Ok, I did it, I broke my local authority lockdown.
I won’t go into the specifics as to why I did it but after a mind boggling fast train journey which whisked me through the suburbs of the city I soon found myself wandering the streets of our industrial mother, Glasgow.
Now am sure you are all aware that I am on an anti litter campaign right now, spending time cleaning up what the uneducated have left behind, so I think you can understand my unease at having to visit the most densely populated place in Scotland, I mean if our wild spaces are trashed whats this Megatron of the working class going to be like, I shuddered to think!
Well, well , well . I stepped out from the dark depths of the under ground platforms into the bright but grey world of Glasgow with its Victorian architecture towering above me and what do you think I found, clean streets, litter free roads and pavements. I stood in shock! Slowly a cheshire cat smile slowly spread from cheek to cheek as I softly muttered to myself " Glasgow you old beaut, you old beauty...I love you".
Shop lined through ways, grand glass topped train stations from yesteryear, four lane streets, back alleys which hark back to horse, carts and chimney sweeps, courtyards, greens, riversides and people, lots of people yet why was there considerably less litter here in Glasgow than out in the countryside where single track lanes still boast themselves important .
Now am not saying there was no litter because there was but I can honestly say that it was very impressive how little it was.
So why, why can we keep a Goliath of the industrial revolution respectable but our parks, lochs and glens get a filthy slap to the face and degraded like some dirty little secret.
I'll be stewing over this for awhile now. Yes Glasgow has an army of street cleaners I understand that but I also understand that the faithful Glaswegians or most of them take a fierce pride in their "dear green place", more fool a man that disrespects dear auld Glasgow town in front of one of her bairns, be warned, for a Glasgow kiss is not something you'll reminisce about, so don’t go asking for one!
What if that Glasgow pride was taken everywhere, does it become Greenock pride, Galashiels pride or even Glencoe pride?
I'll finish this as I wait on the kettle boiling for my last cup of tea of the day and say bravo Glasgow, bravo the people, the army of street cleaners and the bairns of the Clydeside, I hope you never change.
Aye,
GJ
