#muraltrail

Mural 20 - The Glasgow Crocodile, North Street

Another of Glasgow’s exotic animals can be found under a pedestrian bridge at Charing Cross.

Klingatron and Art Pistol have again collaborated for this mural, “designed to work with the environment using a gap in the bricks for the eye slit, and areas of old brickwork amongst the scales”.

The crocodile tried its best to eat me but I managed to escape! Remember children... never smile at a crocodile!

Mural 21 - Charing Cross Birds, A804

Another collaborative collection of murals by Art Pistol and Little Book Transfers, this mural consists of several murals of... well birds... at Charing Cross... hence the mural’s name! 

These are painted on the pillars of the same pedestrian overpass where you find the Glasgow Crocodile.

So if you ever hear Frank McAvennie (or Jonathan Watson) ask “Where’s the Birds?” you now know where to send him.

I decided to do my best bird impression... I await my Oscar for this outstanding performance!

Mural 22 - The Lost Giant, Sauchiehall Lane

I found this the least impressive mural of them all, I think it is hard to make out and down a rather unattractive lane, next to the bins.

Having now read up on the mural, this feature was created by Australian artist Stormie Mills and is part of his famous "Lost Giant" series which he has installed in various major towns and cities all over the world. I suppose, in hindsight, this is rather cool but it didn't have the same effect on me as the other murals. The scarf of the giant is supposedly meant to be made of the Glaswegian tartan... but it doesn’t look like tartan to me.

Antz recreated the giant's pose but could not replicate his towering stature!

Detour 10 -  Roman Catholic Church of St Aloysius, Rose Street

As we made our way to the penultimate mural of our journey, we passed this beautiful church and decided to step inside. Antz lit a candle in memory of a loved one, said a prayer, and we moved on.

I am not religious but I always get a tranquil, spiritual feeling inside churches and the architecture of any religious building can always be appreciated.

Mural 23 - Shadow Hand Puppets, Cowcaddens Road

Rogue-One was once again commissioned to create this mural, tasked with brightening up a dingy underpass beneath Cowcaddens Road leading to Cowcadden’s underground station.

Antz and I are now world renowned shadow puppeteers, also known as shadowgraphers or ombromaniests!

Mural 24 - The Musician, Sauchiehall Lane

The second mural to be found on Sauchiehall Lane can be located outside the entrance to Malones Irish Bar. Celebrating Glasgow’s live music scene, this collaboration by Rogue-One and Art Pistol Projects depicts a guitar player and helps add some colour to the brickwork.

I did a piss poor job of turning my jacket into a guitar for the recreation. My head is too far to my right, my hands are in the wrong position... a poor effort for our last mural of the day!

Final Stop -  Malones Irish Bar

Our final stop before heading for the train home was for a pint of Hop House in Malones, a good old Irish pint (created by Guinness) in a good old Irish bar.

We had a good laugh looking back through our photos from our trip round Glasgow’s Mural Trail.

Conclusion

The Mural Trail takes you all around Glasgow City Centre, down some streets and lanes you may not normally walk, and if you take the time to look around en route you can find some fantastic pubs, buildings and other street art.

It’s a great way to spend a day, get some exercise, take in the sights and have some laughs. There is an online mural map which you can follow on your phone and another bonus is that it's free.

Probably not a viable activity for anyone with difficulty walking, and it's a long walk for kids, but otherwise I’d thoroughly recommend.

In fact, I look forward to doing this Mural Trail again one day, taking in the new murals which have now been added and checking out more of Glasgow’s hidden gems.

Mural 15 - Glasgow Panda, Gordon Lane (opposite The Lighthouse in Mitchell Lane)

Edinburgh has a Panda, so in the spirit of city rivalry... Glasgow had to get one too. Ours is painted on a wall in Gordon Lane and I masterfully recreated it’s panda pose.

Mural 16 - Dr Connolly I Presume, Dixon Street

On the gable end of a tenement building, to the rear of Glasgow Hootenannys Pub, within in their beer garden, you will find another of the mural’s dedicated to Billy Connolly. 

Another Rogue One masterpiece, reproducing a Jack Vettriano painting from the comedian’s World Tour of Scotland series in 1994 and featuring “a windblown Billy on a storm-lashed coast near John O’Groats”

I replicated the pose whilst perched on a bench in the beer garden.

Mural 17 - Glasgow’s Tiger, Clyde Street

As I write this blog post (during the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2021), the Glasgow Tiger mural is no longer included in the official mural trail map. I am unsure whether this is because it no longer exists or not.

The mural is (or was) a collaboration between Klingatron and Art Pistol and was a re-imagining of an original tiger design in the same location, found on a wall next to South Portland Suspension Bridge.

In our photo, Antz is curled up in a ball trying to ensure he does not become tiger lunch!

Mural 18 - The Gallery, Argyle Street & York Street

Aptly named The Gallery, this mural is more of a collection of smaller paintings on a boarded up building. The artist Smug (Sam Bates) has recreated famous paintings including Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Munch’s The Scream, Dali’s melting clocks and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, dubbed “The Mona Lassie” by Glaswegians (which has sadly been defaced).

Our recreation involved Alex posing as a creepy lassie, escaping from Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting and me on my knees freaked out by what I am witnessing.

Mural 19 - The Swimmer, Broomielaw

This amazing lifelike mural was another of the installations ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Painted by Smug underneath the Kingston Bridge, this installation celebrates Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Antz entered into the diving competition and I had a go at the swimming.

Detour 9 - In Tyler We Trust

As we made our way to mural twenty, we noticed this brilliant little mural on a fire exit door on the back of a building, dedicated to the brilliant film Fight Club. I have no more info on how it got there or who put it there.... maybe because nobody talks about Fight Club.

4. Fellow Glasgow Residents, Ingram Street Car Park

Having finished our pint, and pondered the wonders of Glasgow’s ‘oldest bar’, we continued down High Street and turned right on to Ingram Street, into Glasgow’s Merchant City.

The Fellow Glasgow Residents mural spans the full wall of the City Halls and Old Fruitmarket Building, bringing a wave of colour to what was once a grey, gable end wall, covered in graffiti.

There are two main features to the wall; a kilted man picking a mushroom and a series of Scottish woodland animals (who could be considered as fellow Glasgow residents).

Our version of the mural reenactment involved me picking up another empty bottle of EL-D, some fantastic acting as I became a badger, and Alex & I moonlighting as a bellowing stag and a nose licking fox... classy!

5. Badminton, Wilson Street

This mural was created in the lead up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as part of the marketing for the event. It depicts action shots of Scotland badminton player Kieran Merrilees and is part of a collection of four murals by the same artist. The other three murals can be found on the gable end of tenement blocks in Glasgow’s West End, near Partick train station, and represents the Commonwealth sports of netball, rugby and hockey.

Antz and I made it our mission to copy the poses, with my mobile phone becoming the badminton racket... there's an app for everything these days!

6. Space Man, New Wynd Lane

The Space Man mural can be found on a wall in New Wynd lane, just off Trongate, a short walk from mural five.

Created by Ali Wylie, this mural is very different in style from the other murals, inspired by pop, graphic novels, graphic design and Japanese culture.

Not many people know but Scotland has a growing space sector and Glasgow manufactures more satellites than anywhere in Europe. This was one of my least favourite murals, still impressive, but it does not feel as fitting as other murals (maybe as it’s stuck down a lane and not easy to view from the street).

Here's Antz and I pretending we're floating in space, our hoods are clearly space helmets.

Detour 3 - Britannia Panopticon Music Hall

The Space Mural is directly outside the entrance to the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, a building I previously knew nothing about (there are so many hidden gems in Glasgow). This is the oldest surviving music hall in the world and is where Stan Laurel made his stage debut.

The building is now owned by a registered charity - The Friends of the Britannia Panopticon Hall Trust - with the aim of continuing the legacy of the hall, advancing the conservation of the building and ensuring the building's future as a visitor attraction, museum and working venue.

The building is open for free general viewing and we entered up the steps to find patrons practicing for a song and dance performance. They welcomed us, let us look around, take some photos, and informed us of some of the history, encouraging us to spread word of the building and charity. So here I finally am, spreading the word.

It's a really interesting, historic building, which has many original features and a lot of charm. I'd encourage everyone to check it out and make a donation if you can.

Here are some pictures we took inside... Alex, of course, found a piano!

1. The “Wonderwall” at Strathclyde University, George Street

Stop number one on the mural trail is more of a collection of several murals, spanning three different sides of the University of Strathclyde’s Graham Hills Building on George Street.

Created by Art Pistol, Rogue-One and Ejek, the murals celebrate Strathclyde Uni alumni, tutors and their achievements.

Our recreations involve headstands, opening fake doors and Antz ‘pushing the boat out’!

2. St Enoch & Child, George Street

Locating the second mural was extremely easy for us, found by looking at the boat mural pictured above and turning on the spot 180 degrees.

Painted by Smug, this mural is a contemporary interpretation of the city's founding story... St Thenue/Enoch cradling her beloved St Kentigern/Mungo.

Naturally, our version involved me cradling Antz in my arms, nursing his hangover. The robin was replaced by a can of lager, symbolising the night before.

3. Saint Mungo, High Street

Mural number three can be found on the same tenement building as mural number two, on the other gable end, positioned up and around the corner on High Street.

This mural was also created by Smug, completed in February 2016, and features another robin. Upon completion, a photo of the mural went viral on social media after being shared more than 1.5 million times within the first week.

Our version features Alex Graham in the starring role of St Mungo, and… a bottle of Eldorado in the supporting role as the robin. This version has been shared once… by me… in this blog!

Detour 2 - The Old College Bar, High Street

As we walked by the Old College Bar, Alex suggested we stop to grab a pint, a ‘hair of the dog’ for oor Antz. 

The bar has a sign hanging above the street saying established 1810, and as we sipped our pint we chatted with the bar lady about the history of the pub and the dispute of whether it is in fact the oldest pub in Glasgow. She maintained that it was the oldest bar in the Glasgow City Centre area, although a couple of other pubs also lay claim to this fact.

However, as I write this blog post, I have stumbled across a Daily Record article from March 2018, where the owner Colin Beattie admits it is nothing but a marketing ploy. He explains that upon purchasing the bar, the previous owner admitted that he had 'made up the claim to boost trade'.

The marketing clearly works, we only entered due to the sign and Alex's belief that it was the oldest pub in Glasgow. The Daily Record article explains that this is the reason the pub has never been given listed status or official protection by Historic Scotland.

We were duped fellas! As the bloated orange former president would say... 'Fake news!'

Introduction

The Glasgow Mural Trail is a walking route around Glasgow City Centre which connects a series of street murals.

The murals were commissioned by Glasgow City Council to rejuvenate and revitalise buildings, adding a splash of colour to lanes and streets. More information on the murals and the walking route can be found here - citycentremuraltrail.co.uk

Note - The Glasgow Mural Trail changes as new murals are painted and old murals are taken away (for various reasons). As such this blog article was accurate at the time of writing but may have changed since.

On 3rd March 2019, me and two good mates, Alex and Antz, were planning on climbing a munro. However, it was an extremely windy day and climbing a hill wouldn't have been enjoyable or advisable, so we decided a walk around Glasgow’s Mural Trail would be a better option.

To spice things up we decided to visit some of Glasgow’s local bars en route and take a few detours to see some bonus buildings and features. We also decided to take photos, mimicking or interacting with the murals to capture some memories. Here's how our day panned out.

Meeting Point

We met at Gordon Street coffee at Glasgow Central Station as Antz had been out the night before and required a coffee.

Here's Antz in all his glory on the train to Glasgow (with some bonus art work of The People's Palace behind him. How fitting!)

Detour 1 - Carlton George Hotel

On the way to the first mural, Alex suggested we take a slight detour to check out the Windows restaurant on the 7th floor of the Carlton George Hotel on George Street (and get oor man Antz another coffee). I didn't even know the bar was there!

It has a balcony with superb views over Glasgow, and down onto Buchanan Street, and is well worth checking out, especially on a sunny day.

A False Start

When we got to where the 1st mural should have been, it wasn't there! The building that it was painted on had been knocked down.

It was a superb mural on a wall on George Street, of some puppets, named as "The Hip Hop Marionettes" and I was sad to see that it was no longer there. Here's a picture of what it should of looked like, Antz’ reaction to its absence, and our attempt at recreating the mural.