In Ruins: Springburn part 1

So I went out exploring again the other day. As is usual these days it was grey and wet outside but I had just got my bike breaks fixed and bought new mudguards so It just had to be done. Because of the dire weather I decided to check out Springburn in North Glasgow, I had been told by a friend in relation to these posts that there is a derelict greenhouse in Springburn park and that was so I had to check it out. Springburn is also conveniently close by so I could get back quickly if the rain got too intense.

Having said this there are no derelict greenhouses in the pictures of this post, nor parks for that matter. This is because on the way to the park, as often happens in Glasgow, I came across a most excellent post apocalyptic abandoned community centre. As usual quite by chance. The building was just in front of the park and I couldn't resist dismounting and checking it out. As you can imagine I took tons of pictures, this post is about the derelict community centre, the next post will be about the greenhouse in the park (hence the part 1 in the title).

The north of Glasgow is not that nice, this is known. The rain and grey skies were not really working for it either the other day. The whole way to Springburn was pretty miserable, all the way through a main road with cars splashing water me, but it had to be done. I actually almost considered turning back at one point, but I realised I was so close that there was no point. 

Eventually I left the main road, and reached a footbridge that crossed the motorway to then go uphill, I was impressed and concerned by the amounts of shattered glass everywhere. Broken bottles are a common occurrence in these parts, but here there was more that usual and bike wheels don't take too well to broken glass. 

As I reached the top of the hill what do I see? 

 This, what do I think? Awesome!

 I usually detest this type of 70s architecture. Its just damned ugly. That's probably why I enjoy watching it in ruins and overgrown by vegetation.  It gives a great glimpse of the post-apocalypse too.

 Yes, will make sure to keep that in mind.

 The door is, of course, blocked.

 Lets walk the perimeter, there are some shops there.

 Nice job blocking the main door and ignoring everything else.

Bridge over troubled...vegetation?

 This must have been the local pub

 Stairs leading to pub

Close up of the pub, this looks pretty cool, I can imagine it being a raider base in a Scottish version of Mad Max. Notice the very effective fence.

 This security company is clearly doing great job at securing the building

 Pub must have been pretty big

 Talisman, not sure what that is, the pub seems to have been called "The Baron", maybe Talisman was the local night club?

 Will make sure to do that

Side façade

See, the houses in the background? Its weird because the whole area seems to be pretty densely inhabited, in spite of the rain there were lots of people outside and I didn't see any shops or pubs too nearby. Makes me wonder why they would abandon the place and leave it to rot in plain sight of all the residents. It doesn't look like there was a fire either.

 Chim-chimney!

 I start to take a closer look, this must have been a  high quality restaurant.

 Nice and tidy

Lets check out that stuff on the ground.

 A film! "Da Vinci's War", looks like a really good film.

Unfortunately it was empty so I won't be able to appreciate this quality first hand.

 Costcutters highly portected entrance

 Place has been looted clean, wont find any food here...

 Nice graphing skills

 I'll make sure to do that

 The bridge seem from the lower level, its nice to see a tree growing on a bridge, not sure how that happens.

 Looks like there was a toilet there.

 Time to leave, great spot, would have gone in further but had the bike to take care off and I just didn't trust leaving it unattended.

And on to Springburn park!

I leave you with a swish Google maps frame so you cant see where exactly this place is, no need to thank me.

View Larger Map

Tune in soon for the derelict greenhouse!

In Ruins: Abandoned Houses in Carmyle

As promised I give you the next instalment of the In Ruins series, if you have not read the previous entry click here.

The weather has been God awful this past month so I have finally resigned myself to go out with the bike in the rain. The alternative is to stay home playing videogames all day and this gets pretty boring eventually. I had heard about a ruined castle called Bothwell Castle and had been told it is eminently climbable, so much so that there are no "no climbing" sings. The castle is on the banks of the river Clyde about 25 km to the east of Glasgow. I'd had it on my mind for a while that this would be my next destination as I have never very far to the east following the Clyde. 

I checked the weather for the forecast and it predicted rain for the day, and for every other day in the conceivable future, so I thought "f*** it". I packed my water proofs into my backpack and on I went. After about half an hour I was that I'd ever been before in this direction and I wasn't overly impressed. There was a cycle path which is always good but the scenery was largely industrial and not in a good way (i.e. abandoned factories with open doors).

After a while I came across a bridge and I appropriately ignored the sign telling me to cross it if I wanted to stay on the cycle path. This ended up being both a great decision and a pretty annoying decision. As I kept going on the non-cycle path bordering the north bank of the river I reached Carmyle. A classic instance of the Scottish grey village built in the 60s, I don;t mean to offend any of the residents but the place is not particularly nice, at all. That is until I got into the local park and to my surprise I find this right in front of me

This got the explorer in me very exited, not only is it ruins, but it looks pretty old, like 100 years old perhaps. I had to dismount and investigate further.

Very cool, love the composition of the three arches.

What is through this gate?

Great stone work, much nicer than the grey concrete houses of Carmyle.

The towering chimney

Chimney at ground level

I really like the use of Roman style archways, works really well with encroaching vegetation

Shadowfax resting while I explore.

That was all the same building, but it turns out there where lots more! This one here is completely different, must have been added much later than the previous one and is built a lot more precariously.

Someone was reading a newspaper here

The cabin in the woods

This house was clearly not built to last

Then again this one was and look at it now.

Why are there always lots and lots of tyres in places like this?

A yellow tarp amongst the ruins

Remains of  an oven or chimney?

Ruins in the forest

Detail of carved stone

I really don't know what this place was. I have researched Carmyle on the net and I found nothing. What remains of the buildings suggests that people lived here. They don't look  like warehouses. The site is also curiously situated right next to a major motorway.

Here is a bird's eye view of the site courtesy of Google Earth. You can see there are remains of at least five or six buildings.

As great as it was finding this place I could go no further so I had to turn back. This also proved to be great because I casually stumbled in a most excellent if muddy mountain bike path.

After having some fun and getting my bike covered in mud y backtracked and found my way to Bothwell Castle through busy main roads. Which was slightly annoying. But at last I reached the Castle! Unfortunately my phone had run out of battery at this point so I couldn't take any pictures. Lucky for us the internet can provide.

As I was told the castle is eminently climbable, its also pretty dangerous so I had to resist the temptation. It was also closed so I only got to see the outside. Tried to sneak in somehow but its only possible if you climb up to about 10-15 meters, which I don't feel ready to do without a rope and harness.
For the way back I located a cycle path that ended up being the proper way to go; the path I ignored when I chose not to cross the bridge earlier. I ended up reaching Glasgow quite by chance since I couldn't rely on my phone's GPS. The rain was pretty minimal throughout but it did end up pouring quite badly towards the end. Either way I learned that rain is no excuse for not doing outdoor activities. In fact if you don't deal with it in this country you may as well stay indoor forever.