A jewel in Glasgow's crown is Europe's best - and that's official!
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YOU know you're getting old when one of the cars you used to drive ends up in a museum – alongside the bicycle you lusted after as a child.
It's that very personal sense of connection though which makes Glasgow's newly crowned European Museum of the Year such a winner.
The accolade accorded to the city's £74m Riverside Museum is well timed too, ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games, which Glasgow will host. A million tickets are expected to be sold, in addition to an anticipated TV audience of 1.5 billion.
If it harnesses a fraction of the excitement generated by the London Olympics, the outlay is likely to be regarded as money well spent.
The opportunity to showcase the city's cultural credentials to a global audience is not lost on tourism chiefs and has prompted £2b of investment in Games-related infrastructure – including 1,000 new hotel rooms.
For those of us more used to being told Edinburgh is Scotland's big visitor draw, perhaps now is as good a time as any to take a look at some of the jewels in the crown of its oft-overlooked neighbour – soon to enjoy it's own fair share of the limelight.
The Riverside Museum – opened two years ago on the banks of the River Clyde – was built to showcase the city's transport, shipbuilding and engineering heritage. It finds space for 3,000 exhibits – double that of the old Museum of Transport which it effectively replaces.
They range from a super-cool, custom-built skateboard owned by former professional, Colin Kennedy, to a massive Glasgow-built South African locomotive, the largest exhibit in any of the city's collections. There's even a 115-year-old Tall Ship, the Glenlee, berthed outside on the river.
While not surprised to see the Hillman Imp amongst the impressive collection of imaginatively displayed cars, I'll admit to raising an eyebrow – and feeling old – on seeing an Austin Metro encapsulated as a past "treasure".
But, of course, that's just what it is. The bargain-basement "supermini" was the car of choice for many a thrifty/cash-strapped buyer in the 1980s and early '90s.
I found myself peering with glassy-eyed nostalgia at the Metro sitting, quite literally, on the shelf in the museum, recalling the day I'd bought my first one (second-hand, of course) – and the fateful early Monday winter morning I wrote it off on an ungritted bend on the Struie en route to Caithness. It was the first time I felt lucky to be alive in the wake of an accident. Unforgettable.
That didn't stop me buying another with the insurance money (what else could I afford?), this one a rust bucket with a hole in the petrol tank. Ah yes, good times!
The beauty of the Riverside Museum is that if lift your eyes for a moment from the objects on display and take a look at the people looking at them, you'll see dozens of similar trips being taken down memory lane – via paddle steamer, motorcycle, subway train and no-longer-produced automobile. You'll see old couples reliving their youth, mounting the old street bus they used to take or fondly recalling their own first vehicle.
It's the interpretation of these exhibits which has lifted the museum head and shoulders above the vast majority of its counterparts. Amongst the best are film clips of ordinary people recounting their own experiences. Often sceptical of this footage-on-a-loop concept, I found myself transfixed by what people had to say about one particular object of my teenaged desire – the Raleigh Chopper.
Was it the most desirable mass market child-orientated bicycle ever made? In my eyes, yes.
And though I never actually got one, I have fond memories of getting a shot of primary schoolmate Gary Mann's nifty machine from time to time, learning to pull wheelies and perfecting the art of looking cool – pretty easy on that creation, a design which, one suspects, modern-day health and safety nuts would never allow off the drawing board.
My experience in a small Black Isle village was replicated in Glasgow housing estates – right down to the unfortunate accident involving that protruding gear stick...
The museum boasts scale model streets with shops and cafés you can actually wander into. There's even an authentic subway experience and glimpses of Scotland's place at the cutting edge of design and technology.
I like to think I'm as far removed from the image of the "anorak" train spotter as it's possible to get, but suffice to say the hard core transport buff could wile away many happy hours, checking out 360-degree photos, inside and out, of vehicles on the "car wall" and looking in to an Edwardian photography studio, a 1930s' Italian café and a 1960s' garage.
The Riverside Museum should do well during the Commonwealth Games and is well worth a visit beforehand. Be warned though: you'll want to stick around for quite a while!
Facts and figures
• Riverside Museum has over 3,000 objects on display (compared with 1,300 at the previous Museum of Transport).
• It was designed by award-winning architect Zaha Hadid.
• The recently acquired South African locomotive is Glasgow Museums' largest object.
• Visitors can get a real feel for vintage public transport by accessing four locomotive footplates, three trams, two subway cars, one train carriage and a bus.
• Visitors to Riverside can also go aboard The Tall Ship 'Glenlee', Glasgow's lovingly restored Clyde-built ship. Launched in 1898, today she operates a programme of events and activities.
Where
Riverside Museum
100 Pointhouse Place
Glasgow G3 8RS
Tel: 0141 287 2720
Somewhere to lay your head
THERE are, according to the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, there are 9,104 hotel rooms within a 10-mile circumference of the city, ranging from budget boltholes to luxury five-star charmers.
Another 1,000 are in development ahead of the 20th Commonwealth Games, which begin in the last week of July, 2014.
Attracted by its back story and central location, we checked in to the Hotel Indigo on Waterloo Street. While locals will tell you there's ample free parking if you know where to go, the prospect of a secure 24-hour CCTV-protected car park right next door was a strong selling point too.
The hotel brings back to life the former Scottish Power building from which the city's first power station was run. And the story goes that the first building to be illuminated from there was the Glasgow School of Art. In keeping with these artistic roots, commissioned portraits by local artists of their Scots heroes adorn the walls.
It's a nice touch which will be appreciated not just by arty types but also those who recoil at the prospect of yet another Identikit hotel that could be, well, anywhere.
Pleasingly, though, the first impression had nothing to do with the complimentary wi-fi (very welcome though that was) or the swish surroundings. Rather it was particularly warm welcome given to our children, spotted on their entry by a super-enthusiastic member of staff. Like it or not, young children are sometimes regarded as a necessary evil by hotels, wary of the damage they might cause the nuisance they might create for other guests.
Not here though as they found themselves the centre of attention as the treasure hunt was explained to them. Makes a lot of sense too when you think about it. A happy child tends to make for a more relaxed parent – and, hence, a satisfied customer. Simple but often overlooked. So while it clearly also caters to smart, urban types, Hotel Indigo was also hitting the spot as a family friendly prospect. It is often said that Glasgow is friendlier than Edinburgh. That is probably because it is true – or so I have found from my years there as a student and on subsequent visits.
In its own blurb, Hotel Indigo says its distinctive décor and inviting atmosphere make it unique amongst other Glasgow hotels. Those artistic touches – particularly around the Limelight Bar and Grill – do help it stand out from the crowd.
It also declares: "Hotel Indigo is the place to be if you want the full Glasgow experience. We know what's going on and the best places to be, just ask." Putting that to the test, I found staff on the desk more than happy to whip out a city map, give directions and offer suggestions (including which routes NOT to take because of construction work – something, as we discovered first hand, of which the average sat-nav is blissfully unaware...)
Our long, narrow family room covered all the essentials – being clean, comfortable and, thankfully given the hotel's central location, quiet.
Fact file
Hotel Indigo
75 Waterloo Street
Glasgow
Tel: 0141 226 7700
www.hotelindigoglasgow.com
