"…beneath a blue, umbrella sky"

Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city is located on the River Clyde having been settled since prehistoric times due to its location at the furthest downstream fording point. The city increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries under King David and expanded exponentially over the ensuing centuries. From the first bridge over the river (circa 1285) establishing the main North-South route via the Cross to the Cathedral, through the establishment of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and accession to an Archdiocese in 1492, the city matured into a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. Glasgow became one of Britain’s principal points of transatlantic trade with North America and the Caribbean, and post-Industrial Revolution established it as one of the world’s superlative centres of Heavy Engineering – most significantly in Shipbuilding. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the city expand in population to over one million citizens – becoming the fourth-largest city in Europe, after London,Paris and Berlin. Glasgow has a present population of approximately 600,000.