Pinkston Bog

Location type

Works

Name and dates

Pinkston Bog (1799-1964)

Served by the Port Dundas Branch (Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway).

Description

To the north of the St Rollox Chemical Works was the Pinkston Bog. This area became a chemical dump for the works with an ever shifting network of tracks serving the site. It progressively extended north. Much of this was the material 'galligu' (from the alkali works) with an estimated million cubic metres of this chemical being dumped here. This contaminated both the Pinkston Burn and the St Enoch Burn, the latter sufficiently badly that it became an impediment to ships berthing where the burn reached the River Clyde.

Within the area were; a northern extension of the chemical works (north of the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway and south of the Buchanan Street extension), the Fountainwell Brick Works and clay pits, and the Clyde Soap Works. A single track straggling line ran through the tips from the Pinkston Mineral Yard (of the North British Railway) south east, crossing over the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and the Buchanan Street approach cutting, to reach the St Rollox Goods West of the Caledonian Railway.

The Buchanan Street extension cut through the waste in 1849, requiring some effort to stabilise the tip. In 1856 the Buchanan Street Tunnel was flooded with material when the bog material shifted. A drainage system was built under the waste to stabilise it, also allowing the company to recover useful chemicals.

After closure of the works and railways the area was redeveloped. The courses of the former railways were landscaped. This was known as the Townhead Development.

The land between the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway (to the south) and the Buchanan Street approach (to the north) was the location of the Pinkston high flats.

North of the Buchanan Street approach cutting were the Fountainwell flats.

Above the Buchanan Street Tunnel was Sighthill Park (and its modern stone circle).

The area to the north of the former works is being redeveloped again. It is part of the Sighthill Transformational Regeneration Area.

Tags

Bog Burn Waste Chemical waste Galligu
05/02/2022