Wednesday the 1st of September, saw visitors able to book the well-loved behind-the-scenes tour at the historical station for the first time since lockdown.
The tour features a visit to the subterranean passageways which sit under Glasgow's streets, also a stop off at the railway vaults which brought about the city's industrial development to become ‘The Second City of the British Empire'. Visitors will also enjoy tales of both the famous and infamous who have travelled the tracks.
Jackie Ogilvie, who is museum curator, has spent lockdown taking care of the tour's delicate treasures alongside carefully creating the brand new museum with assistance and creativity from the year 3 students of the Glasgow School of Arts Interaction Design programme.
The museum is the newest addition of the unmissable attraction and includes exhibits collected from old railway buildings, trains as well as donations from families of railwaymen and women. Past visitors to the tour have also enjoyed seeing their own family history displayed.
The students have put together a visual history which begins at the station's construction in 1879, moving on to its expansion in 1905 and through to present day creating an impressive centre piece covering the past 142 years. Audio has also been included in the form of the tick-tock of the famous Glasgow Central clock.
A second installation by Paul Maguire who is Programme Leader for the Glasgow School of Art's School of Design sees a Roll of Honour of Glaswegians lost during the First World War and also features regiment and street address details. The memorial can be found in the area of the temporary WW1 mortuary deep within the station, using a location where some servicemen will have arrived on their final journey home.
For further information and tour booking for Glasgow Central Tours visit: www.glasgowcentraltours.co.uk
Jackie Ogilvie, Central station tour guide and museum curator, is so excited to finally share even more of the station's story. She said: “While creating a museum for Central station was a difficult and complicated process, every new artifact and piece of memorabilia provided such an amazing insight into this wonderful place.
“We can't wait to welcome people back to Central and take them on a wonderful, historical journey, which is only possible due to the kindness and support of so many people for which the station and the railway are such an important part of their lives.”
Paul Maguire, GSA Interaction Design programme leader, said: “I would like to thank Jackie and the team at Central station for the opportunity to work with them on this project. Gaining experience of engaging with clients and developing ‘live' projects is hugely important to our students and allows them to see their work in a real-world context. The brief was ideal: clearly thematic but open to interpretation – allowing students to explore and experiment with media and meaning. They responded extremely well to the brief, producing a powerful and considered immersive audio-visual installation.
“It was a great privilege to be personally commissioned to develop the ‘Role of Honour' piece. I found the experience of working with the database to be deeply moving, reinforcing the personal cost of war and reframing it within a city context, referencing familiar Glasgow addresses. I hope viewers feel this same emotional engagement with the work.”
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My mum who passed away few years ago age 95 used to tell me the story of during Second World War, my dad who was in the Royal Air Force home on leave in Glasgow. Then it was time to go back south to his squadron . Mum said he volunteered in the war. He was just a young man. My mum said she went with my dad to Central station Glasgow. I would be a baby. My dad’s only brother (seven years older) was with them. So there was my dad Henry Gourley boarding the train with all the serviceman. As the train left the station she remembers my Uncle Hugh saying ‘this bloody war’. I have never forgotten her telling me this story. Can you imagine all these young men leaving to fight in a war nit knowing if you would ever see them again. How wonderful Central station have commemorated those soldiers .
This will be amazing