The remains of Dumbuck Crannog on the foreshore of the Clyde near Dumbarton Castle.
Crannogs were man-made islands with a house on them which were connected to the shore by a causeway. The first crannogs appeared Scotland and Ireland around 2,500 years ago, but the Dumbuck Crannog is thought to date from around 2,000 years ago.
The Henry Bell Monument in Helensburgh. Born in West Lothian in 1767, Bell became obsessed with the idea of using steam engines to power ships around 1800. While is early experiments were unsuccessful, he received enouragement from none other than Admiral Lord Nelson, who in 1803 told the Admiralty, "My Lords, if you do not adopt Mr Bell's scheme, other nations will, and in the end vex every vein of this empire. It will succeed ... and you should encourage Mr Bell.".
In 1808, Bell moved to Helensburgh and it was here he built his first successful steam-powered vessel, a paddlesteamer called Comet, in 1812 and used it to create Europe's first successful steam-powered passenger service running between Helensburgh, Glasgow and Greenock. In 1820, the Comet was shipwrecked near Oban, but was soon replaced by the PS Comet II.
In 1825, the Comet II sank after colliding with another ship, killing 62 of the 80 passengers. After this, Bell abandoned his interest in steam-powered nautical navigation and he died in Helensburgh just a few years later in 1830.
I've always found this plaque in the cloisters of Glasgow University rather interesting. James McGill may not be a name many are familiar with in his native Glasgow, but he certainly left his mark on his adopted homeland of Canada.
The Narnain Rocks in the valley between Beinn Narnain, disappearing off to the right, and the Cobbler, disappearing into the cloud on the left, in the Arrochar Alps. In the 1930s, groups of factory workers, shipyard employees and the unemployed from Glasgow would, whenever they could get the time, make their way here by any means possible to challenge themselves by climbing the many surrounding rock faces.
Unable to afford any other accommodation, they would spend their nights sleeping in the shelter provided by these house-sized rocks before heading back to the city when their time was up.
I was intrigued by this sign I spotted on Mitchell Street in Glasgow yesterday, mostly because I'd never heard of Union Court before and couldn't find it on any current map of Glasgow. Looking back at older maps, it seems Union Court was an area betwen the backs of the buildings of Mitchell Street and Union Street with access on to both of these and Argyle Street to the south.
This was around the 1870s, but gradually over time it was nibbled away as new buildings until by the 1940s it was pretty much gone. However, bits of it can still be glimpsed where a building has been demolished at the southern end of Mitchell Street and you can see through to the rears of the buildings on Union Street.
I love a good plaque, and without this one few would know of the place Jordanhill Railway Station in the west of Glasgow has earned itself in internet history!
Pollokshaws Toll House. Built around 1820 at a major crossroads, this was one of many former tolls around Glasgow, remembered in place names, but few of the actual toll houses survive. This one is now marooned in the middle of a large roubdabout and is used as a council equipment store.
The Logan and Johnstone School of Domestic Economy overlooking Glasgow Green. Founded in the 1890s by William Logan and his wife Jean Johnston, this school provided assistance, education and upbringing for poor or destitute step-children and orphans.
I love this plaque on Thomson and Sandilands 1910s commercial building on Trongate in Glasgow. It's a nice reminder of one the many links between the city and Scotland's greatest inventor and engineer.
The former Glasgow Eye Infirmary building on Sauchiehall Street with its golden ghost sign.
Founded in 1824 by Dr G. C. Montieth and Dr William Mackenzie, the Glasgow Eye Infirmary was originally located near Glasgow Cross. It moved to the West End 1874 where it had beds for up to 100 patients paid for by subscriptions, endowments and fund raising activities.
In 1971, the in-patient accommodation building on Berkeley Street burned down and in-patients were instead housed at the then newly built Gartnaval Hospital, which became the permanent home for all the eye infirmary's services in 1998.
Empire House on Sauchiehall Street. Built in the 1970s, it stands on the site of the legendary Glasgow Empire Theatre which closed in 1963.
The Glasgow Empire was known as the English Comic's Grave due to the speed and ferocity with which the audience would turn on any performer they didn't find particularly funny. This included the likes of Tommy Cooper, Bob Monkhouse and Morcombe and Wise.
Sunrise over the River Kelvin. I love the way different periods of Glasgow's history are often layered on top of each other. In the foreground are the piers of a late 19th Century railway bridge. Further down stream is the distinctive V-shaped weir of the old Kelvindale Papermill, which was founded in the 18th Century. Standing above this is one of the 1960s Wyndford Tower blocks.
A plaque in Central Station marking the site of the Alston Street Theatre in Glasgow. Built in 1764, it's generally taken to be the first permanent theatre in the city, but it was actually outwith the then city limits. This was because Glasgow's magistrates would not allow a theatre to be built in the city itself. Instead, one was built in the nearby village of Grahamston.
If you look up at one of the tenement buildings on the top half of Byres Road in the West End of Glasgow, you'll see it bears the legend Victoria Cross. This seems a bit out of place until you find out that when it was built, Byres Road was called Victoria Street.
As Glasgow expanded throughout to 19th Century, absorbing neighbouring towns and villages, it wasn't uncommon to find it had ended up with multiple streets with the same name and by 1891 there were four different Victoria Streets in the city, including one in Hillhead. This no doubt cause some confusion and all four of them were subsequently renamed.
My new favourite Glasgow ghost sign. It's on Royal Exchange Court and it's a bit faded now, but you can still make most of it out. It reads: Boys found playing at balls or marbles will be handed to the police.
Classical style commercial building on Hope Street in Glasgow. It was built in around 1875, just as the village of Grahamston which once occupied this location, was being erased to make way for the westward expansion of the city and the construction of Central Station, which first opened in 1879.
Harland Cottages in Whiteinch, Glasgow. These half-timber Tudor style terraced houses are thought to be over 100 years old and to have been built for those working in the nearby shipyards, which lined the banks of this part of the Clyde. If this is the case, they'd have most likely been for managers, office workers or foremen rather than those working directly on the ships.
The former Prince's Dock Auxillary Accumulator Tower on Govan Road in Glasgow. Built in 1911, its design is based on a campanile, a free stanidng Italian bell tower. It was constructed to power a hydraulic coal hoist for the Clyde Navigation Trust. It's one of the few structures left from what was once the largest dock the city.
The Glasgow Tower, built as part of the regeneration of the local area after the dock had been closed in the 1970s and filled in in the 1980s, can be seen through the trees behind it. It opened in 2001.
British Rail Engineering Ltd branding on the gates of Saint Rollox House in the Springburn area of Glasgow. Built for the Caledonain Railway Company in the 1880s, it was formerly the home to Saint Rollox Locomotive Works. After nationalisation, it became part of British Rail Engineering Limited in 1968. Privatised in 1988, it went into decline and finally closed completely in 2019.