World Trip 2002 - Liverpool
Day 35
I
really liked Glasgow. The city has plenty of character. Lots of history there
too. If it stayed warm all year round I would be happy to live there. It was
a vibrant bustling city. There were plenty of people on the streets even in
the short walk from the bus depot down to Buchanan Street underground station.
I headed out to Kelvinbridge straight away. I found one of the tunnels almost immediately and started to explore it. Two kilometers of damp rocky floored tunnel later I came out through a cutting and another tunnel to the end, to be surprised by a local suburban train which came out of an active side tunnel and shot past barely 50 meters from me. This was more surprising as the tunnel I was in had no tracks in it. I managed to get some good video of the trains shooting past.
On the way back I was walking through the open cutting with the weird bracing work when I stood on a plank of wood and felt something touch the underside of my foot. I lifted my shoe up again to see a nail projecting from a plank stuck in the shoe. Thankfully I had not put my foot all the way down. I stopped to check my foot after reaching a dry spot in the tunnel and was glad to find no damage was done.
On the way back out my little pocket torch ran out of batteries but I had some spares. I caught the underground one station around then walked up the street to the Botanic Gardens. The Botanic Gardens station in Glasgow was my primary reason for visiting the city. It was beautiful in the pictures I remembered. I was hoping that it would not prove too difficult to locate. It wasn't. An easy walk from Kelvinside saw me arrive at the entrance to the Gardens. There I spotted a rather unusual police call box, just like the one popularized by the BBC series, DR Who. I walked into the gardens and soon spotted the station vents. The problem was getting in. Luckily I recalled the tunnel emerged at Kirklee. It was an easy walk down there, and once again some one had proceeded before me leaving an entrance open. Botanic Gardens did not disappoint. It has to be the most beautiful abandoned railway stations I have ever seen.
I then walked to the youth hostel and prepared for the night. The Glasgow youth hostel was in a historic building, with a massive old stair case, wood paneling and lots of tartan. My room was on the top floor. I am disabled and can't walk up stairs very well. They didn't let me use the staff lift either on the grounds that I "didn't look disabled." Oh well, the view in the morning was great and I only had to use the stairs once.
Day 36
located the famous London Road tunnels and photographed them as well. London Road in Glasgow has a railway running beneath it. Many people are aware of this, but not so many people realise it runs beyond Bridgeton station, as far as Celtic Park, where there was a station and then to Parkhead. In addition, another two abandoned stations are along the in use line between Argyle and Bridgeton. I explored the London Road station, which was once part of Bridgeton station. Along with Botanic Gardens, London Road is one of the most beautiful abandoned stations I have seen.
Although I spent only two half days in Glasgow I consider the time to be some of the best spent time on my whole trip.
From Glasgow I traveled back to London on board the Flying Scotsman, or it's modern equivalent.
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