Today's animals from Glasgow's architecture are these dolphinfish supporting a lamp on the Kelvin Way Bridge on the west end of the city.

#glasgow #architecture #bridges #streetlight #dolphinfish #metalwork #streetfurniture #kelvinway #animalsinarchitecture

While the square Hayward Prismatic Pavement Lights (patented in 1871) can still be found across Glasgow, Hyatt Lights with their round lenses are an older version, being patented in 1845, and are much rarer.

In fact, the 1854 tobacco warehouse on James Watt Street in Anderston where I took this picture is the only place I've seen them so far in the city.

#glasgow #streetfurniture #cellarlights #pavementlights #vaultlights #hyattpatentlights #architecture #jameswattstreet #anderston

I've walked, run, driven and cycled up Bryres Road in Glasgow hubdreds of times, but only noticed this remnant of Glasgow's long-gone electric trolleybus/tram network for the first tine yesterday. It's at the junction with Great Western Road opposite Oran Mor.

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#glasgow #glasgowhistory #byresroad #glasgowcorporation
#glasgowcorporationtransport #pastglasgow #streetfurniture #glasgowtrams #glasgowtrolleybus

Are the lamps on Kelvin Way Bridge the most ornate street lights in Glasgow? I think they might just be!

Sculpted by Paul Raphael Montford between 1914 and 1924, these lamps consist of four allegorial groups of larger than life figures representing eight aspects of Glasgow civil society: Peace and War, Navigation and Shipbuilding, Commerce and Industry; and Philosophy and Inspiration (the pair shown here).

#glasgow #sculpture #kelvinway #architecture #streetfurniture #streetlights #streetlamps

Going by the presence of access covers like these, the largest remaining part of this system seems to be running from Baltic Chambers on Hope Street down into Robertson Street.

#glasgow #glasgowhistory #pastglasgow #streetfurniture #acesscovers #hydraulicpower

I've posted both of these access covers before, but today I realised they're both part of Glasgow's old Hydraulic Power system.

From a pumping station on High Street, pressurised water was pumped through thirty miles of pipes made of one inch thick steel and up to seven inches in diamter to power industrial equipment across the city.

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#glasgow #glasgowhistory #pastglasgow #streetfurniture #acesscovers #hydraulicpower

Love these railings I came across in the west end of Glasgow today. They're an eye-catching design and I haven't yet seen it elsewhere in the city.

#glasgow #railings #metalwork #ironwork #design #architecture #streetfurniture #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture

I love this taxi lamp outside the Corinthian Club on Ingram Street in Glasgow, but it has always slightly confused me as to why it's there.

#glasgow #architecture #designdetail #metalwork #ironwork #lamp #streetfurniture #ingramstreet #corinthianclub

Bootscarpers of Pollokshields in Glasgow.

These pieces of street furniture would have once been found at the entrance to most town houses and many tenement closes. You can still find them outside buildings across the city, but the design in the bottom left is not one I've seen elsewhere. Thanks to Harjam10 on Twitter for bringing it to my attention.

#glasgow #pollokshields #streetfurniture #bootscrapers #ironwork #metalwork

A Hayward Brothers Prismatic Cellar Light set into the pavement of Sauchiehall Street in the west end of Glasgow. Patented in 1885, the glass prisms mounted in the iron frame shone light into otherwise dark recesses of cellars. This is the most complete one I've found in Glasgow and it has no missing prisms.

#glasgow #streetfurniture #sauchiehallstreet #cellarlights

Prismatic coal hole cover on Hope Street in Glasgow. Coal holes in the street allowed deliveries to coal cellars without having to carry the coal through a building. Prismatic covers were commonly used allow natural light into the otherwise pitch black coal cellars. Only a few of the original prisms remain in this particular example

#glasgow #coalholecover #coalhole #prisms #streetfurniture #manholecovers #glasgowhistory

I've come across a few of these HOP access covers on the streets of Glasgow recently, and I've been struggling to find out what they were for.

My best guess is that they're part of an old hydraulic system which supplied high pressure (HP?) water for running lifts, presses and other machinery.

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#glasgow #glasgowhistory #industrialhistory #accesscovers #manholecovers #pastglasgow #streetfurniture

Glasgow public water fountains in 1896 and 2023.

While I applaud Scottish Water for providing these new water points, it seems a major missed opportunity to create something that's not only function, but that's also beautiful and adds to the local environment where it's placed rather than just being plonked on to the streets with little thought or planning.

#glasgow #drinkingwater #design #architecture #streetfurniture #glasgowstreets #glasgowarchitecture

This is one of lamp posts on the Queen Margaret Drive bridge on the west end of Glasgow. From its shape and design, it looks like it might have started its life as a gas-powered lamp and was only later converted to run on electricity. If it is, it's one of the few reminders left of the city's once ubiquitous gas lighting network, which started in 1818 and was finally turned off in 1971.

#glasgow #lampposts #streetfurniture #design #glasgowhistory #pastglasgow #gaslamp

The Onion: Staffer Waiting For Car Temporarily Leans Frozen Mitch McConnell Against Nearby Fire Hydrant https://www.theonion.com/staffer-waiting-for-car-temporarily-leans-frozen-mitch-1850684035 #disasteraccident #streetfurniture #mitchmcconnell #waterindustry #firehydrant #mcconnell #lawcrime #hydrant

The Onion: Staffer Waiting For Car Temporarily Leans Frozen Mitch McConnell Against Nearby Fire Hydrant https://www.theonion.com/staffer-waiting-for-car-temporarily-leans-frozen-mitch-1850684035 #disasteraccident #streetfurniture #mitchmcconnell #waterindustry #firehydrant #mcconnell #lawcrime #hydrant

I love it when old street furinture is left in place when streets get renovated. This great example is from Oswald Street in central Glasgow. I really want to know what it used to be for as the instructions on it are very precise, but are now rather cryptic given how this area has changed over the years.

#glasgow #manholecover
#streetfurniture #accesscover #pastglasgow #lostglasgow #urbanregeneration

MacLean and Company Prismatic Cellar Light, Bothwell Street, Glasgow.

Cellar lights, also known as pavement lights or vault lights, are metal grids filled with glass prisms set into the pavement at the base of a building to allow light into basement levels.

While widely used in Glasgow in the late 1800s, like other type of historic street furniture, there seem to be relatively few remaining in their original condition.

#glasgow #cellarlight #streetfurniture #design #architecture #prism

A rather battered survivor on High Street from Glasgow's long-gone trollybus system, which ran between 1949 and 1967. Like trams, they were powered by overhead electrical wires, but ran on normal streets and not tracks. The GCT initials on it stand for Glaagow Corporation Transport. Thanks to @PastGlasgow for the identification of this box.

#glasgow #streetfurniture
#publictransport #glasgowhistory #design #trollybus

Glasgow Corporation Water Works access cover from a street in Finnieston in Glasgow. This is a very functional item of street furniture, but there's something very pleasing about its design.

#glasgow #streetfurniture #glasgowcorporation #glasgowhistory #accesscover #manholecover #oldmanholecover