Gratitude Grace Growth: Glasgow City Tour

Today we started the day at the Glasgow City Chambers for a tour through the building. This Victorian masterpiece is recognised as one of the most beautiful in the UK and is a favourite among locals and tourists.
The City Chambers is the focal point of George Square and is an impressive symbol of Glasgow's political strength and historical wealth. Completed in 1888, the City Chambers has for over a hundred years been the headquarters of successive councils serving the City of Glasgow. The ceilings are arched with ornate designs in mosaic tiles. There is a mosaic of the Glasgow coat of arms in the middle of the floor in front of the entrance.

The City Chambers was designed by Glasgow trained architect William Young and was opened by Queen Victoria in August 1888. The building has four floors and provides space for working offices and the hosting of civic functions. The interior of the building has a main reception hall and, to the left, a marble staircase leading up through the civic area of the building. This impressive staircase is constructed in, and surrounded by, white Carrera marble. The floors at first and second floor level are also in marble, and the third floor is made of Venetian mosaic tiles in a wide variety of colours and designs. The Banqueting Hall is the most imposing of the civic rooms in the City Chambers. The room is 16 metres in height, 27 metres in length and 14 meters wide.

The entrance hall of the Chambers displays a mosaic of the city's coat of arms on the floor. The arms reflect legends about Glasgow's patron saint, Saint Mungo, and include four emblems – the bird, tree, bell, and fish – as remembered in the following 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

Glasgow City Chambers

After our tour we boarded the Hop On - Off bus and saw the city from atop the bus, we got off to see the Riverside Museum of Travel and Transport. As part of the museum the tall ship, the Glenlee is displayed where it was built at the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow. It was one of a group of 10 steel sailing vessels built to a standard design for the Glasgow shipping firm of Archibald Sterling and Co. Ltd. She is a three masted barque, with length 245 feet, beam 37.5 feet and depth 22.5 feet.