GLASGOW LINKS
Glasgow has long been a centre of habitation. Stone Age canoes unearthed along the banks of the River Clyde suggest early fishing communities, and there were many religious establishments in the area. However little in known about the city’s history until its establishment as an Episcopal see in 1145 and shortly thereafter its establishment as a Burgh or Barony.
In 1451, the University of Glasgow was founded making it the second oldest university in Scotland and the fourth oldest in the UK. Elevated to an Archbishopric in 1492, by the end of the 15th Century Glasgow had become a powerful academic and ecclesiastical centre rivalled only by St Andrew’s.
Glasgow’s foreign trade is traceable back to the 1530s. The first cargo of tobacco arrived in Glasgow in 1674 laying the foundation of a major industry - albeit one which is castigated today. By the start of the 18th century huge amounts of tobacco were being shipped in from Virginia. Glasgow’s merchants had in turn valuable contracts to supply most of the rest of Europe. By 1730 this trade with America was firmly established, and Glasgow’s tobacco lords had virtually cornered the UK market, becoming (in the process) Glasgow’s first millionaires.
At the start of the 19th Century and as the Industrial Revolution took hold, Glasgow’s new industrialists were expanding their manufacturing bases into soap-making, distilling, glass-making, sugar and textiles, particularly cotton and silk. Shipbuilding developed along the banks of the River Clyde and from 1870 until the start of the First World War Glasgow produced almost one fifth of the world’s ships.
These were heady days, in which Glasgow ranked as one of the finest and richest cities in Europe. Grand public buildings and a host of museums, galleries and libraries were built, and most of them still remain. Glasgow had, and still has, more parks and open spaces than any other European city. Wild deer graze within 1 mile of the city centre - God knows why no-one poaches them!
The story of 20th century Glasgow is in bleak contrast to that of the previous century. Marred by an industrial decline of disastrous proportions as cotton mills and shipyards closed, the city and its hinterland suffered high unemployment and lack of investment until the 1970’s, when a partnership between public authorities and private capital began to instigate radical plans to revitalise and regenerate the city. GEAR - Glasgow Eastern Area Regeneration - set a standard as yet never surpassed for a genuine public/private partnership. For 4 years James Green was a director of the project. In this time a whole new economic base was created, centred on the service sector, and a new Glasgow has grown up as a major and vibrant city in which to live and work.
The links below contain a wealth of information on living and working in Glasgow, as well and economic facts and figures which back up the view that Glasgow and the surrounding area has a lot to offer property investors.
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