Cargo hold and captain's cabin
The vast hold with its hands-on pulley system sits at the bottom of the ship, while the captain's panelled cabin aft shows how differently officers and crew lived aboard a merchant vessel.
Of the hundreds of sailing ships that slid off the Clyde's slipways in the nineteenth century, only a handful are still afloat anywhere in the world, and Glenlee is the one that came home, the only Clyde-built steel sailing ship still afloat in Britain. A steel-hulled three-master launched at Port Glasgow in 1896, she carried cargo around the globe, then spent decades as a Spanish Navy training ship, until a group of Scots found her rusting in Seville harbour in 1992, a step away from the scrapyard, bought her, restored her and in 1993 towed her back to the river that built her. The story is slightly better than the ship, and you should know that before you decide. She is berthed at Pointhouse Quay directly outside the Riverside Museum of transport, and that is the real reason to visit: the museum is free and worth two hours, and the ship is a pleasant add-on that fills forty minutes to an hour. On deck you look up at the masts and rigging and photograph the river; below, the tween deck holds a small café and child-friendly displays, and beneath that lie the cavernous cargo hold with a pulley system kids can work, the engine room, the crew galley and the captain's handsome panelled cabin. A 'Rat Hunt' with twenty stowaway rodents hidden around the vessel keeps children busy the whole way round, and a free digital audio guide runs on the Bloomberg Connects app. Tickets are about £5.50 for adults and £3.70 for children, after years of free entry. The ship opens daily 10:00 to 17:00 (from 11:00 on Tuesdays), last admission thirty minutes before closing, and it occasionally shuts for private events, so check the website first. Booking online is recommended, but walk-ins are welcome subject to availability. A warning for families: the companionways between decks are steep in the old nautical fashion, there is a lift but you are asked to call ahead if you need it, and a pushchair will most likely be no use between decks. At extreme high or low tides the gangway itself gets noticeably steeper. Getting there is easy: Partick subway and rail station is just under a mile away, about a fifteen-minute walk, or take the subway to Govan and cross the new footbridge over the Clyde. Drivers share a pay car park of only around a hundred spaces with the Riverside Museum, and it fills fast at weekends. In a grey Scottish winter the ship is a reasonably warm refuge from the rain, but the open deck is cold and damp, so make it the end of your museum visit rather than the start.
The vast hold with its hands-on pulley system sits at the bottom of the ship, while the captain's panelled cabin aft shows how differently officers and crew lived aboard a merchant vessel.
Twenty stowaway rats hidden around the ship turn the visit into a treasure hunt that keeps five-to-ten-year-olds fully occupied.
Three masts and their rigging against the Clyde, with the Riverside Museum's zigzag roof behind, make the best photograph of the visit, and you can take it from the quay for free.
150 Pointhouse Place, Glasgow G3 8RS
If your time in Glasgow is short, the museum alone is enough and you can photograph the ship from the quay. With children aged five to ten, though, the ship becomes the best part of the morning thanks to the Rat Hunt and the cargo hold, and the price is modest. Adults without kids and only a passing interest in maritime history can skip it without regret.
Partly. The stairways between decks are steep and the ship advises going down backwards holding the rail. There is an internal lift, but you are asked to phone ahead if you need it, and a pushchair is no use between decks. Anyone who struggles with stairs can enjoy the open deck and the tween deck with its café, and leave the lower levels to the rest of the group.