I'm in a port city somewhere in the English-speaking world.
This place is full of remarkable places, and in my walkabout today I saw two things that I didn't know anything about, and for which there was basically no signage. I suppose if you're a local, these things are obvious--but they're not obvious to me!
This Challenge is another in our series of "What's the story?"
As you remember, each "What's the Story?" Challenge will be an open-ended question (or two) that asks you, the SearchResearcher, to figure out what's going on in the image. I figure that you'll be able to search out the place and name of the things--but can you also dig into the remarkable stories that are associated with these places?
1. I saw this remarkable beast of a device that's labelled as "Clydeport" just across the river from where I'm staying. I can figure out what it is, but I know nothing of its genesis or why it's there? Can you search out the story? (Here I've pasted a small image so the SRS page will load quickly. But here's a LINK if you'd like to download the whole image.)
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| What / Where / Why is this beast? |
2. About 1/2 mile away from this thing is a slightly mysterious building. It has a nice Italian restaurant on the bottom floor, but this building was clearly NOT designed to be an Italian restaurant. This kind of mismatch makes me curious. What is this building? And what was it originally designed to do? LINK to the full image.
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| What / Where / Why is this building? |
As always, use your best SRS skills--and when you figure out the answers (including the backstories), let us know what you found and HOW you found it. Leave your pearls of wisdom in the comment!
Good luck! (I've figured out the first one but haven't yet tackled the second. This might be tough to find.) .
Search on!
Regarding #2:
ReplyDeleteSearching for ["La Fiorentina" Glasgow], since the Kynoch Boxing Gym (sign on the far right of the photo) is in Glasgow) gives the restaurant's website. In the "About Us" section (http://www.la-fiorentina.com/about-us/) is this:
La Fiorentina occupies the ground floor of the landmark Angel building at Paisley Rd Toll. Famous throughout the city as Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse ... . Look up and you’ll see a gilded angel known as “Commerce and Industry” reaching into the sky. The sculpture was commissioned as part of the original building in 1889 and was probably the work of James Alexander Ewing.
2. I expanded the view to read the boxing poster, which said Glasgow, so I Googled La Fiorentina Glasgow and found the restaurant website.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.la-fiorentina.com/
The About page describes the building;
Our food is spectacular and it’s matched by the beauty of our location. La Fiorentina occupies the ground floor of the landmark Angel building at Paisley Rd Toll. Famous throughout the city as Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse it has been home to the sights and smells of Tuscany since 1989. Look up and you’ll see a gilded angel known as “Commerce and Industry” reaching into the sky. The sculpture was commissioned as part of the original building in 1889 and was probably the work of James Alexander Ewing.
I searched Ogg Brothers Glasgow and found this article:
https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/lifestyle/13292558.eye-spy-glasgow-the-angel-in-the-sky-at-kinning-park/
The upper floors of the building are residential:
https://www.scotsman.com/property/first-time-buyer-flat-hits-market-historical-glasgow-landmark-building/
I even saw the device from the first question in one of the views from the flat.
Now that I know the city, I will go back to question 1.
1. A search for Clydeport led to this page:
https://www.peelports.com/ports/clydeport
Scotland’s gateway to the world
We’re also the harbour authority of the river Clyde and its estuary, managing a jurisdiction of 450 square miles
An image search led me to Finnieston Crane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnieston_Crane
The Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, in particular steam locomotives, onto ships to be exported around the world.
Since I never rely on Wikipedia alone, I searched Finnieston Crane and found this site which provides more information.
http://www.clydewaterfront.com/clyde-heritage/queen's-dock--yorkhill-quay/finnieston-crane
It is not used but remains as a symbol of Glasgow’s heritage.
For #1: Searching for [Clydeport] ... and then looking at the images of port crans on the port's twitter feed (https://twitter.com/hashtag/clydeport), turns up this image by John Farnan of "The Titan at Finnieston, Glasgow": https://www.johnfarnan.co.uk/G/Glasgow-1/i-3N4RDKx/A
ReplyDeleteSimple search for [Titan Finnieston crane] gives this Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnieston_Crane ... which begins: "The Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, in particular steam locomotives, onto ships to be exported around the world.
"It is one of four such cranes on the River Clyde, a fifth one having been demolished in 2007, and one of only eleven giant cantilever cranes remaining worldwide. The crane can be seen in the background of news broadcasts from BBC Pacific Quay."
More interesting details from that page:
"Queens Dock was opened in August 1877 as a 61-acre (25 ha) dock for exporting goods from the centre of Glasgow. A 130-tonne (130-long-ton; 140-short-ton) steam crane was constructed west of the current one in the 1890s, until it was demolished to make way for a proposed bridge crossing between Finnieston Quay and Mavisbank Quay that was never built.The present crane, constructed as a replacement, was the last giant cantilever crane to be built on the Clyde.
"It was commissioned in June 1928 by the Clyde Navigation Trust, the operators of the port and dock facilities in Glasgow, completed in 1931 and commenced operation in 1932. ...
"The total cost of the crane and foundations was £69,000, 85% of which was met by the Trust. It is properly known as the "Stobcross Crane" or "Clyde Navigation Trustees crane #7", but its proximity to Finnieston Quay, and the fact that it was intended to replace the previous Finnieston Crane, has led to its being popularly known as the Finnieston Crane. ...
"Connected to a spur of the Stobcross Railway, the crane's primary purpose was the lifting of heavy machinery, such as tanks and steam locomotives, onto ships for export. As many as 30,000 locomotives were hauled through the streets of Glasgow by Clydesdale horses, traction engines and diesel tractors, from the works at Springburn to the crane for export to the British Empire. The crane is (as of 1988) not in working order, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. ...
"The docks serviced by the crane were closed in 1969, and have since been filled in and redeveloped. The North Rotunda (part of the defunct Clyde Harbour Tunnel) stands to the east of the crane, and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and the Clyde Auditorium to the west."
The Building Question
ReplyDeleteSearch on restaurant name and scotland restaurant immediately finds the address 1 paisley which in turn finds a description of the building wherein a flat is for sale: its the Angel building. Used as a backdrop location for many tv and movies.
https://vistabee.com/en/v/tcql0r/21-12-paisley-road-west-glasgow-g51-1le gives a nice drone-over and inside tour.
Angel glasgow history finds http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_images.php?sub=angel which tells us it was built in 1889 as Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse. THe angel and its sculptor have been the subject of much discussion. But it has been attributed to James Alexander Ewing by the Glasgow School of Art.
However the angel is named "Commerce and Industry." in a local paper Govan Press on 21 Sept 1889. Locally she might named Mrs Ogg.
The crane; Bing image search instantly identifies it as Finnieston Crane. Wikipedia explains "
ReplyDeleteThe Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, in particular steam locomotives, onto ships to be exported around the world.
It is one of four such cranes on the River Clyde, a fifth one having been demolished in 2007, and one of only eleven giant cantilever cranes remaining worldwide"
Hi Dan,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time I haven't had time for a challenge. But this one is an easy one, a 30-second search.
[Clydeport crane] > Finnieston Crane Glasgow - Wikipedia as 1st serp entry. Lots of infos on the wikipedia page (Still looking for a locomotive hold by the crane)
Since we're in Glasgow, [La Fiorentina Glasgow] > http://www.la-fiorentina.com > About us page, with the story of the Angel building, former Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse > ["Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse" history] > https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/lifestyle/13292558.eye-spy-glasgow-the-angel-in-the-sky-at-kinning-park/ for example.
2. Building with an Italian restaurant.
ReplyDeleteEnlarged picture, noticed "La Fiorentina" near "The Viceroy". Also, a sign advertising a Kynoch Boxing Gym in Glasg…
[ "La Fiorentina" "The Viceroy" ]: Several results confirming it's in Glasgow.
[ la fiorentina building glasgow ]: Second result in the About page of the restaurant's page. The snippet tells me "La Fiorentina occupies the ground floor of the landmark Angel building at Paisley Rd Toll."
[ angel building glasgow ]: Noticed these two results: a "onthemarket" page (whatever that is), which snippet reads "The Angel Building dates back to 1889 as Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse"; the Wikipedia page for Kinning Park tells us about "the Ogg Brothers' store at Paisley Road Toll (now often called the "Angel Building" due to the prominent angel figure on the top)".
[ Ogg Brothers' store at Paisley Road Toll ]: interesting stories in an article on Glasgow's Evening Times ("Eye Spy Glasgow: The angel in the sky at Kinning Park"), and a page on the glasgowsculpture.com site.
a few visuals…
ReplyDeleteIndia bound
history
days of steam
on the Clyde
modern alts in L.A.
Glasgow Herald 20 September 1889, page 6 Is most impressed with this Renaissance style building due to open the next day, Saturday, 21 September 1889. THe angel is mentioned but that's all that is said about it. and an ad in the same paper says BE PRESENT!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you find the Glasgow Herald? Very keen to read old Glasgow newspapers!
DeleteBritish Newspaper Archive. Will keep you busy for a very long time. jon tu
Deleteapparently didn't make it the first time…
ReplyDeleteThe Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane or "Clyde Navigation Trustees crane #7"
" As many as 30,000 locomotives were hauled through the streets of Glasgow by Clydesdale horses, traction engines and diesel tractors, from the works at Springburn to the crane for export to the British Empire.[17] The crane is (as of 1988) not in working order, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage"
C'dales — and I thought they only delivered that Leuven, Belgium beer…
and now I know about abseiling -
soldier from the tip - geograph, 12 years ago…
…were you at the Premier Inn Glasgow Pacific Quay SECC?
Pacific Quayæ hey, there's a Starbucks
a view
and a sunny view
"La Fiorentina occupies the ground floor of the landmark Angel building at Paisley Rd Toll. Famous throughout the city as Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse"
(think it was the only Scottish Oldsmobile dealership at one time… can't find confirmation… April 29, 2004)
La Fiorentina
Angel building
details - Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse
Kinning Park - Parkhouse Toll
James Alexander Ewing was the likely sculptor
…what made you think La Fiorentina was an Italian restaurant? would you say the same of Satriale’s Pork Store?
was it the checkered table cloth… and is that ethnic stereotyping? note the extensive CCTV presence the UK is noted for…
just for grins - no doubt you crossed…
the Clyde Arc
if you feel the wander, laddie…
"Yer bum's oot the windae!"
RHCPs - and I thought they were out of CA…
under the Arc?
a fair list… but where's Jimmy Buffet?
"but can you also dig into the remarkable stories that are associated with these places? "
ReplyDeletewas looking at other angels in Glasgow and ran across this one - fairly photogenic - and found it in the Glasgow Necropolis by wandering around
in Google street view and using the smokestacks in the initial Spectator photo to orient and find the location… wonder if Dan wandered the grounds…??
all fairly near the conference site (~ a 2 mile radius) kinda looks toward the La Fiorentina angel, 'Commerce and Industry'.
necropolis angel
the angel's view toward the smokestacks…
the angel & view - from the Spectator story
another look
he was at La Fiorentina…
Roberto Enzo - Accordion
from 2017
Glasgow Necropolis - a couple of miles from La Fiorentina Ristorante 2 Paisley Rd W, Glasgow G51 1LE, UK
not all that far from the Finnieston Crane and on the same side of the Clyde it is…
Squinty Bridge
squinty - local name
Squinty
whooops
of crane interest…
Manitowoc crawler
"‘Titan’ Crane in Clydebank": The Scottish Ten is part of the CyArk 500 Challenge, to digitally preserve 500 cultural heritage sites.
in Japan - Nagasaki Giant Cantilever Crane circa 1913
worth checking
inadvertently left these bits out from the beginning…
ReplyDelete' • We have 270 images for NS5764'
another angel nearby…
a source for local history
Glasgow Necropolis
weeping over cranes…
ReplyDelete"The crane was moved to Korea in 2002, where it’s now one of several “goliath” cranes at a Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan. The crane earned the nickname “Tears of Malmö,” since as the story goes residents of the Swedish shipping town wept when their beloved crane was dismantled. The Kockums Crane may not have the world lifting record, but how can we not take note of a crane that can make a nation cry?"
bigguns
what is it about cranes & water??
a tear jerker
nearby, I have simpler tastes…
ReplyDeleteMay, 2018 — headed to get chips
not far — Total distance: 3,250.78 ft (990.84 m)±
far angel
fwiw,
musical diversity… near La Fiorentina
GGOO
…some other G'gow bits —
ReplyDeleteanother winged stone approximation, nearby, blowing a set of horns (better than wearing them?)
see it here also, near the bottom of the page…
the F-crane photo Judith mentioned - my browser wouldn't let me see it for security reasons…
the vid from the article - inside look at the flats @ the Angel Bldg.
note the tree growing out of the wall…
ReplyDeleteRe Judith and remmij link: http://www.clydewaterfront.com/clyde-heritage/queen's-dock--yorkhill-quay/finnieston-crane.
ReplyDeleteWorks fine for me. j
the screen/browser messages I was seeing… (firefox & chrome)
ReplyDeletemessages
meanwhile - this was interesting…
CARA DE DIABLO (DEVIL FACE) reminded me of browser hell… ;˚P
I immediately recognised that this was in the UK (including from the road markings and number plates) - and from the name "Clydeport" Scotland expected it to be linked to the River Clyde in or near Glasgow, Scotland.
ReplyDeleteSearching for Clydeport brought up several port sites e.g. https://www.britishports.org.uk/our-members/clydeport-operations-ltd and https://www.peelports.com/ports/clydeport which give some of the background. Image searches showed the crane and called it the "clydeport crane" e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clydeport_Crane,_Glasgow.jpg
More specifically, searching for "Clydeport Crane" (on Bing) brought up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnieston_Crane - so the crane has the name Finnieston Crane and is no longer operational but viewed as iconic for Glasgow's engineering heritage.
For the building, I searched for the address of La Fiorentina - and then searched putting in the post code (zip code) and the word "history" which brought up a real-estate site https://www.s1homes.com/Flats-for-sale/2018053006220803.shtml. This included "the famous & iconic Angel building" and searching for "Angel Building" Glasgow gave http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_images.php?sub=angel which gives a full history.
Sculptor: James Alexander Ewing (1843-1900)
Architects: Bruce & Hay (fl. 1882-1932)
Location: 2-20 Paisley Road West / Govan Road, Kingston, Glasgow
Date executed: 1889
Statue of Commerce and Industry.
Angel Building, Paisley Road West, Glasgow.
The Angel Building was built in 1889, as Ogg Brothers Drapery Warehouse, and is a much loved landmark in this south side district due to the angel which surmounts its south turret.
There's more at http://www.pastglasgow.co.uk/angel-building-old-toll-bar-kingston-halls-1900-1907/ showing old pictures. Apparently there was more - such as a weather vane - that's now been lost. "The fabric of the building isn’t much changed, although we’ve lost a few decorative roof ornaments, including a weather vane."