I check my pocket watch, confirming its 8 o’clock. Dressed in my best suit, bowler hat and walking stick, I stride out into the beautiful district of Strathbungo, within one of the greatest cities of the world: GLASGOW.
Everyone living here is chasing the same dream: ‘work hard, earn hard’. Commerce is everywhere, including shipbuilding, engineering, printing, textiles, architecture, furniture making, banking, insurance and whisky. Glasgow is a smoking cauldron of innovation, imagination and opportunity.
I tip my hat to everyone in Queens Park enjoying the last embers of rare sunshine, within this fascinating and extraordinary metropolis.
Last Saturday, my band of brothers, were doing our usual raft of exercises including hammer-throwing, putting the ball, tossing the caber and pole vaulting. Our routine was interrupted by a group from the Young Men’s Christians Association, who were enjoying a form of exercise from our birthplace. The game was simple: kick a ball around a field and score through a bundle of old clothes; marking the goalposts. They had played all day, where winning was everything. We joined in after protracted discussion and following a thorough assessment of our collective abilities.
I’m off to 3 Eglinton Terrace, where we decided to meet again and discuss what we had discovered. We agreed to meet at 8:30pm. Today is Tuesday 9 July 1867.
—————————————— © Graeme Brown 2018 ——————————————-
The Hampden Collection 