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Home , Balmore, Canal (ward), Cowcaddens, Dawsholm Park, Drumchapel, Drumpellier Country Park

glasgow’s unlocked

explore the story Introduction welcome to ’s canals

Visit the Canals Glasgow’s Canals: A Brief History Boats at Speirs Wharf Walking or cycling along the towpaths will Both the Forth and Clyde and Monkland canals industries fl ourishing between its gateways at give you a fascinating insight into the rich were hugely infl uential in the industrial and on the East coast and Bowling history and ongoing renaissance of the Forth social growth of the city two hundred years on the West coast, as well as along the three & Clyde and Monkland canals as they wind ago. Today, they are becoming important and mile spur into Glasgow. through the City of Glasgow. relevant once more as we enjoy their heritage, the waterway wildlife and the attractive, By the mid 19th century, over three million There are fi ve sections following the towpath traffi c-free, green open space of the towpaths. tonnes of goods and 200,000 passengers of the Forth & Clyde described here were traveling on the waterway each year and from west to east, from towards The idea of connecting the fi rths of Forth and bankside industries included timber and paper the centre of Glasgow. Clyde by canal was fi rst mooted in 1724 by mills, glassworks, foundries, breweries and the author of Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe. distilleries (including the biggest in the world You can walk or cycle them individually, or join Nearly 45 years later, the advance of innovation at the time at ). two or more together to enjoy a longer visit. and industry across increased the need for an effi cient inland transport system and The was constructed to carry The sixth section takes you on an imaginary Pinkston Basin in the 1920s construction work started at Grangemouth in coal from the pits in into Glasgow. journey along the Monkland Canal as it once June 1768. After a few pauses when money ran It fully opened in 1794, and soon scows were fl owed within the city boundary. Sadly, this out, the Forth & Clyde Canal or ‘Great Canal’ carrying over one million tonnes of coal and section of the waterway is now mostly built as it was known, fi nally opened with a fl ourish iron into the city each year. over and not suitable for walking. in July 1790. Both canals eventually fell into disuse and 1 Drumchapel to disrepair as the increased speed and 2 Cleveden Road effi ciency of road and rail grew in popularity. to Stockingfi eld Junction The Monkland closed in 1942, and the Forth & Clyde fi nally closed to navigation in 1963 – the 3 Stockingfi eld Junction same year that Glasgow also lost its trams! to Possil Loch The Forth & Clyde and Union canals were 4 Stockingfi eld Junction reopened between 2000 and 2001 through the to Firhill £84.5m Project, which was the 5 Firhill to Pinkston Basin largest canal restoration in the UK at the time.

6 The Forgotten Canals The community-led regeneration of the The Forth & Clyde Canal was the world’s fi rst Monkland Canal is ongoing. It is now becoming man-made sea-to-sea canal and the biggest an increasingly popular open space for the Key transport links and access points are single construction venture undertaken in communities of , although noted for each section. This guide is just Scotland at the time. It wasn’t long before there are still some fragments of the canal’s the start of the story – there’s loads the 35 mile long waterway was at the heart of past in Glasgow too if you know where to look! more information and pictures online. See the back page for details of how to get involved. Canal Wildlfe Section 1 BRICK AND TILE WORKS drumchapel to kelvindale station 3 When the canal opened in 1790 it was ( miles) surrounded by open land. It wasn’t long before factories replaced fi elds capitalising on the waterways to import and export goods. Just to the right, for example, stood Brick walking tips: BOGHOUSE LOCKS (LOCKS 33-36) and Tile Works run by Robert & William Horn If you would like a shorter walk of 1.5miles, The timeless charm of the Forth & Clyde of . leave the canal at Westerton Station (8) Canal is evident here at Boghouse Locks. PARK Whilst much of the towpath has been When TCF Brotchie described this location in BASCULE BRIDGE To your right, you can detour from the resurfaced in recent years, walking boots his essay, ‘Some Sylvan Scenes Near Glasgow’, The small wooden curved bridge here is canal and visit Knightswood Park – originally are recommended for this stretch. a hundred years ago, he could almost have one of only a few original bridges remaining part of the Old Estate, which was home been describing the atmosphere today: on the waterway. These bascule or lifting to the Maxwell family for over 700 years. bridges were designed to DUNTREATH AVENUE BRIDGE, open to let masted boats CLOBERHILL INFILL DRUMCHAPEL “A pleasant tramp and we are at the pass through in full sail. Just after the bridge, the original course From Great Western Road, you will fi nd quiet reaches of the canal. It is diffi cult to Look at the side for the of the canal here at Cloberhill was fi lled in to the canal signposted to the left just realise at this beauty spot that we are so hand-operated lifting make way for the modern housing, which now before Duntreath Avenue Bridge and near the populous city, everything seems mechanism. Although the stands on the right. During the Millennium close to a bus stop. Cross the footbridge so calm and restful on the drowsy canal is fully navigable Project to reopen the canal, this was one of and join the towpath on the south side summer afternoon. The dimpling note once more, some vessels the spots where a new section of canal had of the canal. Go left. of water escaping through the locks, the now need to demast at to be excavated. The towpath still follows subdued lowing of distant cattle, Bowling or Grangemouth roughly the route of the original cutting. It’s As the canal passes under the bridge at the plaintive ‘baa’ of newly shorn lambs, before travelling through strange to think that this bit of canal is around Duntreath Avenue, it enters the modern the hum of winged insects; all these the lower headroom of 200 years younger than the rest! boundaries of the city of Glasgow. To the sounds are blended together in a sweetly the newer fi xed bridges west, the towpath meanders through East seductive cadence…” like the one under Great until it reaches the canal Western Road. gateway on the at Bowling Harbour, about 5 miles The Forth & Clyde Canal reaches a height of away. Our journey takes 156 feet above sea level through a system of 39 us eastwards towards locks, which lift or lower vessels between each Kelvindale Station on new level on the canal. It takes ten to twenty Cleveden Road. minutes to journey through a .

Section 1

CLOBERHILL LOCKS (LOCKS 28-32) SITE OF FARMHOUSE BUILDINGS ROAD LIFTING BRIDGE Rounding the corner, we reach the fi ve Across the pedestrian swing bridge, When the canal opened it was crossed Cloberhill Locks. The area of Cloberhill was the modern housing on a narrow slip of land by a bascule bridge at the top of Crow Road named after a house that once sat on the hill between the railway and the canal was the which cut right across the middle of Lock 27. to the east. At Lock 31, on 12 March 1999, site of an old farmhouse. To allow trams to run north to Bearsden, the Scotland’s fi rst First Minister, Donald Dewar, road was realigned and rebuilt in the 1930s and dug the initial spade of earth to announce the TEMPLE SAW MILLS the current bridge was built by William Arrol & Millenium re-opening project getting underway. Robinson, Dunn and Company’s Temple Co, the company which made the Titan cranes Uniquely, between here and Westerton, the Saw Mills were active between 1874 and on the . Although the bridge no boundaries of Dunbartonshire and Glasgow the 1930s on the far side, just before the spot longer lifts open, you might spot some of the run down the middle of the towpath – so at where Bearsden Road crosses the canal. The original mechanisms underneath. this point you are in Glasgow, while the canal art deco offi ces, which became a restaurant itself is in Dumbartsonshire! in later years, can still be seen just south on TEMPLE GASWORKS Bearsden Road. The two huge surviving Victorian WESTERSTON RAILWAY STATION gasometers to the south were part of Temple If you want to leave the walk for today, Gasworks, which was built in 1871 for the the footbridge here takes you to Westerton , and Gas Company railway station on Maxwell Avenue. and considered, at that time, to be the second largest gasworks in Britain. The larger gasometer was built in 1893 and the other completed in 1900.

DAWSHOLM PARK CLEVEDEN ROAD BRIDGE On the hill on the far side of the canal This section ends as we reach the bridge you can see the fringes of taking Cleveden Road over the canal. which was created on land partly occupied Although, sadly, the original bascule bridge by Dawsholm Paper Mills up until 1970. here no longer stands, if you look closely at the details on the side of this modern vehicle bridge you will get an idea of how it would have looked. You can leave the towpath here. Kelvindale Station is only a few metres away on the far side of the bridge. Alternatively, you can continue towards Stockingfi eld Junction. Section 2 KELVINDALE PAPER MILLS KELVIN WALKWAY & NATIONAL cleveden road to stockingfi eld junction 1 As you walk over the Aqueduct take time to CYCLE ROUTES ( mile) enjoy the great views down the Kelvin Valley. At the end of the Aqueduct you will see a path As you look downriver you can also see the on the right leading down to the Kelvin Walkway. remains of old railway bridges. These stone piers From here you could walk or ride along the Kelvin hark back to a time when railways criss-crossed Walkway either north towards (9 miles) KELVINDALE STATION the area serving the many factories and industries or south to the Botanic Gardens or Kelvingrove On leaving Kelvindale Station, which that used the Kelvin for water or power. Today, Park (2-3 miles). Leaving the aqueduct behind us runs between Queen Street Station and you’re likely to see waterway wildlife like herons we head uphill on the towpath toward Maryhill , turn right onto Cleveden Rd. or cormorants using them as a pleasant resting Locks. You will soon see the waters of the Forth spot. & Clyde Canal immediately below you – cross the bridge to join the towpath. If you look carefully you can also see the top of Scots Magazine - August 1790: a V-shaped weir that once channeled water into FORMER BRIDGE-KEEPERS COTTAGES “in the course of the voyage from Glasgow to the nearby Kelvindale Paper Mills. Look over to the far bank and you will see Bowling Bay, the tract boat passed along that two small cottages. They may look like an old stupendous bridge, the great aqueduct over the railway station, but they were actually built for Kelvin, 400 feet in length, exhibiting to the canal workers. Perhaps it’s telling that they were spectators in the valley below the singular and built when the canal was in the ownership of the new object of a vessel navigating seventy feet company. over their heads – a feature of this work which gives it a pre-eminencce over everything of a similar nature in Europe”

The aqueduct soon became a tourist attraction drawing admirers from far and wide. At a cost of MARYHILL LOCKS AND BASINS KELVIN AQUEDUCT £8,500 though, it almost bankrupted the canal (LOCKS 21-25) When it opened in 1790, this spectacular company, and funds from forfeited Jacobite This fl ight of fi ve locks and connected basins is aqueduct designed by engineer estates were used to fund the continuing one of the most picturesque on the Forth & Clyde was one of the largest to be built since Roman times. construction. Canal. A tranquil spot today, it was once a very busy stretch of the canal. Indeed, the basins were incorporated into the design of this lock fl ight so that numerous ships could travel through it together so avoiding a bottleneck.

Section 2

KELVIN DOCK AND BOATYARD THE SUMMIT POUND MARYHILL ROAD AQUEDUCT Half-way up the lock fl ight, on the far bank, The locks climb gently over 39 feet and open The original small aqueduct by Robert you can see the remains of the Kelvin Dock out at the fi nal lock into the ‘summit pound’. This Whitworth had to be rebuilt in 1881 to allow for leading from one of the basins. Constructed as a is the highest point of the canal and it extends trams running towards . dry dock for repairing canal vessels in the 1790s, fi fteen miles to the next lock on the far side of From here, looking to the south, you can see by the 1850s it had become a boatbuilding yard . A great photograph taken during cleanups Maryhill Halls and, in the distance, a owned by Swan & Co. The yard, which was active of the locks in the 1980s shows a tea-party in fl agpole marking the viewpoint at Park until the 1960s, is of note for building some of progress in the empty top lock! (Point 58). One of the Maryhill stained glass the landing craft used during the D Day Landings windows features a canal boatman standing on in World War Two and the fi rst steam powered WHITE HOUSE INN this aqueduct. ‘puffer’ boats. Their place in community life was Just past the footbridge at the top of the brought to life vividly through Neil Munro’s locks, you can see a long, low white building. humorous tales of Para Handy and the Vital Spark. The White House, built around 1810 by John Walker, was fi rst a pub, then Maryhill’s fi rst post offi ce and then a long series of pubs again.

THE BUTNEY MARYHILL BURGH HALLS Maryhill Cross stood on the far side of the From the exit here on the right you can visit Kelvin Dock on the site of the traffi c junction. the recently restored Maryhill Burgh Halls. Walk The area nearby is still known locally as the down Burnhouse Street and left onto Gairbraid Butney. Many have assumed this to be a reference Avenue. You will fi nd the former fi re station to locals being shipped out to Botany Bay, but it arches which now form the entrance to Maryhill could also be a reference to the former factory Burgh Halls. behind the Cross, the Dalsholm printworks – the EXIT TO LOCHBURN ROAD section of factory that removed buttons from Built as the town hall for Maryhill in 1878, the A MIDGET SUBMARINE AND From here there is a choice - you can the used fabrics was known as the Butney. Halls feature a stunning series of stained glass FORMER ALLOTMENTS continue eastwards towards the city along the panels depicting the trades and industries of As this photograph illustrates, in the 1950s, Glasgow Branch (Section 4), or change towpath Maryhill in the late 19th century. The building now a ‘midget submarine’ journeyed through the and head north towards along the Main COLLINA features a café, the restored public hall, meeting canal on its way to Rosyth on the Forth to be Branch (Section 3). If you want to leave the canal The high fl ats on the hill have become familiar spaces, nursery, recording studios, offi ces, and a decomissioned. Look closely and you can see at Maryhill, follow Lochburn Road down until it to many over recent years as the home of Jack free exhibition of canal and industrial heritage. that allotments once stood on the site of the joins Maryhill Road opposite the Maryhill Burgh and Victor in BBC Scotland’s comedy ‘’. Find out more at www.mbht.org.uk modern housing on the far bank. Halls, on one of the city’s major bus routes.

Section 3 stockingfi eld junction to possil loch (2 miles)

STOCKINGFIELD JUNCTION If you are continuing from Section 2, you need to cross the canal and change towpath. To do so, descend the steps leading down to the right just as the canal turns the corner (or take the level exit twenty yards further on). Both exits will take you down to Lochburn Road. From here pass under the narrow canal aqueduct. Please be careful here as the pavement is very narrow. Once through, walk up the path rising to the right connecting the waterside communities and the until you reach the towpath. towpaths, supported by a ‘Big Man’ designed by sculptor Andy Scott. We now head north on STOCKINGFIELD BRIDGE what is, therefore, the oldest part of the canal in Construction of the canal began in Glasgow. Grangemouth on the East coast in June 1768 and continued westwards until the money ran out at STOP LOCK Stockingfi eld Junction. Work halted for two years One of a series of temporary barricades and Stockingfi eld became the original terminus installed along the canal during the Second World of the Great Canal opening to boating traffi c on War. With the huge volume of water in the canal, 10th November 1775. A fl oating bridge here once held high above Glasgow, the risk of bomb damage enabled horses pulling barges and boats to transfer causing the canal to fl ood into the city was great, swiftly from one towpath to the other. In the so extra locks were put in to minimise how much future, there are plans for a permanent footbridge water could escape. Section 3

GIRLS INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL AND HALLOWE’EN PEND LAMBHILL STABLES FORT THE MAGDALENE INSTITUTION Whilst the formal name of this crossing Lambhill Stables were built around 1830, Balmuildy Fort on the Roman Two prominent buildings, the Girls Industrial under the canal is Hillend Aqueduct, it is known when horses pulling barges were the main stood just north of Lambhill. Also known as Gryme School and the Magdalene Institution, once stood locally as the Hallowe’en Pend. It was constructed means of moving goods along the canal. One of or Graham’s Dyke, the wall was built around up on the hill to the left where you can now in 1775 to allow farmers to drive their sheep a number of stables erected along this stretch of 140AD and was only in use for around 20 years see modern houses. The latter was established between the fi elds on either side of the canal. canal, it featured horse stalls on the ground fl oor, before the Romans retreated south to Hadrian’s by the Glasgow Magdalene Institution for the The design of the tunnel is quite unusual in a hayloft above as well as living quarters. It was Wall. The Forth & Clyde Canal closely follows the Repression of Vice and Reformation of Penitent having a bend in the middle which means you later a garage, before sitting empty for a number course of the wall as it travels further east. Females. The ‘fallen women’ rescued by the cannot see through from one side to the other. of years. www.antoninewall.org Institution worked long hours ‘for their own good’ and for no pay. In 1958, a number of women LAMBHILL IRON WORKS In recent years, it has been restored to create a POSSIL MARSH AND LOCH escaped and the resulting media attention led to The Lambhill Iron Works were built for vibrant community facility with a café, heritage Dating back to 1931, Possil Marsh is one of an investigation, which ended in the closure of R Laidlaw and Sons in 1881. As the iron works displays, allotments and community garden. the oldest nature reserves in Scotland. Designated the facility and, later, demolition of the building. expanded, a wharf was erected so that materials www.lambhillstables.org a Site of Special Scientifi c Interest (SSSI), it could be exported and imported by the canal and features the shallow freshwater Possil Loch at Even before the events of 1958, both the school later a dedicated railway line was built to join the its heart amid acres of of marsh, swamp and fen. and institution suffered from a poor reputation. main line. The reserve is home to around 150 species of bird, In the 1880s, newspaper reports screamed 22 of which are known to breed on the site. ‘The Glasgow Horror’ as they detailed the It also supports a number of nationally rare plant mistreatment of children at the school. species. Here, you can follow the well signposted The Matron involved later resigned. circular walk around the edge of the reserve and back onto the towpath near Lambhill Stables. www.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk

“Three men at work in a fi eld at Possil, were alarmed with a singular noise, which continued, they say, for about two minutes, seeming to proceed from the south-east to the north-west. At fi rst, it appeared to resemble four reports from the fi ring of cannon, afterwards, the sound of a bell, or rather of a gong, with a violently whizzing noise; and lastly they heard a sound, as if some hard body struck, with very great force the surface of the earth.”

Herald and Advertiser, 30th April 1804

LAMBHILL CEMETERY A short walk up Road, you will fi nd POSSIL HIGH METEORITE RUCHILL GOLF COURSE the main entrance to Lambhill Cemetery on your If you take the circular walk around Possil On the far bank you can see left. The cemetery sits adjacent to St Kentigerns Loch, you will see a commemorative plaque the grounds of the nine hole Ruchill Cemetery and the Western Necropolis and is marking the Possil High Meteorite, which fell Golf Course, which was re-designed BALMORE ROAD LIFTING BRIDGE notable for being the oldest of the three. Built in nearby on the 5th April 1804. This was the earliest and re-opened by Colin Montgomerie Balmore Road Lifting Bridge was built in 1881, it boasts a dramatic archway at the entrance of only four known recorded meteorite falls in in September 2009. It’s strange to the 1930s and replaced an older wooden bascule designed by James Sellars. Scotland and the largest surviving fragment, think that a little of the canal is bridge. Designed by T Somers, the new bridge is held at the Hunterian Museum within the scattered across the course but was electrically operated and opened to allow PIT DISASTER . during the Millennium Link Project ships to pass through in full sail. Sadly, it no If you visit Lambhill Cemetery, continue to reopen the lowland canals, the waterway longer opens. into St Kentigern’s Cemetery to see a recently We now come to the end of the Glasgow was dredged to remove the silt which gathered restored plaque commemorating the 22 miners stretch of the towpath. It continues to over the thirty years of closure. Some of this was You can join or leave the towpath here where who tragically lost their lives when a fi re broke in , where the next exit is recycled on the golf course where it was used to it is just a short walk from, or to, Balmore Pit 15 on Sunday 3rd August 1913. Only four men around 2 miles from here) and then on to help form new hills and shape the land. Road, a main bus route into the city centre. on the shift survived. , and eventually the Forth. Section 4 MARYHILL IRON WORKS stockingfi eld junction to fi rhill basin 1.5 This area was home to a number of ironworks ( miles) including Ruchill Iron Works, Maryhill Iron Works (which stood where the modern industrial STOCKINGFIELD JUNCTION buildings are on the right) and the famous Shaw & McInnes Iron Works near Firhill, which was in If you are continuing from Section 2, stay on the towpath. If you operation up until 2000. are coming back down from Section 3, pass back under the narrow canal aqueduct. Please be careful here as the pavement is very Maryhill Football Club sits behind the canal off narrow. Walk up the Lochburn Road. Dating back to 1884, it is one of path rising up on the oldest junior clubs in Glasgow, and built on the left until you reach site of an old quarry. the towpath. CANAL SPILLWAY What looks at fi rst glance like a small bridge over a stream is in fact a ‘spillway’. Water in the canal fl ows and, at times, the level needs to be adjusted, either lowering or raising it. Spillways like this are used to lead water away from the canal. Look over and you will see three archways, MODERN RUCHILL STREET BRIDGE which once had sluice gates on them, leading the This is the third bridge to stand on this site. excess water away down a stone-lined culvert. The original bascule bridge (pictured), which opened to let canal traffi c through, was replaced when the canal was closed. The second bridge stopped navigation by piping the canal water underneath. This modern road bridge once again allows demasted boats to travel onwards. Section 4

GLASGOW LEAD AND COLOUR WORKS GLASGOW RUBBER WORKS CALEDONIAN GLASS BOTTLE WORKS WESTERN SAW MILLS The Kelvin Chemical Works stood on the near The modern coloured fl ats on the far side The glass works here opened in 1874, one of Firhill was once a hugely busy industrial bank. The older, brick building next to Ruchill Street of the canal were built on the site of the former two on the street. With a glass works and canal area. The large kidney-shaped timber basin once was part of the offi ces of Alexander, Fergusson & Glasgow Rubber Works, which opened in 1871 and on the aptly named Murano Street, Maryhill has served the nearby Western Saw Mills. Wood Company’s Glasgow Lead and Colour Works. were operational up until 2003. They produced a been dubbed the Venice of Scotland. was stored here, fl oating in the basin to prevent wide range of materials from pipes to waterproof it from drying out. The little ‘island’ was once MACKINTOSH’S RUCHILL CHURCH clothing, tennis balls and acoustic tiles for nuclear FIRHILL BRIDGE connected to the towpath by small footbridges. HALL submarines. The factory was so important to the The modern bridge taking Firhill Road over Today the island is a haven for wildlife. Keep a Designed by one of Glasgow’s most famous war effort that it was targeted, unsuccessfully, for the canal here is a replacement for the original, look out for heron, swans and even deer. architects, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the bombing by the Luftwaffe. Although the factory much smaller bascule or lifting bridge. church hall here dates back to 1899. If you have has now been demolished, the company continues PARTICK THISTLE FOOTBALL CLUB time, visit the hall tearoom. The interior has to operate in . You can join or leave the towpath here where it Although Partick Thistle was formed in changed little from when it fi rst opened and is just a short walk from, or to, Maryhill Road 1876, as the name suggests, the club began life still features the original, detailed doors, folding GOLD EXTRACTING WORKS or Garscube Road, both of which are served by elsewhere and it was almost 35 years before it partitions and decorative roof trusses. A tearoom The intriguingly named Gold Extracting regular bus services. moved here in 1909. The main building dates here is open most lunchtimes. Works nearby didn’t actually extract gold – rather back to 1927. it produced acid chemicals that were shipped to You can join or leave the towpath here where it South Africa for use in the gold mine industry. is just a short walk from, or to, Maryhill Road, one of the city’s main public transport routes. BISLAND DRIVE AQUEDUCT This aqueduct, which follows the same design as those at Maryhill and Possil, was added in 1879 to allow trams to pass underneath.

MACKINTOSH QUEEN’S CROSS CHURCH Mackintosh’s only completed church design RUCHILL OIL WORKS stands nearby. Built for the Free Church, it The University of Glasgow student village SHAW & MCINNES IRON WORKS opened in 1899 and today it is the home of the at Murano Street was constructed on part of the Over to the left was once the site of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society. Although site of the Ruchill Oil Works. The works were famous Shaw & McInnes Iron Works which opened prominent today, the church was once constricted ablaze in 1884, only a year after they were built in 1865 and continued to operate until 2000. Behind by the enormous Springbank iron works which EAST PARK SCHOOL for John Sandeman. A telegram was sent to this also stood the Phoenix Chemical Works. stood directly behind. Take time to see the East Park School, opened in 1874 and today Glasgow requesting assistance. It is said that magnifi cent stained glass and exceptional wood still serves young people with additional support when the city fi re engine reached the Burgh and stone relief carving within the light and needs. Beyond, you can see the sandstone building boundary, it stopped - only continuing on its way Crossing over the canal at Firhill Bridge, dramatic interior. that was the school’s original home. One of the after payment had been guaranteed. By this time, it’s a short, steep but rewarding walk up Firhill stained glass windows at Maryhill Burgh Halls burning oil had reached the canal, spreading on Road to Ruchill Park. The path to the left in the The Mackintosh Church is open Monday, features a teacher with some of his pupils. top of the water in both directions. Because of park leads to a fl agpole, which marks one of the Wednesday and Friday, 10am – 4pm. An admission Famously, Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger the height of the canal and ferocity of the fi re, highest points in Glasgow and a spot offering fee applies except after 2pm on Wednesday when visited East Park in 1954. the blaze could be seen for miles around. excellent views over the city. entry is free. www.crmsociety.com Section 5 fi rhill to port dundas (1.5 miles)

HAMILTONHILL CLAYPITS GREAT CANAL MALTINGS Across the other side of the canal lies The area just south of the towpath was once . The site was once home to a series busy with a series of related buildings and APPLECROSS WORKSHOPS AND OLD of claypits which produced the clay used to line industries, including The Great Canal Maltings BASIN HOUSE the canal and make it watertight. A foundry also (pictured) and an Aerated Water Factory. This series of whitewashed canal buildings is once stood here to the east. Today this is a pretty The early water plant was, ironically, demolished probably the oldest remaining on any canal green open space with an abundance of wildlife after a fi re in the 1970s. Built in 1888 for Hugh in Scotland. They would originally have been and plants and a network of footpaths cared for Baird & Son, The Great Canal Maltings supplied warehouses to store goods shipped in and out by by the Friends of Greenspace the Great Canal Brewery at the top of Baird’s canal. Later, they were used as workshops for the www.tinyurl.com/claypits Brae on the canal near Applecross Street. canal company. Behind is Old Basin House. It is There was also a bottling factory close by . claimed that the engineer developed THE OLD the plans for the whilst living in this building in 1813. Here, the canal widens into the ‘old basin’, which was the original terminus of the Glasgow BAIRDS BRAE branch of the canal, opening in November At the top of Baird’s Brae sat the Great Canal 1777. Look closely and you can see the Brewery and a series of small buildings and tene- remains of the old stop lock at the entrance ments, including a pub named Old Basin Tavern. to the basin. This was used to isolate the In the 1930s, an enormous cinema opened at the basin from the canal when canalmen bottom of the Brae. The Astoria could seat over needed to drain it for repairs. 3,000 people.

CUT OF JUNCTION As work to extend the canal eastwards towards Bowling continued, engineers accepted that the Forth & Clyde and Monkland canals extended from Hamiltonhill eastwards to the end both drew water from the same surrounding of the Monkland and allowed the Monkland’s water areas so making a water shortage likely at times. to feed into the Forth & Clyde. The connecting To overcome the threat, the two companies canal was completed in December 1790 and decided to work together and build a new section deepened in 1842 to allow larger boats to travel of canal to connect them. The new waterway between the two canals as well.

POSSIL AQUEDUCTS Look closely and you will see that there are actually two aqueducts sitting side by side here. The smaller aqueduct was built around 1790 when the Cut of Junction was constructed. It proved too small for Glasgow’s expanding tram network, which was then extending north towards Possil. A larger aqueduct was built alongside to replace it in 1880. Just a few years later, a bomb exploded on the aqueduct but failed to burst the canal. Look how the current road was excavated out of the solid rock. It’s no wonder a nearby house was called Rockvilla. Section 5

THE WHISKY BOND SPEAKER MARTIN’S DROP LOCK PORT DUNDAS The large, red brick building on the north This modern lock was opened in 2001 to access side of the canal is The Whisky Bond. Now home the new basin. The lock gates here are hydraulically “Port Dundas was so called in honour of to Glasgow Sculpture Studios and a collective of operated unlike the traditional hand-worked gates Thomas, Lord Dundas. It is the basin of the artists and creative organisations, the building elsewhere on the canal. celebrated , and is dates from the 1950s and is also known locally situated, strange to say, at the top of a hill as The Mushroom Factory as it was used as a LINK AND PHOENIX overlooking the city. The appearance of ships’ warehouse to grow funghi. If you have time, FLOWERS masts in such a position, over-topping the you could cross the footbridge to visit the Take time to follow the path leading from the houses, presented to us a peculiar surprise. Glasgow Sculpture Studio gallery. canal here down onto Garscube Road. The 50 The canal, which is a direct water-way from www.glasgowsculpturestudios.org stunning, brightly coloured Phoenix Flowers the Clyde to the Forth, a distance of same that rise eight metres high and lead under the thirty-seven miles, over the whole of its motorway are part of a major project to improve progress through bustling towns and quiet the connections between the canal and the city villages, commands fi ne views of the country, centre. The giant fl owers represent the former pretty water scenes, and the magnifi cent Phoenix Park, which gave way here to the M8 background of the Forth. Port Dundas itself, Motorway. however, is the scene of great commercial activity, and the prominent feature of the Cowcaddens Subway Station is just beyond the locality is the Distillery.” motorway here, and bus stops can be found on Garscube Road. The city centre is just a few The Whisky Distilleries of the United minutes walk from here. Kingdom, Alfred Barnard NEW STOP-LOCK BRIDGE As you round the corner, you will fi nd the remains of a wartime stoplock. A new sliding bridge will cross the canal here, leading to a boardwalk extending across the former timber basin on the corner, and back round to the SITE OF PINKSTON POWER STATION Whisky Bond and what will shortly be the new The area is remembered by many as the site National Theatre of Scotland headquarters. of the former Pinkston Power Station, which stood at the far end of the basins. Built in 1901 to THE GLUE FACTORY serve the city’s electric tram network, this huge Housed in the former Scottish Adhesives building featured two enormous chimneys and a Company warehouse, the Glue Factory is a vast cooling tower – the tallest in Europe, visible vibrant new venue for exhibitions and events, THE MODERN BASIN It’s hard to imagine now how busy and impor- for miles around. It was painted in camoufl age showing everything from visual art and design After the canal closed in the 1960s, a section tant Port Dundas was to Glasgow’s trade in the colours during the Second World War so that it to contemporary performance and fi lm. of the original route at Port Dundas was lost with heyday of the canal. Indeed, the many industries wasn’t such a useful navigation aid for the Luft- www.thegluefactory.org the construction of the . here included Port Dundas Distillery, which was waffe. The water in the basins was once warm as This stretch was once full of wharfs with evocative one of the largest in the world in the 1880s and it took the outfl ow from the power station. SPIERS WHARF names, which gave some idea as to the destination which still existed as recently as 2010. The handsome buildings at Spiers Wharf, of the goods departing or arriving on them: PINKSTON PADDLESPORTS CENTRE which were converted into fl ats in the 1990s, Rotterdam, and Leith. As part of RAILWAY SWING BRIDGE AND The towers of the former power station were once the industrial heart of this area. the Millennium Link works, a new basin was BASCULE BRIDGE are being replaced by an equally impressive The northernmost building was part of the created here to reconnect Spiers Wharf with the A large metal railway swing bridge, which once landmark, the £2.5m Pinkston Paddlesports Wheatsheaf Mills. Next door stood The Port otherwise isolated section of canal at Pinkston. allowed locomotives to cross the canal and serve centre. The new centre, which features a fast Dundas Sugar Refi nery, which was established We’re high above the city centre now with some the industries on the north bank, now sits fi xed fl owing artifi cial whitewater course at its heart, around 1865, and the remaining buildings formed excellent views to enjoy. At the end of the new open. The hand-worked cranking mechanism can is Scotland’s fi rst national training centre for elite part of the City of Glasgow Grain Mills and basin, another drop lock raises boats back up to be seen at the side of the bridge, which also still canoesists and kayakers and a watersports hub Stores, which were built for John Murray & Co the level of the main canal. Follow the path up retains its rails. A further original wooden bascule for the local communities of North Glasgow. from 1851. The smaller, detached building at the and cross over to the other side of the busy road bridge lies just beyond, giving access to where an The brightly coloured tower and lower slung end was built in the Georgian style around 1812 at the traffi c lights. Continue to follow the canal very old steel lighter or barge, which was rescued storage units are refurbished shipping containers. as offi ces for the Forth & Clyde Canal Company. along North Canal Street. from the canal basin, now sits in parkland. facebook.com/paddlesportsglasgow Section 6 the forgotten canals

Our fi nal section looks at the other canals which once fl owed within the city boundary but now sadly are mostly built over and not suitable for walking.

Just a little outwith the city boundary, there are stretches of the Monkland Canal which you can visit, particularly around Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, Blair Bridge in and . Blair Bridge This part of the two hundred year old canal is undergoing a vibrant renaissance with new artworks, footbridges and interpretation bringing it back to life as a popular and welcoming waterside space. http://tinyurl.com/summerleemuseum Scotland’s Most Successful Canal: The Monkland

The Monkland Canal was built to carry coal and Without support, it wasn’t long before sections of Summerlee Museum other raw materials from Lanarkshire to the the canal were infi lled and built over. Indeed, the factories of Glasgow. Construction of the 19.5 M8 Motorway between Glasgow and mile long Monkland Canal began in the east was constructed along much of the waterway’s in 1770 and the original terminus at length in Glasgow to the extent that it was opened in 1794. originally dubbed the ‘ Motorway’.

As construction of the Forth & Clyde Canal Although the Monkland Canal is no longer continued towards Bowling, however, engineers navigable, the water still travels along its length, realised that there wasn’t enough water fl owing mostly in pipes underground. The piped water into to the canal to sustain it. The ingenious supplied Steel Works until it closed solution was to extend the Monkland Canal to and, today, feeds water into the Forth & Clyde meet the Great Canal at Port Dundas so that it Canal at Pinkston basin. could act as a ‘feeder’.

The connection between the two canals, the Cut of Junction, was made and soon deepened to allow boats to travel between the two waterways.

With the increased effi ciency of the railway, however, came the decline of the Monkland Canal and it was fi nally abandoned in the 1940s. The waterway fell out of popularity and received a 1,000 strong petition calling for it to be fi lled in as the stagnant water and deep drops were a danger to children. The Cut of Junction the forgotten canalsGlasgow’s acknowledgements

Feats of Engineering Unlocking the Story is only possible thanks to A Ghost Canal Third Canal generous funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Glasgow City Council, and Glasgow City Heritage The Monkland Canal featured two unusual Only a few fragments of the Monkland Canal Trust, with the involvement of the Scottish structures. remain visible within the Glasgow city boundary. A third canal fl owed into the city in the 19th century - the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Waterways Trust, , Maryhill Burgh In addition to a spot at the far eastern edge of Canal. As the name suggests, this canal Halls, Lambhill Stables, Glasgow Sculpture Studios Glasgow, you can see a small section of towpath connected Glasgow and Johnstone although and Theatre of Scotland, with the assistance of a team of volunteers old and young. Blackhill Locks under Castle Street Bridge in Townhead, which is it was originally intended to extend further now a pedestrian underpass. Look for the worn westwards, carrying coal from Ayrshire and lines at each end created by ropes hauling barges other goods from the port at Ardrossan into Booklet design by Cactus www.cactushq.com the heart of Glasgow. Mapping and Illustrations by Kerry Hyndman around the tight bend of the waterway. www.kerryhyndman.co.uk Information compiled by Barr with text by Some fragments of the wharf walls and metal Joanna Harrison. hooks from the Cuilhill Gullet are hidden away Image Credits in a copse of trees in the middle of a fi eld near Possil Meteorite image 43 courtesy of the University of ! Glasgow. Temple Gasometer image 12 courtesy of Ben Cooper. Kelvin Dock 1940s painting [21] by Francis Patrick Martin The Covenanter’s Plaque, originally located in © The artist’s heirs. Image copyright CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection. Pen & Ink drawings 63 courtesy of Ian R a wall next to the canal basin at Townhead, has Mitchell. Rubber works advert 51 thanks to Michael Meighan. moved several times over its history. Created to OS Mapping 35 reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the Inclined Plane Plans commemorate the martyrdom of 3 covenanters National Library of Scotland. Big Man image 31 thanks to Gary Shaw & McInnes advert 57, Summerlee Gates thanks to on the site in 1684, a stone was ‘funded by the Watt. Robert Pool’s Glasgow Collection. Images 17b, 24, 67, 72, 78 proprietors of the Monkland Navigation’. Set into used thanks to Tommy Lawton. Images 64, 66 ©Glasgow City the wall of a cinema in the 1920s, it was moved Archives and Special Collections. Port Dundas drawing 76 beneath a motorway fl yover in the 1960s, and by permission of University of Glasgow Library, Special Collections. Images 10, 18, 46 © RCAHMS. (Reproduced later to the nearby Martyrs Church in St Mungo courtesy of J R Hume). Licensor www.rcahms.gov.uk It opened in 1811, but closed just 70 years Images 54, Avenue, Townhead. There are now plans to Cut of Junction © RCAHMS. (Aerofi lms Collection). Licensor demolish this church, so it may well be on the later when most of its length was fi lled in www.rcahms.gov.uk Image of Blair Bridge © Crown Copyright: move again in the near future! and used as the route for a new railway line. RCAHMS. Licensor www.rcahms.gov.uk Image 4 © Royal Sadly, there is nothing left to see above Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland; SC664466. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk Image 11 To experience the Monkland Canal above ground ground at the Glasgow Eglinton Street basin © Council. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk at its best, visit Coatbridge where a large section and terminus, although fragments of the Image 47 © The Scotsman Publications Ltd. Licensor www. of towpath and canal have been restored. port were found during excavations for scran.ac.uk Images 1, 2, 13, 17a, 25, 26, 28, 29, 33, 38, 45, 49, 61, 69, 77 courtesy of Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust. A series of double locks was built at Blackhill to www.scottishcanals.co.uk/our-canals/ the M74 Bypass at Monkland Canal images courtesy of the Scottish Canals Archive. The Maryhill allow a number of boats to traverse the canal at monkland-canal www.tinyurl.com/porteglinton stained glass panel images are courtesy of Glasgow Life, once. The area also featured an inclined plane and the originals are part of Glasgow Museum’s Collections. invented in the 1850s to move boats more quickly Some short watered sections still exist in between the two different levels of waterway. Paisley and the memory of the canal lives on Every attempt has been made to correctly source and credit in the posthumously named ‘Paisley Canal’ images used here; please report any errors or omissions to via This was basically a funicular railway for canal the contact details on the back page of this booklet. boats - vessels were transferred onto carriages railway line and station, as well as the name running on tracks, which were then raised up or of Eglinton Street itself – named after Hugh Disclaimer down the hill, using a pulley system. Montgomerie, the 12th Earl of Eglinton, who Every effort has been made to make sure the information fi nanced much of the work. contained here is accurate and up-to-date at the time of going to press. No responsibility can be taken for any inaccuracies, The Cuilhill Gullet was a man-made island cre- errors or omissions, and anyone choosing to do these walks ated in the canal channel so that tonnes of coal does so entirely at their own risk. We would be pleased to could be swiftly transferred between boats and be informed of any corrections for a future edition. See back page for contact details. the railway. Castle Street Bridge

The Scottish Waterways Trust is a Registered Scottish Charity No. SC043477. unlocking the story

EXPLORE THE TOWPATH GIVE US YOUR CANAL STORIES! This free guide to help you explore six sections of the We also need your help – do you have any canal-related towpaths of Glasgow’s canals was created as part of stories? Did you grow up nearby? Did you family work Unlocking the Story, a project to uncover, explore and on or near the canals? Have you any old photos or celebrate the social and industrial history of canals artefacts? We want to hear from you! Please get in around the city. These played such a defi ning role for touch. Email us at info@scottishwaterwaystrust, ring the communities of North Glasgow from their industrial 01324 677809 or send us your stories directly using heyday through to the current renaissance being led the free App. through the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project.

Drumchapel Lambhill Maryhill

Anniesland Firhill

Ruchhill

Cowcaddens

FIND OUT MORE... This free booklet is just the start - You can download City Centre and access more information on each section and points of interest, along with more photos, audio ALONG THE TOWPATH... clips and stories, plus news about local canal-related You will also fi nd a series of QR codes along the route events, by using the free mobile phone and tablet app – scan these with the app to see more details, pictures Unlocking the Story - fi nd out more and download it and stories. Look out for a series of new waymarkers at www.scottishwaterwaystrust.org.uk/uts and information panels along the way.

Please share the towpath with other users and follow Scottish Canals Towpath Code of Conduct. www.scottishcanals.co.uk

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