I don’t know Glasgow at all well and discovered that I don’t have a copy of Pevsner, so decided just to explore the Merchant City. I had been told that it was in trouble owing to Covid, but it seemed – most of it – pretty robust, much of it so far preserved, much of it grandly Victorian, reminiscent more of Philadelphia or Melbourne than any English city in the tame, sneaking south.
I can’t tell you what most of the buildings are that I saw:-
These statues by John Mossman were on the Athenaeum:-
These were on Buchanan Street:-
City Chambers (1882-90):-
The Corinthian Club:-
The building opposite on Virginia Place, currently being restored:-
A good Greek Revival building on Glassford Street:-
Mercury:-
The Ramshorn Graveyard:-
More miscellaneous details:-
It’s pretty impressive, demonstrating a density of classical buildings and built ornament lost further south.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Glasgow is my home town. My advice to visitors is to wander and, crucially, to look up. Lovely to see the Ramshorn Graveyard restored. Up towards the University, round Park Circus there are some fine terraces. An enormous amount was lost when the Council drove a motorway through the centre. When I saw the headline Glasgow Central, I thought you had accompanied the couple of fanatics who conduct tours of the terminus. It is quite fine but I miss the old analogue destination board and kiosks kiosks.
Must go back ! Do go to the Burrell when it re-opens. Charles
I’ve always preferred the built environment of central Glasgow to Edinburgh, and not because of the architectural structure. The dark grey volcanic stone that makes up much of Edinburgh is stark and gloomy as opposed to the warmth of the brown stone that makes up Glasgow..
Dear Richard, Yes, I was impressed by the quality of its nineteenth-century buildings, its grid, and how intact most of it still is. Charles