MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS GLASGOW CITY CHAMBERS...

The Glasgow City Chambers overlook George Square, not far from where we were staying.  Completed in 1888, this has got to be one of the city's most striking and regal buildings. 

This West Elevation features an Allegorical Frieze, Allegorical Female Figures and Trades and Industries of Glasgow.

Way above this is a Jubilee Pediment depicting Queen Victoria enthroned and a central apex figure of Truth, but dippy little me failed to get a photograph of it, so here's a PDF...

Open from Monday to Friday, tours are available twice a day and cost nothing, so we just had to find out more.

Look at that entrance hall ceiling- it's like something out of a historical movie.

Glasgow City Chambers have, for over a century, been the administrative headquarters of successive City of Glasgow councils.

This is the mosaic ceiling of the ground floor Loggia (a covered corridor with a partial wall, supported by columns or arches).

This is a SuperDean photo of the mosaic, which features the city's coat of arms in its original 1866 design.  It's on the floor as you enter.  

The emblems of the bird, the tree, the bell and the fish are reflective of Glasgow's patron saint, Saint Mungo.  They are immortalised in this verse:

Here's the Bird that never flew

Here's the Tree that never grew

Here's the Bell that never rang

Here's the Fish that never swam

The City Chambers are very much a working building...

The City Chambers are also known as the Municipal Buildings...

Look at all this marble!  This building really does take your breath away!

The Chambers were designed by William Young, following a design competition.  He was a Scottish architect, and work began in 1882...

The building has stood in for other locations in movies, such as the Vatican in the 1986 film Heavenly Pursuits...

...For the British Embassy in Moscow in the 1983 film An Englishman Abroad...

...In 2005 it featured in the film adaption of the novel The House of Mirth...

...It also featured in the 2014 TV series Outlander...

It is supposed to be lucky to rub this marble lion's nose (which I did!)  Constant rubbing has flattened his nose somewhat!

The view up through the oval, and I will show you the view down later...

This cabinet is dedicated to sport.  Glasgow was the European Capital of Sport in 2023.

The door opened to reveal artefacts used on ceremonial occasions in the cabinet through the glass.  I think there might have been a mace in there, but I couldn't be sure, and this photo doesn't reveal much!

Bronze statue- unfortunately I can't make out the inscription.  It appears to be of a figure holding what looks like two fists!

I've seen this referenced as the world's longest marble staircase...

...And Western Europe's largest staircase, so I'm not sure which boast is true- maybe both?

...But, being one storey higher, the building does claim to have more marble than the Vatican which, as I have mentioned, it has doubled for. 

The Banqueting Hall is decorated by huge murals by the Glasgow Boys...

...They were part of the Art Nouveau movement...

...They flourished at the end of the 19th/ beginning of the 20th century...

The Satinwood Suite- so called because it's decorated in Australian satinwood (which is now extinct.)

As well as being a working building, Glasgow City Chambers hosts civic functions, wedding ceremonies and large meetings.

A closer view of this grand alabaster fireplace...

Looking out over George Square, and the statue on top of the central column is of poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott.

A Spring Roundelay, by E.A. Hornel.

We were told that this painting features the artist's daughter in several different poses.

Apparently this painting has shrunk in size, as it went "missing" for a while and ended up getting damaged...

At the time of its opening the building had cost over a staggering £578,000 to build- which is over £96 million in today's money!

This building was built at the height of the British Empire...

This is a SuperDean photo of the charming Octagonal Room, which is used as an overflow room.  It is decorated in amber wood and has a stunning polished parquet floor.

Walnut and Cuban mahogany feature in the panels and fireplace of the Mahogany Suite...

The building has four floors...

We are at the top of the building, and the Picture Gallery can be seen through the door...

Through a side door we could see the Banqueting Hall from the leather-rimmed balcony, and the chairs can be removed and the carpets thrown back...

The likes of  Sir Alex Ferguson and Nelson Mandela have been entertained here, when they received the Freedom of the City (not at the same time!)

Moving back towards the Picture Gallery and here's the view out of the window, overlooking a courtyard...

The mosaics consist of 1.5 million hand-laid tiles- quite phenomenal, when you think about it!

The ceilings are also decorated with tiles, along with sumptuous gilding...

Portraits of many former City Provosts adorn the walls of the Picture Gallery...

The oval balcony...

Looking down at the abundance of Italian Carrara marble...

The first council meeting was held in the building in 1889...

Looking up through the highest part of the building...

This is former Glasgow City Provost, Pat Lally.  

From all of the portraits, I liked this caricature the best!

Making our way back down, and can you make out the set of teeth in the marble?😁

...Or the elegant dancing Victorian lady?

It is definitely worth visiting Glasgow City Chambers, and I will return!

Until then,

TTFN

Miss Elaineous

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YOUTUBE TENEMENT HOUSE VLOG LIVE...

My YouTube Tenement House vlog is now live!

Link:-

https://youtu.be/B9ESvTUrEwQ

This Glasgow building dates from 1892 and the flat in question is a first floor time capsule, occupied by Agnes Toward- a shorthand typist- from 1911-1965. Miss Toward amassed artefacts from all aspects of her life- including letters, postcards, recipes and theatre programmes- so we are able to get a very good view of what she was about. She lived alone with her dressmaker mother, as her father died when she was three and her two sisters had passed in infancy. After her mother died, in 1939, she lived here alone and never married; altering very little about the apartment, except for having electricity wired in. Come and take a walk in my shoes through this shrine to early 20th century life. It's a truly delightful and well-proportioned flat.

Don't forget to check out the blog I put together about this fantastic modern historical flat.  I will always be a writer before anything else.

https://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2024/06/miss-elaineous-visits-tenement-house.html

Remember to like and subscribe, and don't forget to follow my blog as well!

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

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YOUTUBE PANOPTICON VLOG LIVE...

 My Panopticon YouTube vlog is now live!

Link Here:-

https://youtu.be/QnM_nCzfVa4

The Britannia Panopticon was a word that I couldn't fathom or consciously remember with ease, and apparently I wasn't the first.  When it acquired this moniker, Glaswegians couldn't pronounce it either, so began calling it "the pots and pans," which then evolved into "that potty place."  Potty, of course, can mean one of two things: 

1) a chamber pot for pissing in

2) someone who's quite mad!

More on the significance of urination later...

It took me a while to master the word, and until then I referred to it as:

1) The Pygmalion

2) The Porphyrian

3) The Papillion

4) The Pangolin

5) The Pornocopian

Come and take a look and I'll tell you why the three Ps are significant, show you where Stan Laurel first trod the boards and entertain you with details of the downstairs menagerie, include a married chimpanzee couple!

Don't forget to check out the blog I have put together about this interesting building.  As you know, I will always be a writer before anything else!

https://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2024/06/miss-elaineous-visits-panoptican.html

Remember to like and subscribe, and don't forget to follow my blog as well!

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

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THE BONE CODE by KATHY REICHS

 THE BONE CODE

by

KATHY REICHS

THE BLURB:

A hurricane hits the Carolinas, uncovering two bodies.

They are found in a container, wrapped in plastic sheeting, bound with electrical wire- and they bear a disturbing resemblance to a case that has haunted Temperance Brennan for fifteen years.

Meanwhile, panic erupt when a rare flesh-eating bacterium is discovered that affects people who have a genetic mutation.

With unrest growing, time is running out for Tempe. When her search for the truth reveals that both the murders and the disease outbreak are linked, she realises that someone will do whatever it takes to stop her from getting answers.

THE REALITY:

The thing I loved most about this novel is the fact that her romance with Andrew Ryan gets a big mention. I always like for him to be involved! It humanises the character of Tempe and adds a bit of humour and backdrop to her life. This novel is set in both of her home towns; Montreal and South Carolina. I tend to enjoy the Montreal books a bit more, and I think that's because Reichs' first- and best- novel was set there. I also enjoy reading about the add-on character of sharp and surly detective Claudel, who is situated there.

This was a novel I read in fits and starts, which is not always a good idea with crime novels as I feel you need to go with the flow to really get into them. So, a bit of backtracking did take place from time to time. As stories go, it was easy to pick up, despite the esoteric terminology used.

I didn't really get the reason for Polly Beacroft's story, which was an add-on storyline, and it didn't appear to be resolved in any way. It didn't seem to add anything to the book. I did enjoy this novel, though, and found all of the characters very interesting and described in a very human and relatable fashion. I've read all of the Temperance Brennan books to date, and whilst this was not the best it certainly wasn't the worst.

The build up to the dramatic ending was good, and I enjoyed the way the perpetrator tried to (spoiler alert!) kill Tempe by attempting to drown her and make it look like an accident. I also liked that Birdie- Tempe's cat- got his own little acting part! Give this a read- it's worth a go.