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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Lee Dalgetty

12 unanswered questions about Glasgow that leave us pondering

Here in Glasgow we have a lot of history, and many tales to tell - but there are some parts of the city that have left us stumped.

From cultural curiosities to questionable construction there are many questions to be asked about Glasgow's past, and we don't always have the answer. We're looking at some of the big unanswered questions about the city, however big or small.

Read ahead at your own peril, and prepare to be wondering about these topics for days to come.

READ MORE - Snibbed and 50 other Glasgow words and phrases that have disappeared

Who started putting a cone on the Duke of Wellington's napper and when?

No one actually knows who it was; the first person to bravely clamber up the Duke of Wellington statue outside the GoMA and place a cone on his napper in the dead of night.

By our reckoning, the traffic cone first appeared either in 1990 or at some point in the early 1990s, with BBC News Scotland reporting back in 2000 that it had been sitting on the Duke’s head “for 10 years”. And if that's when, was it drunken students right enough who thought the Duke could do with some new headgear - or is there another explanation? Could it even have been mysterious graffiti artist Banksy who first pulled off the stunt? There's certainly some (wild) evidence to suggest it, but we'll leave it up to you.

Why hasn't Margaret Mackintosh received the recognition she deserves?

It goes without saying the contribution Charles Rennie Mackintosh has made to Glasgow is immeasurable; a contribution that brings people to the city from all over the globe.

Yet his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, is often confined to the historic role of his “talented other half”, receiving nowhere near the respect she deserves in the city.

One of the most gifted, creative and imaginative artists of her time and a key part of the ‘Glasgow Style’ that developed in the 1890s, even Mackintosh himself admitted that he owed much of his own success to his wife’s influence. So why isn't she afforded the recognition she deserves in the city?

Why haven't they extended the Subway line?

Another major gripe of Glaswegians, never mind the fact that it shuts early on a Sunday night, is that our beloved underground system has never been extended beyond its initial 15 stations. That's despite the fact that plans for 50 new stations spread out across the entire city have been mooted again and again over the last 120 years.

So why have none of those plans gone ahead, when they would further benefit not just the lives of Glaswegians but also help in our commitment to a greener and less polluted city, with less reliance on cars?

Where did the 'Glasgow Uni Accent' come from?

It really is the million dollar question. How an accent non-native to the city has ended up being spoken and heard all around (especially in the west end), even by Glaswegians themselves. It's one that drives most of us up the wall and even gave birth to the ‘I Hate the Pretentious and Extremely Fake Glasgow University Accent’ group on Facebook, which has more than 10,000 followers. We tried offering our own answer to the question as to why people have come to adopt it, but without a lengthy in-depth linguistic study into the phenomenon, questions will still remain.

Why are the clocks on Glasgow's steeples blue and gold?

Sober or half cut, you'll have glanced up at the Tolbooth at Glasgow Cross or around the Merchant City and thought to yourself: why are they all in blue and gold colours and not black and white - or any other colour, for that matter?

You may have just shrugged and not thought too much about it, or you'll have asked your pal the same question only for them to tell you that you’re nuts, and they just are.

There's talk it might have something to do with St Mark's clock tower in Venice and the fact that its blue and gold clock face made it visible from the waters of the lagoon while giving notice to everyone of the wealth and glory of the city. But we've never heard if this is true or not of Glasgow's shiny blue faces.

Why don't we celebrate Glasgow's status as the birthplace of international football?

With an estimated 3.5 billion fans across the globe, football is far and away the most popular sport on Earth. And with football tourism growing at a solid rate into the UK, Glasgow has all the necessary tools in place to sell itself more as a football destination as does any place.

Although we can’t claim to have invented the game, it did play host to the world’s first ever recognized international fixture as well as give birth to the man who introduced the game to Argentina.

So why haven't the city powers pushed our history better to encourage visitors to head over to Partick to see the spot where Scotland took on England back in 1872? It would improve upon the almost-hidden plaque on the side of Partick cricket pavilion, as it is seen by next to no one.

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Is the Stone of Destiny in the Arlington Bar the real deal?

Perhaps the last thing on the minds of those who frequent one of Glasgow's finest (and cheapest) boozers is that concerning the huge stone lit up near the bogs. Is it really the same Stone of Destiny that crowned the Kings of Scotland for centuries at Scone Palace?

The Arlington Bar claims that it is, and that the four Glasgow Uni students who stole the original tried from Westminster Abbey in 1950 handed back a replica.

Head in for a pint next time the pubs reopen and make up your own mind.

Is Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum really built the wrong way round?

Another question that no doubt troubles the mind of folk who regularly take in the sight of what is possibly Glasgow's finest building. There exists the popular myth the architect made a big mistake and leapt to his death from one of the gallery towers because of it.

So why does it seem the main entrance faces towards a car park and the river as opposed to the main thoroughfare on Dumbarton Road? The answer could lie in the fact the museum was built and opened in 1901 to coincide with the Glasgow International Exhibition in the surrounding park.

Or were the architect's drawings really looked at upside down and they made a pigs ear of it?

Why doesn't Glasgow City Council repeal the ban on public drinking?

Another huge gripe among locals, especially when the city finds itself in full Taps Aff weather, is the inability for Glaswegians to enjoy a carry out in one of the many parks or outdoor areas or a wee road beer in between pubs. And, through gritted teeth, we'll admit it's one thing Edinburgh has in its favour.

A simple change to the ‘Edinburgh model’ - which states an offence occurs only when a person consuming alcohol in public (and engaging in anti-social behaviour) fails to desist when asked to do so by a police constable - would mean those wanting a quiet drink outside in a park, street or square could do so, and fully enjoy a sunny day in Glasgow.

So why don't Glasgow City Council make the change to the by-law and bring us out the dark ages when it comes to enjoying an al fresco drink?

Did we really steal the idea for the pizza crunch from East Kilbride?

Controversial claims were recently made that the humble pizza crunch wasn't invented in Glasgow and was instead 'nicked' from East Kilbride.

And given the fact the deep-fried delicacy, loved by thousands of Glaswegians, is as tied to the city's gastronomic identity as Irn Bru, Chicken Tikka Masala and Tennent's Lager, that's a bold claim.

But Blantyre based business Absolut Valeting risked causing a stooshie by claiming on social media that our chippies stole it. So is it actually true? And who wants to fight about it?

Why did they knock down the old St Enoch Station and Hotel?

Believed to have been the first building in Glasgow to have been fitted with electric lighting, the loss of St Enoch Station could be considered the greatest loss to the city's heritage - and one of many that some people in the city might never have known existed in the first place.

Lasting 96 years, the Victorian marvel (which had 12 platforms) closed in 1966 and was demolished in 1977, with the six-storey high hotel (which closed in 1974) demolished at the same time, with the area now occupied by the St Enoch Centre.

Given its sheer majesty, why did the powers-that-be decide to even knock it down in the first place?

Why didn't The Sensational Alex Harvey Band break America?

The Glasgow glam rockers achieved iconic status in the Ohio city of Cleveland - capturing the hearts and minds of the public and performing to huge crowds, despite not being even a name whispered by music fans in other US states.

So much so that, for Clevelanders, one of the key indicators used as evidence of having grown up in the city in the 1970s is that life was soundtracked by songs such as 'Midnight Moses' and 'Faith Healer'.

And the curious yet fascinating fact about one of Glasgow's greatest ever musical exports, who were active between 1972 and 1978, has led fans to question why they weren't able to crack America in the same way as bands such as The Rolling Stones did. There's no doubt they deserved to.

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