Central Station Bridge, Glasgow - geograph

The Hielanman's Umbrella ( en, Highlandman's Umbrella) is a

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

in the centre of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is the local

Glaswegian The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

for the glass walled railway bridge which carries the platforms of Glasgow Central station across Argyle Street. It is built in Victorian style.

History

Due to the forced displacement of people during the second phase of the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulte ...

in the 19th century, 30,000 highlanders who spoke

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

, but not English, came to

to find work. When arriving in the city they were housed in many different areas of Glasgow. The highlanders predominantly found work within domestic service in areas like

Park Circus Park Circus is a neighbourhood of Central-South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. Geography Police district Karaya police station is in the South-east division of Kolkata Police. Karaya Women police station, at the same a ...

or in one of the many industries, where they would work, for example, for the river ferries. Over many years highlanders continued to arrive and began to keep in touch by meeting under the bridge, mostly at weekends. With the city's inclement weather and the meeting of the highlanders it came to be known as the Hielanman's Umbrella. At the meetings they would share news and gossip from the homelands and of events in the city. The Umbrella tradition reached its height in the '20s and '30s, however, due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the resulting blackout, the tradition of meeting under the bridge died. The first long-distance television pictures transmitted in the UK were sent to Glasgow Central Station in 1927.

Recent Development

Glasgow Central Station and the Hielanman's Umbrella has been renovated several times. In 1998, the bridge was substantially refurbished by

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

(which later became

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

in 2002) in line with the rest of the station - its distinctive

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

style windows were reglazed, and the gold "Central Station" lettering was applied. Efforts were also made to improve the environment underneath the bridge to encourage retailers back into the shop units - high powered lighting and extractor fans were installed. The street level entrances to Central Station under the bridge were also upgraded. In 2001, a new entrance to the burgeoning Arches nightclub and restaurant complex was added under the bridge which has led to the level of pedestrian footfall increasing markedly. In 2015 The Hielanman's Umbrella, as part of the Glasgow Central Station, won the Scottish Design Award. In November 2019 a ten-year-regeneration plan for the Glasgow city centre was announced, including a plan of turning the Hielanman's Umbrella into a light and attractive station lobby.

Appearances in Literature

The Hielanman's Umbrella is mentioned in

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...

's novel ''Trumpet'' from 1998: It also appears in

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...

' book ''Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations'' from 2017.

References

External links

Highland Clearances Buildings and structures in Glasgow Bridges in Glasgow 1879 establishments in Scotland Bridges completed in 1879 {{Glasgow-stub