Students thrive in West End hub

GLASGOW University fits the city's leafy and cultured West End like a glove. The impressive steeple of its main building blends in perfectly with the surroundings it towers over, the River Kelvin and Kelvingrove Park.

Students live, socialise, debate, drink and study in some of Scotland's most stunning university buildings.

And their lives revolve around the trendy, Bohemian West End, with the bustling Byres Road at its heart.

Former students include some great Scots - Lord Kelvin, who gave his name to the surrounding area and two ex-Prime Ministers, Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Andrew Bonar Law.

It is so much a part of West End life, and shapes the area so much, that it is difficult to imagine the institution being in any other part of Glasgow.

But for more than 400 years - from its formation in 1451 until 1871 - the university was on the fringes of the city's East End.

It started life at Glasgow Cathedral, then moved to Rottenrow and for 300 years was situated on High Street.

The move to the current Gilmorehill campus in Hillhead, at that time a greenfield site, came in time for a major university expansion and the site soon mushroomed.

The bell tower, visible to everyone passing by the nearby Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Dumbarton Road, was built as part of the Victorian Gothic revival.

It is such a landmark that it features on the reverse side of a Clydesdale Bank £100 note.

Among the buildings that make up university life in Hillhead is Scotland's first public museum, the Hunterian, famed for its zoological collection.

Monica Callaghan, the museum's head of education, has observed student life in Glasgow for the past decade.

She said: "It's a fantastic hub. In the summer this place is absolutely alive.

"In the next few weeks we have the Glasgow University Science Festival, so the quadrangle will be filled with lots of young people doing science activities.

"The students hang about the quad, sit on the grass and enjoy the summer.

"In the winter obviously the weather drives people indoors, but it's a very lively place.

"When term starts at the beginning of October there's a huge buzz about the place and you can hardly walk up University Avenue because of the volume of students.

"There are things going on constantly, Byres Road is absolutely mobbed."

Student life is more than relaxing in the sunshine; there are exams to be completed. What the students think of the area SOPHIE HEPBURN, 19, studying medicine at Glasgow University: It's quite a friendly area for students. There is good value in among all the over-priced West End places. ALEX LANG, 19, studying medicine at Glasgow University: The GUU union and Viper are here and they have really good student deals, there's a good student community here. SHU XIAOII, 28, studying Physiotherapy at Caledonian University: Everything is on your doorstep, it's not that cheap but there's a nice welcoming atmosphere. FIONA CARSTAIRS, 19, studying Politics and Economics at Glasgow University: The bars and nightlife are a big bonus. It's also so easy and cheap to get into town on the Subway.

But the university is such a striking building with a worldwide reputation that when the students disappear indoors, the tourists emerge.

Ms Callaghan said: "In the lead-up to summer things change, it calms down slightly, obviously the students are studying with their exams.

"But you start to get a lot of tourists coming into the area so the dynamics change, which is quite fascinating to see."

Ms Callaghan said the degree of affection students have for their lives in Glasgow's West End is "incredible", adding: "Most of the students we talk to absolutely love Glasgow.

"The people themselves are so warm and friendly and I usually say to international students, Why do you come to Glasgow?' Because, let's face it, the weather's not that great.

"But that doesn't really matter, it's about the quality of the learning experience for them, the place and what the place has to offer.

"If you look at Glasgow, the parklands, the museums and galleries, the nightlife, the pubs and clubs and things to see and do, there's just something for everyone.

"It's amazingly beautiful, you wouldn't imagine you were right in the heart of a city. Everything you need is in the West End.

"As somebody who has lived her for a number of years, you think to yourself - Why go into town?' - you just get so used to having everything here that you could possibly need.

"Should you want to there are fantastic transport links, you jump on the Subway and you can go pretty much anywhere."

And does Glasgow's "No Mean City" reputation not put off potential students?

Ms Callaghan said: "I don't think the reputation puts people off at all.

"People in any big city are faced with the troubles that exist in any highly populated area and I think people just get on with it. They are vigilant, obviously, but I think they just get on with their own lives.