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Glasgow

Did You Know?

It’s said that Glasgow City Chambers has more marble than the Vatican - and it’s been used as movie stand-in more than once. Few born and bred Glaswegians venture into the grand building but they probably should - there are tours daily, where you’ll learn that it cost £578,232 to build back when, which is the equivalent of £40 million today.

Spelled Ghlaschu in gaelic, the city’s name literally translates as ‘green hollow’ – ‘ghlas’ meaning green and ‘chu’ meaning hollow

Fossil Grove in Glasgow’s Victoria Park has trees that are twice as old as dinosaurs. Eleven extinct fossilised trees date back 330 million years to a time when Glasgow’s climate was warm and humid.

The University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum was built in 1807 and is Scotland’s oldest public museum. The museum has a large collection of art and scientific relics including the world’s first-ever ultra sound machine.

Legend has it that the world-famous chicken tikka masala was the result of a customer complaint that his meat was too dry; the owner responded by throwing together spices and tinned tomato soup. Whether it’s true or not, we all know Glasgow loves a curry.

Glasgow Tower holds the Guinness World record for the tallest structure in the world that is capable of rotating 360 degrees.

There are 20 museums and art galleries in Glasgow, amounting to a hell of a collection - the largest civic arts collection in Europe, Dali, Van Gogh, Degas and Monet.

The Tall Ship at Riverside Museum is one of only five Clyde built ships still afloat in the world today and she is the only one of her kind in the UK.

The Glasgow Tower is the only structure on Earth that has the ability to rotate 360 degrees into prevailing wind and it holds the Guinness World Record for tallest fully rotating freestanding structure in the world.

Stan Laurel, one half of one of the most famous double acts of all time made his debut here in Glasgow, treading the boards at what happens to be the world’s oldest surviving music hall.

Glasgow is the fourth-largest city by population in the UK, after London, Birmingham and Leeds.

Drury Street establishment the Horseshoe Bar’s ornate Victorian bar is officially the longest bar in Europe, measuring 104 feet and three inches.

“The great thing about Glasgow is that if there’s a nuclear attack, it’ll look exactly the same afterwards.” (Billy Connolly)

Crookston Castle is a pretty impressive one, at that – what’s left it, at least. Perched on a hill in southside suburb Crookston, the 15th century ruin might not rival Scotland’s bigger tourist attractions – but it’s a hidden gem and a half.

Dating back to the 1850s, the Britannia Panopticon was buried behind a shopfront and rediscovered in 1997 – complete with rivets on the floor, said to be hurled at acts that the Glasgow audiences were less than keen on.

The tale is that the four Glasgow Uni students famous for stealing the stone from Westminster Abbey in 1950 actually handed back a replica, keeping the original under a seat at The Arlington Bar while they toasted a successful heist.

The Hunterian Museum houses the world's first-ever ultra sound machine.

Fossil Grove in Glasgow’s Victoria Park has trees that are twice as old as dinosaurs. Eleven extinct fossilised trees date back 330 million years to a time when Glasgow’s climate was warm and humid.

On the November 30, 1872 Scotland played England. It ended 0–0 and was watched by 4,000 people.

Glasgow’s underground railway system, often referred to as the ‘Clockwork Orange’ because of its colour, is the 3rd oldest underground railway system in the world.