipper Ship Cradle About To Set Sail For Scotland – 28 Oct 2011 | 2011 News.

Some of the cats fell out of the internet:

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I have to confess that after reading numerous other blog entries, and the discordant opinions of many ‘experts’ in the area, I have emerged confused, rather than wiser, after reading them all together with the logic behind them.

In fact, rather than come down in print in this blog in favour of one version or the other, I’m abstaining. Not because I don’t know how to apply the sometimes troublesome little apostrophe, but because I am not a mind-reader, and do not know the intended meaning of the presentation of the word as the corporate front.

However, I will express one clear and distinct opinion…

To merely drop the apostrophe on the basis of its inability to be included in a web url is NOT sufficient reason.

That makes Waterstones (or Waterstone’s, or maybe even Waterstones’ in this case) offence no better than that seen in the case of the Greengrocer’s Apostrophe – or should that be Greengrocers’ Apostrophe?

What are Greengrocers’ Apostrophes?

The apostrophe is confusing enough for normal people who don’t write much and therefore don’t gain much experience in handling it.

Organisation such as Waterstones (or Waterstone’s) who are ‘in the trade’ should be helping to make things clearer,  not muddying the water by using non-grammatical criteria to define their use of the little helper.

I can’t even boycott them, as I would not be seen dead inside a shop that has so many waste-of-skin celebrities through its doors, signing books they have allegedly written.

Residents of a Hebridean village are being given the chance to have their say on whether to take over the running of their own village.

Scalpay landlord Fred Taylor has offered to give his 300 tenants control of their own land free of charge.

He says he has no plans to sell the land to anyone else and would retain the island if its residents decide not to take it from him.

Island residents to have say on community buy-out

Mr Taylor, who inherited the island from his father ten years ago, says the residents could set up their own community trust or join the larger neighbouring community estate managed by the North Harris Trust.

The Scalpay Community Land Steering Group is in discussions with Western Isles Council to hold a public ballot early in June.

via Island residents to have say on community buy-out | Highlands & Islands | STV News.

Earlier beginnings

The story began about a year ago (2011), when it was reported that the Islanders may get their island for free.