When half-a-quid bought you all the delights of Glasgow

THE 1970s was a time when Glasgow was going full throttle at modernising itself, but there were also scenes that have a timeless quality reaching into the past.

These are passengers queueing up for a Glasgow bus tour in July 1974, which, for 50p, took you on a two-and-half-hour trip of the city.

I like the chap’s felt hat, which was favoured by businessmen, perhaps selling insurance or running a used car saleroom. Might even be Hush Puppies on his feet.

No open deck for any tourists to sit out on. Instead, this is a single decker Midlands Bus which, in those days, had a distinctive bluebird logo on its side.

The destination board is interesting. Apart from the obvious goals of George Square and Glasgow Cathedral, it also took you out to Cathkin Braes, suggesting a certain amount of padding in the itinerary. The Kingston Bridge was also included as worth seeing. It had only been open for four years so perhaps was seen as a work of engineering genius rather than a clogged bit of motorway as it is today.

The Transport Museum was listed between Cathkin Braes and the Clyde Tunnel and that was because in 1974 it was still on the south side at what is now The Tramway arts centre before its move first to the Kelvin Hall and then the Riverside Museum.

Buchanan Bus Station had still to be built, so such bus tours left from basically a large car park with few facilities near where the current bus station was built.

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