I might just as well have called this post “Public Whimsy,” because the bridges in question are nicknamed Squiggly and Squinty, and it’s the nicknames that have stuck. Gotta love Glaswegians . . .
Squiggly
Squinty
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Poetry of the Week
Let Ithaka be always in your thoughts.To get there is your goal and destiny.But do not hasten to your journey’s end:it’s better if it lasts for many yearsso that you'll reach the island when you’re old,wealthy with all you’ve gained along the way,not hoping Ithaka will make you rich.Your marvellous journey is Ithaka’s gift.Without her you would not have started out.But she has nothing more to give you now.And if you find she's poor, you’ve not been fooled.So wise have you become, so much you’ve learned,that you will know what Ithakas must be.Source: Seen in passing on X-Twitter. Holler if you want the whole thing.Author/Translator: Armand D'Angour, Professor of Classics, Oxford. Cello lover. Larkin about. Turning life into Latin verse, one hexameter at a time. Podcast “It’s All Greek (& Latin!) to Me”.
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I grew up reading — among others — John Buchan’s stories about the Scottish highlands. For the highlands, Edinburgh was the fabled city, Glasgow a grubby shipyard town. So I have carried with me most of my life a feeling that Glasgow was a notch below — not sure of below what, but definitely below. I’m now told that I have done Glasgow a great injustice. And any city that can call its bridges Squiggly and Squinty deserves a second chance.
Jim T
Jim – Our 2012 trip left us impressed with Glasgow – its energy, architecture, and air of appropriate irreverence, among other things. That impression continued on this trip. Glasgow has about 3 times the population of Edinburgh, but seems to be much easier to get around, at least in the core. Edinburgh favours buses, trams/streetcars, and bicycles. I think they’d be happy if there were no cars downtown.
ACH. Mighty fine looking bridges!
Tom
Tom – They are, aren’t they?
Nice bridges and pics thereof. Nice to see bridges with artistic character
Jim: Yes, it’s nice to have some design flair, as long as it doesn’t drive costs up too much. Recently, Ottawa built two really neat bridges that bankrupted the contractors. The procurement system isn’t supposed to work like that!
Great photos! Excellent reflections! I hope to see these in a few weeks. Thanks for the idea.
Judith – Wonderful! Enjoy. These were all taken between 5 and 6 AM (just as the clubs were letting out their last patrons) and I got lucky with what they call a slack tide, I think.