Fountains Lost and Found

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Fountains Lost and Found

Postby crusty_bint » Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:20 am

Old fountains: The Victorians just loved thier municipal works and celebrated them often by splashing out on a fancy fountain, and indeed not so fancy ones! So where are they now? Or where were they? And what's thier story?

Modern fountains: For a time they were big in shopping centres, but something of a rareity in the city nowadays... although Charlie Dimmock and her ilk may have a hand in changing that ...god save us. Anyway where are they and whats thier story?

Oh, and most importantly of all, what do they look like?
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Bailie James Martin Fountain

Postby crusty_bint » Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:31 am

Here's the background of the Baillie (James) Martin fountain, and the listing at Scottish Ironwork.org. It seems the Saracen Foundry produced a number of very similar fountains as there is also a listing for one in Dun Laoghaire.

The fountain originally stood on the small island at the intersection of Pollokshaws Rd and Landgside Ave, between the Corona bar and langside halls and now stands at near Glasgow Green at the Templeton centre

>click< for 19th C. view of Crossmyloof

Socceroo wrote:Image



Toby Dammit wrote:There is an almost identical one in Dalmuir Park, though with less "spindly" columns.

Image

Currently painted a rather lurid gold, as you can see. I know there is another structure cast in the same pattern elsewhere in the city, but I can't remember for the life of me where now. That makes three of these gorgous awnings. Until recently the Dalmiur Park one featured a large, Minervian Owl as a centerpiece under the cupola, but it got nicked, last summer I think.


Info taken from these threads: Govan , Demolition at Templeton's
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Postby crusty_bint » Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:32 am

Ally Doll wrote:Image

Snapped this at the traffic lights this morning - what is it? For why? And, more importantly, how long til some neds pinch it and roll it home?
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Doulton Fountain - Glasgow Green

Postby crusty_bint » Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:35 am

Had to post these... click the first image

mrlipring wrote:Image

Image
Last edited by crusty_bint on Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby McShad » Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:22 am

crusty_bint wrote:
Ally Doll wrote:Image

Snapped this at the traffic lights this morning - what is it? For why? And, more importantly, how long til some neds pinch it and roll it home?


This monstrosety of a fountain did work for a while... it spins round and stops if it senses any pressure i.e. something trying to stand on it. I would like to know how much it cost
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Postby Toby Dammit » Fri Jun 09, 2006 2:31 pm

Hollowhorn also posted this link on the Govan thread:

http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_imag ... n_fountain

It's a shame all these fountains are fenced off and/or vandalised, unlike in say Rome, which is hoaching with fountains, all bubbling away merrily. When I was little, the drinking fountain in Dalmuir Park still worked. There were ugly, moderen appendeges stuck on for drinking from, the kinda things you used to get in schools at the time.

I don't know if it was the "school" association or not, but gradually these were wrecked, or were made unusable by people sticking chewing gum in them.
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Postby red_kola » Fri Jun 09, 2006 2:48 pm

Can I just paste this in as it was somewhat lost in the middle of a RD topic about Edinburgh.
I wrote:I don't know if it's a result of official policy experiment or simply neglect, but the tolerance of graffiti around the new skate park in KG has proven to be a mistake, I think. For every Rouge One, there's a hundred kiddie taggers who perceive the lax attitude as an invitation to move onto, for example, defacing the Stewart Memorial Fountain. The Parks department could do with reading about Broken Window theory:

If the fountain was maintained, regularly switched on (as it has been on a few occasions over the past 2 summers - it's in fully working order) it would be seen as an asset, rather than a totem of decay, and the vandals might even think twice before defacing it again.

Another fountain I would dearly love to see restored and brought back to working life is the one in Queens Crescent. I really wish I could have seen this part of town before its decline and subsequent desecration by the M8:

http://www.johngilbert.co.uk/projects/c ... ueens.html
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Postby glasgowken » Fri Jun 09, 2006 3:16 pm

Yes, it's in front of the People's Palace, on Glasgow Green.
I assume it dates from when the Palace was built (around the turn of the century I think).

This map dates from 1913.
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Postby glasgowken » Fri Jun 09, 2006 3:27 pm

According to the map there was a fountain there, but they may have replaced it with something more fancy.

These things usually pass me by :)



Quick edit.

Yeah here it is, how the fuck did I miss this ? :?

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/News/doult ... dation.htm
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Postby gap74 » Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:18 pm

Yup, the Doulton Fountain in front of the People's Palace now is a lavish restoration and relocation, it previously having sat looking very sorry for itself further west in the Green. It was moved to its current position to give it a better chance of not being vandalised to the extent that it was in its old position. Before that, it lived in Kelvingrove Park from the Empire Exhibition of 1888, for which it was constructed and gifted to the city, until 1890, when it moved to the Green.

If the move does stop it being vandalised, that's fine by me, given the amount of money it cost to restore! Quite an important structure, too, owing to its size, the sculpture and its use of terracotta.

The fountain marked on the old map is a wee iron thing, painted green last I saw it, much like the ones at the start of this thread. I think it's still there, I have a picture of my good self draped over it a number of years ago with a bottle of intoxicating liquid in hand, which I'll spare the good people here from seeing! Don't know if it's a Saracen one like the others.

There's a fairly recently restored wee one in Possil, is there not, not to mention the recent refurbishment of a pretty grand one in Alexandra Park.

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Postby Squigster » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:30 pm

Are there any working drinking water "fountains" in the west end. I seem to remember there being one in Kelvingrove Park near Park Road. Botanics?

Cheers
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Postby red_kola » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:40 pm

Squigster wrote:Are there any working drinking water "fountains" in the west end. I seem to remember there being one in Kelvingrove Park near Park Road. Botanics?

Cheers

Are there any anywhere in the UK these days. I remember them from my childhood but for whetever reason (and I can think of plenty possible ones) they all seem to have gone...
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Postby crusty_bint » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:51 pm

Were they not all made defunct after/during/as a result of the the AIDS paranoia of the 80's?
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Postby red_kola » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:10 pm

crusty_bint wrote:Were they not all made defunct after/during/as a result of the the AIDS paranoia of the 80s?

That's most likely explanation and the timing is right, but remember that this was also the decade that taught us that water was a commodity to be put into expensive looking bottles and sold to us :wink:

I'm actually surprised these days whenever I see people drinking from water fountains on the continent; that's how far it has been removed from our culture. A shame as they used to be everywhere, and Squigster - yes there was one at the Park Road entrance to KG. The apparatus survived until relatively recently although it was very much switched off (and latterly boxed-in IIRC).

There is also a surviving wee fountain/light in Dowanhill Park which still dribbles water to this day.
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Postby Sharon » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:11 pm

WOuld you use one now? I'd always assume they'd been pee'd on! 8O
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