Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

YPS Art & Science Study Tour to Glasgow

Monday 7th to Friday 11th October

Cost from £639pp to include half board, one lunch at “The Willow Tea Rooms”, return travel by Executive Coach, and visits and entrance fees as shown in the Itinerary.

This 5 days, 4 nights’ stay with 3 choice, 3 course dinner and full Scottish breakfast:

“The Best Western Garfield House Hotel, Stepps (3 *)

The award winning Garfield House hotel holds an excellent setting in the quiet, peaceful village of Stepps, with the bustling city of Glasgow just a short drive away. Accommodation in en suite standard category double/twin or sole occupancy rooms

www.bw-garfieldhouse.co.uk

ITINERARY

Day 1: York/Glasgow

0845: Depart York Leeman Road and travel north towards Carlisle where we make a stop at the “Devil’s Porridge Museum”. Lunch can be taken here before we continue our journey to Stepps, near Glasgow, arriving at our hotel in time for dinner.

Day 2: Burrell Collection/House for an Art Lover

Depart hotel and travel the short distance to visit the “Burrell Collection”.

In the afternoon we proceed to the “House for an Art Lover”, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Return to hotel after visit.

Day 3: Guided walking tour of Glasgow and Mackintosh sites

Depart hotel after breakfast and travel to Glasgow where we meet our guide for a 2 hour walking tour followed by an included 2- course lunch with tea/coffee at the “Mackintosh’s Willow Tea Room”.

In the afternoon we visit the “Hunterian Museum”, a free Science Museum and Art Gallery. (NB £6 charge for Mackintosh House, not included)

Day 4: Glasgow Cathedral & Riverside Transport Museum

This morning we travel to Glasgow for a visit to the “Necropolis” before our guided tour of “Glasgow Cathedral”. There will then be time for lunch (not included) and some free time at the “Riverside Transport & Technology Museum”, where we include a visit to the reimagining of a Glasgow Street and admire the 21st century building designed by Zaha Hadid. Return to hotel with time to relax before dinner.

Day 5: Dumfries House/Gretna Green/York

0900: Depart hotel and travel to “Dumfries House”, where we have tea/coffee and an included one hour guided tour of the house. We then continue south to “Gretna Green” where we can take lunch before resuming our journey back to York, arriving at Leeman Road in the early evening.

YPS and “Just For Groups” Terms and conditions apply.  

https://www.ypsyork.org/groups/social-group/yps-activities-booking-terms-conditions-2/uk-multi-day-terms-and-conditions/

*Costs

£639 pp sharing and £25 to YPS

Single supplement £100  JFG Insurance if required £17.

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Member’s report

A group of 28 members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society visited Glasgow in October 2024.

Our first stop was at the Devil’s Porridge Museum, where we learned about the vast munitions factory built near the Solway Firth during the First World War. The museum also tells the story of Britain’s worst rail disaster in 1915, when hundreds of soldiers were killed or injured. More recent history includes a display about Chapelcross nuclear power station, built to generate electricity and produce material for Britain’s atomic bombs; fascinating and sobering in equal measure.

Over the following days, we covered everything from Glasgow’s foundation as a religious settlement in the Kingdom of Strathclyde through to the city’s boom years in the 19th and 20th centuries when it became known as the “Second City of the Empire”.

Although there was a Christian presence as early as the fifth century, the first documented church was built by St Mungo in the mid sixth century, and he is regarded as the founder of Glasgow. Over the following centuries, Christianity vied with pagan beliefs. In Govan Old Church, a remarkable set of stones from the 9th to 11th centuries suggest that the two sometimes co-existed. The Govan Sarcophagus, believed to commemorate St Constantine (son of a Pictish king), is carved with warriors and hunting scenes, while a group of hogback stones resemble Viking longhouses.

Glasgow cathedral was consecrated in 1197, although construction continued for the next two hundred years. It is dedicated to St Mungo, whose tomb is at the centre of the lower level. The first Glasgow University students were taught in the Chapter House in 1451.

Since 1870, the university’s main campus has been at Gilmorehill. We went there to visit the oldest museum in Scotland, the Hunterian, which includes science and art galleries and a recreation of the home of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. In a letter to Margaret, Charles wrote, ‘You are half if not three-quarters in all my architectural work’. Both were students at Glasgow School of Art and they collaborated on many projects. At the “House for an Art Lover” and again at their recreated home, we saw examples of Margaret’s art as well as the exceptional architectural designs that made Charles’s name.

The Burrell Collection displays art and artefacts in carefully curated galleries. Each is supported by information about the techniques used to create intricate and beautiful objects in metal, glass, ceramic, fabric and other media.

Bringing our tour closer to the present day, the Riverside Transport and Technology Museum starts with the age of horse and sail, continues with the steam age and ends with electric cars and a Glasgow Subway carriage.

Before returning to York, we visited Dumfries House in Ayrshire. When its contents came up for auction in 2007, Prince Charles (as he was then) spearheaded a successful campaign to return every item to the house, saving the house for the nation. It was a fitting end to a fascinating week.

David Harbourne