Stood still on a highway...

If you don't recognise it then the title is the first line from Chris Rea's "Road to Hell".

And for those of you familiar with Glasgow then you probably guessed by now that this post is all about the mighty M8 motorway.
As I said in a previous post, love it or hate it the M8 is an integral part of Glasgow life so this blog didn't feel complete without a post about it and really about some of the landmarks along it.
Also one of the twitter followers, Lauren, had suggested a wee roadtrip and what better roadtrip to start with than the M8!! Thanks Lauren! Hope you enjoy! Most of these photos were taken last week in between the rain showers.

Now I'm back at work I travel down the M8 every day. I both love and hate this road. It is the road that brings me home from the airport through the city that I love. I love that feeling. It is the road that takes me through to Edinburgh, actually another city that I love. And it is the road that I have sat on like a car park for hours waiting to cross the Kingston Bridge getting back from Braehead!! Grrr!! Love and hate.

ok, few facts about the M8. It is over 60 miles long and connects Edinburgh all the way through to Greenock. The first section built was the Harthill bypass in 1965. And it still isn't finished!!

Below are some of the images I have captured from travelling along the just over 20 mile section from Harthill into Glasgow.

First up is the Kirk O'Shotts transmitter. I used to commute through to work in Edinburgh every day and seeing this and the Harthill services used to tell me that I was half way home. This mast is 183 metres (600 foot) tall and was built in 1952. It used to be the BBC's main central Scotland trasmitter. It is named after the church building just along the road from it. More about that next.

I have admired this church for so many years sitting up on it's hill next to the motorway surrounded by it's graveyard. It is the Kirk o'Shott's Parish Church just outside the village of Salsburgh. It is such a famous landmark is it often just referred to as the M8 church.

It was built in 1450 as St. Catherine's Chapel. In 2005 it was in danger of being closed due to a state of disrepair. After an appeal, including hanging a save our church sign that was seen from the motorway, the church was repaired and rededicated in 2007.
This was the first time I had actually driven up and taken a walk around. It is a beautiful building and the graveyard is very special. Worth taking the time to come off the M8 and enjoy the peaceful surroundings. And it is peaceful even though you can see Scotland's busiest road go past you. Standing up there you feel very detached from all that bustle.

To read more about the church and Salsburgh here is the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsburgh

Next along the road to Glasgow is something different again. The Big Heid's sculptures at Eurocentral. I work very close to these and love seeing them every morning and lit up at night.

They are the work of artist David Mach and were built in 1999.

Each of the heads is 10 metres tall and made from welded sections of pipe. Each face is actually modelled on a local volunteer from North Lanarkshire.

Just along from Eurocentral is the Showcase Leisure Park. There is something about this park that just reminds me of America when I pass by with the multiplex cinema and bowling. Even the sign feels like something from a 1950's American movie. Just needs a 50ft B-movie monster standing behind it!! :)

And next is probably my favourite landmark on the M8. The Heavy Horse.
This was scuplted by Glasgow artist Andy Scott and was unveiled in 1997.
It stands 4 metres tall at the head and is made from welded steel bars.

Here is what the website about Andy Scott's work says about it:

"...the true inspiration was as a metaphor for the city of Glasgow. Once a proud industrial manufacturing city, the city has now refashioned itself for the 21st century as a show city of culture... the horse was once a beast of burden, but the sculpture stands free of the bridles of work and has its mane and tail in pleats and ribbons for exhibition, yet is magnificently reminiscent of its hard working ancestry. "

When I took these photos it was the first time in all the years of admiring this scuplture that I actually stopped and went to see it up close. It is magnificent. I love it even more now.

I will maybe do a seperate blog on Andy Scott's work but here is the web page for now:
http://www.aqza25.dsl.pipex.com/andy/works.html

Just along from the Heavy Horse is the new Glasgow Fort shopping centre opened in 2004. I think this has been a great addition to the North and East of Glasgow and especially with a Borders bookshop is somewhere you can often find me hanging out. The curved steel structure is a striking landmark on the M8 and has a similar feel to some of Glasgow's other modern architcture like the Science Centre and the Armadillo.

Now onto where the M80 and the M8 connect and some landmarks that are truly gate markers for the city. The giant gasometers at the Provan gas works.

Yes these are called gasometers, I didn't know that until recently, and were built to store gas. The movable cap rises and falls depending upon the amount of gas stored. (You will have seen one of these next to the Oval cricket ground in London if you have been watching England's Ashes victory) The one at Provan are the largest in the UK, though I'm not sure they are actually used anymore to store gas? If you are old enough you will remember that a huge Glasgow's Miles Better with Mr Happy used to hang on these during the 1980's.

And now on into the city. This photo was actually taken a few weeks ago and is of the almost artistic pattern to the concrete structure under the M8 as it passes through Cowcaddens.
The M8 then carries on through Charing Cross which I covered in a previous post:
http://glasgowtheday.blogspot.com/2009/06/im-wanderer-just-wanderer.html

And finally on this roadtrip, the Kingston Bridge that carries the M8 over the Clyde.

This bridge carries approximately 150,000 vehicles a day. Hence one of the reasons why you often end up stuck in a traffic jam on it during the rush hour!!

It is named after the Kingston Dock that used to be on the south side of the river at this point. It was opened in 1970 and designed to take 20,000 vehicles per day. Partly because of the overburden by 1990 it had to begin extensive repairs including lift up the bridge on hydraulic jacks.

Looking at this bridge it's not iconic like the Golden Gate, Sydney Harbour or Brooklyn Bridge but it is Glasgow's bridge and because of that I have a certain affection for it. Also when travelling over it at night gives a great view of the other bridges all lit up over the Clyde.

Well that was my wee M8 roadtrip. A road to hell or a good mate (M8)? Probably a bit of both. But with so many interesting landmarks to look out for along it's length then even when you are stuck in traffic it can be a pleasure.

Best bit? Tie between The Heavy Horse and Kirk o'Shott's Chapel. If you get a chance to get off the motorway and see them up close then do it. If you travel this road then it feels like visiting an old friend.

Be well, be happy!!

There's a shadow on his photograph, on Tinian '45...

Not had much of a chance to walk about Glasgow or post anything up for last few weeks but thought I would quickly post up these photos I took a couple of weeks back.

Been listening to the Deacon Blue "Raintown" album in the car to work and one of my favourite tracks is "He looks like Spencer Tracy now". Always loved the haunting sound and the imagery of the song. The title of this post is the first line of the song.

This song was inspired by a Times magazine article written in 1985 about Harold Agnew who was one of the people on the the instrument aircraft "Great Artiste" that flew with the "Enola Gay" and took the photos of the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima. Tinian Island is where the aircaft took off from.

It is a fascinating article. The link is below:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1048415-1,00.html

The title of the track comes from a line in the article that describes Harold Agnew... "the paunch of a man of 64 who was an athlete 40 years ago. He looks like Spencer Tracy now."

So what has all that to do with Glasgow "The Day"?

Well it reminded me that it is the anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Hiroshima was August 6th 1945 and Nagasaki was August 9th. 64 years ago last week.
And it reminded me of a photo I took but never got to post.



In front of the cenotaph in George Square there is a memorial to the civilians that died in these attacks. It was placed there in 1985 to mark the 40th anniversary. I had never known that there was a momument to the attacks in Glasgow. I had cut through George Square so many times and never noticed this plaque right underneath my feet.

The cenotaph itself was built between 1921 and 1924 as a memorial to those that died in the First World War. It's most striking feature being the huge twin lions guarding it.

Between the lions is a fern leaf which has one word inscribed next to it. "Pax". Peace. It is not a war monument, it is a peace monument. Though sad to think that 15 years after it was unveiled the Second World War would begin, ending with the nuclear bombings that are commemorated just in front of this monument.


And this is one of the inscriptions on the side. Once again a humbling thing to read when we are moaning about many of the small things that annoy us in the modern world.

In many ways up till now I have treated the cenotaph as almost a piece of "furniture" in George Square. But when had the chance to study and and think about it then realised it is something very special. If you passing through George Square stop and take a look for a while.

Hopefully will get chance to get back into the city soon and take you another tour.

But hope you found this little post a wee thought provoker till then.

Enjoy the Times article and have a wee listen to the song if you never heard it before. You won't be disappointed.

Be well, be happy!!