See Glasgow? See Culture

At the same time a nation sat down to watch BBC’s Scotland’s Still Game, back on the small screen after almost a decade, I sat down in a pub not unlike Jack and Victor’s howff, The Clansman.

The Molendinar Bar at Tennent’s Wellpark Brewery was the fourth stop on a ten-mile sponsored Culture Crawl around Glasgow on Friday night in aid of Maggie’s Glasgow.

Half pints in plastic glass, bag of ready salted crisps in hand, blethering about Jeremy Corbyn and the death of Labour in Scotland with pals. A ceilidh band playing in the corner. See me? See cultured?

Hundreds of walkers had gathered earlier at Zaha Hadid’s distinctive Riverside Museum by the banks of the River Clyde for the cancer care charity’s first ever Culture Crawl in Glasgow. We were cheered on our way by Zumba instructor LeeAnn Mitchell, gamely joined on stage by Partick-based PC Alan Dunsmuir.

Maggie’s does sterling work supporting anyone affected by cancer at 19 centres across the UK, online and abroad. Many of the orange t-shirt clad walkers had their own personal reasons for taking part.

Our crawl took us via the bonnie banks of the Clyde and ended at Maggie’s Centre in Gartnavel Hospital in the city’s west end. En-route we stopped at BBC Scotland’s HQ, the Gallery of Modern Art, Wellpark Brewery, Theatre Royal, Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow University and the Botanic Gardens.

At each stop we were royally fed, watered and entertained. A personal highlight was the chance to catch our breath and take weight off our feet at the Kibble Palace where Glasgow’s own community orchestra Gamelan Naga Mas played traditional Javanese and Balinese music by candleight.

On reflection, a special night for all concerned.

This 4* review of Maggie’s Culture Crawl Glasgow, which took place on Friday 7th October first appeared in The Herald on Monday 10th Octotober

I also wrote about the Maggie’s Culture Crawl Edinburgh in September 2015 in The Herald. They are great events and a superb way to see a city.