People's Palace, Glasgow

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The People's Place and Winter Gardens was worth a quick visit, although you would struggle to spend more than an hour or so here. The social history museum set inside the main building is a quirky look at Glasgow's past. I didn't think much to the museum as I found it quite disjointed and rambling.
Attached to the back of the museum is a pretty little winter garden in a large greenhouse. There are lots of plants from all over the world here. I particularly liked the cacti. There is also a little cafe attached although we did not get anything to eat here.
Just opposite the People's Palace, you can find the impressive terracotta Doulton Fountain. This is definitely worth seeing as it is the largest terracotta fountain in the world. It was built to commemorate Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee in 1887 and features figures representing Britain's former colonies of Australia, South Africa, Canada and India.
In addition, Glasgow's oldest public space, Glasgow Green, is situated next to the People's Palace. On a nice day, you can take a relaxing walk around the park. Unfortunately the weather was not at all nice when we visited!
We visited the People's Palace using the CitySightseeing bus which drops you just outside. Those visiting should be aware that the People's Palace is closed on Mondays.

The story of Glasgow and its impact on the world from 1750 to the present day.People Palace is a materpiece of modern architecture.In the heart of Glasgow's oldest park "Glasgow Green" is this spectacular building with its famous indoor winter Gardens & not to forget its musuem displaying Glasgow's history & Billy Connoly's famous bannana boots.Tours of the green park & People's palace are also provided.

OPEN:
Mon-Thu & Sat 1000-1700, Fri & Sun 1100-1700
Admission is free so enjoy it!

The exhibits are extremely limited. In short, filled with old tat which could easily be picked up nearby at the local barrows. I was hoping to see a bit of nostalgia in the form of old Glasgow newspapers, old chocolate bars, old coins and items from the pantry that would bring back memories. A box of tampax on display was certainly not what I expected from a family exhibit and hardly nostalgic.

Glasgow is well known for it's old music halls and theatres...The Panopticon/Britannia Music Hall, Theatre Royal, Alhambra, Metropole and yet all these well known, wonderful venues are not mentioned. There is however, excellent footage of Barrowland dancing but it only lasts two minutes and then replaced with a boring dancing duo. Come to think of it, where are all the wonderful black and white films on typical Glasgow life which show tenement life in genera?. There are huge amounts of film available on this subject yet we seldom have the chance to see any of it.

I was most surprised that there were no exhibits from the Glasgow Empire Exhibition and the Internation Exhibition. There is a wealth of memorabilia from these significant events available which could have easily been displayed.

The main focus of the People's Palace seems to (unfairly) highlight the depth of poverty and human degradation in Glasgow, displaying Glasgow as a poverty struck cesspit and the lowest form of life. For the avoidance of doubt, there was another less impoverished side to life in Glasgow at this time and Glasgow.

There is a painting of Jimmy Reid, the Clydeside trade union activist taking precedence on the wall. Whilst there is little doubt he was an inspiring orator, Reid and Billy Connolly embarrassingly supersede Rennie Mackintosh and Sir William Burrell.
Woe betide us if ''The city of culture' thinks Billy Connolly is our claim to fame!

The wonderful architecture and magnificent buildings of Glasgow are lost on this museum. In addition, the superb old Glasgow shops of that time like Pettigrew and Stephens, Copeland and Lye, Daly's, Lewis's and Hendersons have no mention in this museum and our marvelous Art Deco cinemas have been sadly forgotten.

Overall, it is an outrageous abuse of such a lovely building and does not truly reflect the warmth and kindness of the Glasgow people or in any way show the beauty of the city.

On a practical note, the ladies toilets had no toilet rolls and the interactive exhibit telephones were absolutely filthy and broken. The cake from the cafe was hard and tasteless.

Dreary, depressing and does not really portray the reality of true Glasgow nostalgia. The exhibits were limited and the bare grocery shop and tennement house could be greatly improved.

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I got a REAL kick out of this place.

For me, a tourist with only 3 days in Glasgow, the People's Palace was the best way to get to know what makes Glaswiegens tick, second only to buddying up with them in the pub. This thorough, well thought out museum, covered all aspects of the history of Glasgow, and more importantly the history of its people.

Of course you have your usual historic facts and figures, but it was probably about the time that I reached the exhibit which detailed a Glaswiegen's love of alcohol (i.e. an exhibit on drinking and pub life, complete with a cart to haul drunks away) that I realized I had stepped out of the world of the stuffy, arrogant museum, and into a gem of an institute.

Another favorite section of the museum highlighted the various slang used by Glaswiegens and distinct accent that sets them apart from the rest of the Scottish people. To stress this, (and to highlight the light-hearted sense of humor found throughout the city) I'd like to quote a funny rhyme that was prominantly displayed in the People's Palace:

"Skinny Malinky Long Legs, Big Banana Feet,
Went tae the pictures, and couldntae find a seat.
When the pictures started, Skinny Malinky Farted.
Skinny Malinky Long Legs, Big Banana Feet."

ha ha :-)

In short, I really enjoyed this place. While I 'm sure it is more of a tourist stop than anything else, it is well worth the visit. You will learn a great deal and even get a few laughs thrown in!

The People's Palace is, in my humble opinion, one of the best visits in Glasgow. It is slightly out of the way being on the Glasgow Green, but well worth the visit. Where other museums have paintings and sculptures, the People's Palce has football programmes and ration books from the war years.

You get exactly whta it says on the tin........real glasgow about the people.

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I have been here several times although last time was two years ago. This is my favourites museum in Glasgow. The museum tells the story of Glasgow in a simple way that will be understood both by children and adults a like. It tells the story from the point of view of ordinary people of Glasgow and tells you about Glasgow in the Past and what it is like today. The peoples palace is situated on Glasgow Green with the winter Gardens attached. The winter Gardens is a large greenhouse type building with lots of different plants. It also has a cafe here but this can be a bit expensive. Entry to Museum and Gardens is free although donations are greatly appreciated.

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Opened in 1898 as a cultural centre for the east end of Glasgow, the People's Palace is a museum that traces the history of Glasgow from 1750 to the present. On the ground level was a temporary display of historic photos of the city. Even though I didn't know the city well enough yet to know how much it had changed over the years, I got a real kick out of the Glaswegian seniors reminiscing aloud about the "old days".
The upstairs had artifacts, paintings, films, and life-size displays of Glasgow's history. A full-size shop, "The Buttercup Dairy Co.", showed you how empty the shelves of the shops were during World War II. Besides the two World War exhibits, don't miss the "Crime" (that was my favourite), "Dancing at the Barrowlands", and "Made in Glasgow" displays. Glaswegian comedian Billy Connolly is featured prominently in one of the exhibits, with a pair of his "banana boots" (from a 70s tour and movie called "Big Banana Feet") on show for the world.
The Winter Gardens is a giant Victorian-style glasshouse attached to the back of the Palace where you can escape the Scottish damp, sit among tropical plants, and have something hot from their cafe.
I love how Scotland has so many "free" museums (admission by donation). This helps its own citizens become well-rounded with arts and history and I think it's something we are really lacking in North America.
I was way, way, too tired to properly appreciate the People's Palace but still enjoyed it immensely. So that says something about how good it was, right?

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This place was lovely and perfect for a Sunday. Its free in with Exhibitions in the main building upstairs. Fun ones. And in the huge glasshouse attached to it is a lovely exotic style garden with yummy cafe.
It is located in a park with the worlds largest Terracotta fountain outside.
When you come down from upstairs down the main middle stairs there is a massive Whale Jaw bone. Maaad

A walk in the history of Glasgow, they have made a "road" that you are walking so that you get to se everything.

There is also a shop and a cafe there, and not forget the tropic garden :) and it is FREE!!!!

Found on the northern banks of the Clyde in the cities East End, Glasgow Green is Glasgows oldest Park - it can be traced back to the 1400s - and the scene of many events through history.It has spent time being used as grazing land, drying greens, sports area, the site for Glasgow Fair, protest marches, hangings, markets, circuses, theatres and so on.
World War II structures on Glasgow Green
A large area of Glasgow Green around the People's Palace was surveyed by GUARD between October 1999 and March 2000.
Glasgow's oldest park was acquired in 1662.Formerly used for washing and bleaching of linen, grazing cattle and drying salmon nets.Today it is a famous tourist attraction in the heart of the ciity Centre.