The Molendinar Burn Part II

After my previous explore of Glasgow’s Molendinar Burn, I had to go back to cover the downstream section, which runs from Duke Street down to the Clyde.

The downstream tunnel entrance:

Molendinar Burn 48 (by Ben Cooper)

First there’s beautiful stone, quite high:

Molendinar Burn 49 (by Ben Cooper)

Then stone walls and a brick roof:

Molendinar Burn 50 (by Ben Cooper)

Then circular brick, with some neat side drains:

Molendinar Burn 53 (by Ben Cooper)

Then lower and oval, with some steeper sections:

Molendinar Burn 54 (by Ben Cooper)

It then opens up a bit:

Molendinar Burn 56 (by Ben Cooper)

Before getting quite a bit lower:

Molendinar Burn 57 (by Ben Cooper)

Going under a large pipe:

Molendinar Burn 58 (by Ben Cooper)

A couple more side drains – theses don’t drain into the burn, they end up somewhere underneath it:

Molendinar Burn 60 (by Ben Cooper)

Then a whole series of beautiful brick arches:

Molendinar Burn 61 (by Ben Cooper)

Then it gets very, very low and goes under the underground rail line from Central Station – I was half way through when a train went overhead:

Molendinar Burn 62 (by Ben Cooper)

Then a long, long backbreaking stretch:

Molendinar Burn 63 (by Ben Cooper)

Then a junction, where the Camlachie Burn joins the Molendinar – it follows the route of Greendyke Street:

Molendinar Burn 64 (by Ben Cooper)

Carrying on a bit further, the burn drops into a smaller pipe, and the way is impassable – this must be almost at the Clyde:

Molendinar Burn 66 (by Ben Cooper)

Going back upstream to where the Camlachie joins, there’s a wall and pillar:

Molendinar Burn 67 (by Ben Cooper)

Going up Greendyke this time, the way is a lot more pleasant than the burn – much higher:

Molendinar Burn 68 (by Ben Cooper)

Some nice changes of construction:

Molendinar Burn 69 (by Ben Cooper)

A bit of modern concrete and brick:

Molendinar Burn 70 (by Ben Cooper)

Back to brick, and some nice reassuring reinforcement:

Molendinar Burn 73 (by Ben Cooper)

Some more beautiful side drains:

Molendinar Burn 75 (by Ben Cooper)

Then good old steel pipe, the same as upstream in the previous adventure:

Molendinar Burn 79 (by Ben Cooper)

A newer, more open section:

Molendinar Burn 80 (by Ben Cooper)

And at this point, I stopped to turn back, as it was getting late:

Molendinar Burn 81 (by Ben Cooper)

Stopping only to photograph some subterranean mushrooms:

Molendinar Burn 82 (by Ben Cooper)

At a guess, I travelled about a mile and a half under Glasgow – and back again, of course! The Camlachie was still perfectly accessible when I abandoned my stroll, so who knows how far that goes…

19 Responses

  1. fascinating: and to think that – allegedly – Kentigern used to bathe here to rid himself of impure thoughts! Hagiographic nonsense but you never know…

  2. Fabulous pictures – and well done, you, for going down all that way. In 1970, when I was in first year at the old Boys’ High in Elmbank Street, we spent a weekend clearing out part of the Molendinar – it was full of prams, half bricks and all the other detritus of city life.

  3. Love the history of Glasgow fantastic pictures.would love to go dow and experience it all. Thank you for sharing

  4. Fascinating pictures, haven’t come across them before – all thanks to Glasgow Live link. Well done and thanks for sharing.

  5. Great pictures and rekindled Glasgow’s forgotten history.
    My mother often talked about the molindinar burn when I was young but I never found it !Now I know why!

  6. I first heard of the Monendiner Burn way back in 1968 when l was at teacher training college (ND) in Glasgow where the geography teacher brought it into many lectures. Shw was very keen that it should not be forgotten. So she would have been delighted with you. Thank for those great photos.. the quality of the brickwork is remarkable.
    Margaret. 3/3/2021

Leave a Reply