Doors Open Day is an opportunity for buildings that are not normally open to the public, to open their doors and show people around. I believe the concept started in Glasgow and has now spread to quite a number of cities. Basically it's a great opportunity to snoop around some very fancy buildings, plus if you get a good guide you can really find out some interesting history.
I finished my cello lesson with my friend David, and together we decided to take a wander into town via any open building on the way. First stop was a pair of churches in Dennistoun, basically back to back on the same block that have recently amalgamated - a month of worship in one church, then the next month in the other, and so on. They're getting architects in to determine which is the most viable church to move permanently into.
I quite like both churches but fell in love with the Gothic ceiling in the second, so that one gets my vote. In the second church we also had the services of a quite camp tour guide, who even allowed us to climb inside the workings of the pipe organ, and showed us a particularly interesting ladder up into the roof-space. He gave us a fascinating history of the building and of the parishes in the region. We probably spent longer there than we had originally planned, but he was quite animated and good for a laugh.
We then wandered further into town, stopping at the Lodging House Mission. It wasn't a scheduled stop but it was open so we wandered in. We were then treated to about 10 minutes of preaching about what they do, who they help, what services they provide. I guess Doors Open Day is a great way for the public to see inside the buildings, I guess we shouldn't begrudge the regular inhabitants the chance to tell people about their organisations as well as the building. It wasn't as pretty as the other churches we'd seen, but interesting nonetheless. It followed the same style, with a gallery on the second floor, but in this case it had been closed over and basically the whole church moved upstairs, with the downstairs converted (no pun intended) to the mission.
A stop for lunch, whereupon David's partner Kenny joined us. We wandered further into town, and stopped at the Britannia Panopticon, apparently Britain's only surviving music/theatre hall. I think "surviving" is quite an optimistic way of looking at it, as it was quite run-down, it's certainly not in use. There were some jolly people there singing and carrying on as if it was the old days, and you could certainly feel the atmosphere in the building. Downstairs is an arcade, apparently raising money for the renovations for the hall above, which I think is a great idea.
Second-to-last stop for the day was the "Greek Thompson Church", a wonderful church designed by the architect Alexander Thompson. The colour of the interior style reminded me of Australian parliament buildings, especially with the curved pew-layouts. But I loved the decor! His colour and style is very loving and very ornate, it's a very beautiful building to be inside. Apparently there were three churches by Thompson in Glasgow; one burned down and another was bombed, so this is the last. We were treated to a brief yet interesting history of the building, it's current owners, and the issues they're facing during the renovations of the building.
The renovations needed were quite visible - there was paint peeling from the ceiling, and plenty of buckets on the floor to catch the tripping from the leaky roof. With a bit of TLC this building will certainly be amazing. Joining us at this point was one of David's friends who also took delight in building.Last stop for the day was the Royal College of Surgeons & Physicians where photography unfortunately wasn't allowed. Still, we enjoyed looking around their building which is actually three manor houses joined together to produce the one hall. Wonderful interior design, and a couple of fascinating libraries in that old style with a mezzanine layer accessed by a beautiful wrought-iron spiral staircase. Just before we left we were treated to some amusing anecdotes by a guy in the Livingstone Room at the hall, who had some funny things to say about Dr Livingstone.
We then wandered down to the CCA for a drink and the day was done. I was tempted to head back to Glasgow for the Sunday to see some other buildings but it never eventuated. Maybe next year!
You can see more photos of the buildings we visited on my flickr pages.
