We hear a lot about oligarchs these days but they are by no means a new phenomenon. In the 19th century, Glasgow had oodles of them but back then they were known as shipping magnates or tobacco barons. Sir William Burrell was one such shipping magnate and he is responsible for the place we are in  today, the Burrell Collection in Pollock Park, Glasgow.

He had enough money to buy anything that tickled his fancy and, in his case, it was art that did the tickling. Buying his first piece aged fifteen kick started a life obsessed with travelling the world and shipping artefacts back to his home town of Glasgow. Because he had lots of big ships he wasn’t put off by size … everything from paintings, stained glass, tapestries to huge chunks of ancient buildings. We were last here at the Burrell Collection many years ago as guests at a dinner laid on by Astra Zeneca for the Scottish Therapeutic Endoscopy Workshop. A great night but, typically you might say, we didn’t do culture … only eating and drinking. This time we have a few hours to look around at the exhibits. There are a lot!

Wisdom and understanding

If this post contains more than the usual amount of illustrations it is simply because the building and the objects it contains just beg to be photographed. It is amazing.

We were here early in the morning when there were few people around but by the time we left it was very busy indeed.

It has just recently reopened after a major revamp with lots of things for kids to interact with and opportunities to  learn about other cultures. We are running the risk here of making this blog educational and interesting so perhaps we should just get on with the scones.

Catching up

We are not complete scone philistines though … that’s not the only reason for our visit. It was catching up with an old friend we hadn’t seen for many years that had actually brought us here. There were scones though … fruit and plain. They have a system. You have to find a table then give the table number when you order at the counter. Then they bring it over when it’s all ready.  Everything was nicely presented and the scone came with plenty jam and butter. It was nice and we thoroughly enjoyed it but it wasn’t a top scone … pity! 

Homeless

Burrell believed in free education for all and in 1944 he gifted his entire collection to the City of Glasgow. It was so big, however, there wasn’t any where in the city capable of housing it. It needed its own building so a competition was launched that culminated in being opened by the Queen in 1983. The setting in the beautiful countryside of Pollock Park is perfect. Huge windows give a fantastic backdrop to many of the exhibits and it’s all completely free for anyone who wants to visit. Good old Sir William!. For us the takeaway message from our visit was clear. Today we think of ourselves as being terribly advanced.

Smart phones and rockets to the moon and all that. But actually, we haven’t really come that far. A thousand years ago they were doing things that we’d find hard or impossible to replicate these days. The workmanship and scale of some of the artefacts is mind blowing. No idea what value would be put on the Collection … probably too vast to contemplate.

Messes

When you look at the mess the world is in today it is not difficult to agree that we haven’t progressed that much. The UK has been responsible for creating a lot of the global messes and with Boris at the helm it has ended up in one almighty mess itself. If we were being generous we would say that he has had a lot on his plate … but we’re not! We are all heartily sick of the goings on in 10 Downing Street during lockdown and  today the long awaited Sue Grey Report cames out. It hasn’t improved things. Boris, may have unwittingly discovered the holy grail on how to keep your job. Just make such a mess of it that no-one else wants it.

We’ve only made a mess of our table at the Burrell Collection. But it was wonderful to catch up with an old friend and at the same time get ‘cultured’. Having said that, ‘culture vultures’ we are not but this is a fantastic place. You should all visit if you get a chance.

G43 1AT    tel: 0141 287 2550    The Burrell

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