River Clyde / Glasgow City

[Skylark]

As per title, has anyone recently navigated The Clyde into Glasgow city centre and care to share the experience? Berthing options, places of interest etc......

I've downloaded the Peelports Clyde Leisure Navigation Guide and it looks interesting.

Many thanks.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I was planning to do so last year but the weather ruled it out in the end. I had a slightly bemused (not many people do it, I think) but friendly reception from the Tall Ship people who arrange berthing at the pontoon in the Kelvin. I gather that it's mostly motorboats who visit as they were a little worried about draft, but my 1.3m seemed to be OK.

Last year everything else was closed and Dumbarton was full with residents, so after JWD it was basically Tall Ship or nothing.

If you would like a phone number and/or email address for the pontoon, PM me.

 

[Skylark]

Many thanks, JD,

The Clyde Waterfront website suggests that there is a visitors pontoon near the Titan Crane and another in Plantation Quay, near the Science Centre?

Is the Tall Ships pontoon in the Clyde or Kelvin? I draw 2.1m so would not be able to navigate the Kelvin.

The more I read about it, the more I fancy sailing into the city ?

 

[Blue Drifter]

I walked into Glasgow today via the Tradeston bridge, there was a yacht (looked <30 ft and had lowered its mast) tied up to the pontoon just upriver of the bridge.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Many thanks, JD,

You're welcome.

The Clyde Waterfront website suggests that there is a visitors pontoon near the Titan Crane and another in Plantation Quay, near the Science Centre?

Both were closed last year.

Is the Tall Ships pontoon in the Clyde or Kelvin? I draw 2.1m so would not be able to navigate the Kelvin.

It's just round the corner from the Tall Ship, at the river mouth. Best picture I can find online:

The more I read about it, the more I fancy sailing into the city ?

No sailing past the Tail of the Bank, but yes, it looks like fun and it's on my list.

 

[stevie69p]

Did it a couple of years ago and managed to berth at the pontoon in the mouth of the Kelvin. Tied it in with a visit to the tall ship and the transport museum. I dont think you'll get beyond Bells Bridge these days with mast up

 

[penfold]

Did it a couple of years ago and managed to berth at the pontoon in the mouth of the Kelvin. Tied it in with a visit to the tall ship and the transport museum. I dont think you'll get beyond Bells Bridge these days with mast up

Bells bridge still opens? It's an utter disgrace that GCC have supinely granted every whim of Peel Ports in their avaricious pursuit of mammon and allowed the construction of fixed bridges of nugatory air draft over what is legally a navigable waterway. Convenient that Peel Ports are simultaneously the statutory body in charge of that waterway and a major landowner benefiting from those bridges.

 

[arc1]

Bells bridge still opens? It's an utter disgrace that GCC have supinely granted every whim of Peel Ports in their avaricious pursuit of mammon and allowed the construction of fixed bridges of nugatory air draft over what is legally a navigable waterway. Convenient that Peel Ports are simultaneously the statutory body in charge of that waterway and a major landowner benefiting from those bridges.

Bells bridge currently broken down I believe, so not opening; not sure what plans, if any, to fix it.
GCC berths all closed owing to Covid so the to all ships pontoon possibly only optional. Is on my list of things I want to do.

 

[stevie69p]

Bells bridge still opens? It's an utter disgrace that GCC have supinely granted every whim of Peel Ports in their avaricious pursuit of mammon and allowed the construction of fixed bridges of nugatory air draft over what is legally a navigable waterway. Convenient that Peel Ports are simultaneously the statutory body in charge of that waterway and a major landowner benefiting from those bridges.

At the time I went up river, Bell's bridge was broken.

The whole subject around use of the river and it's surrounding land is the subject of another thread, but in my own opinion has been an opportunity squandered by successive GCC administration's. Many other European cities have vibrant districts based around their rivers. All that Glasgow has, so far, is glass box office developments.

 

[Skylark]

There are useful links, a lot of information and a berthing enquiry form on the Kelvin Harbour page of the Tall Ships website. It suggests a max draft of 2.0m. I am 2.1m. A linked Peelports chartlet shows the end of the pontoon is in 2.6m soundings so I've asked the question. I'll post again with their response.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

... The whole subject around use of the river and it's surrounding land is the subject of another thread, but in my own opinion has been an opportunity squandered by successive GCC administration's. Many other European cities have vibrant districts based around their rivers. All that Glasgow has, so far, is glass box office developments.

Threads develop, so no reason why this could not be used to discuss the issue. During the Garden Festival, 1988, it showed how interesting and productive from a social perspective the waterfront was. It is a lot better now than post Garden Festival before the building of concert halls, museums and offices. However the space is dead at night time.

The land around the graving docks is interesting, what to do with it? Glasgow City Council rejected a housing, hotel scheme recently proposed as "lacking imagination". They are actually planning on opening up one of the graving docks for business. An utterly stupid decision as shipbuilding and ship repair on the Clyde, beyond government subsidised work in a couple fo yards, is over. People would flock to a vibrant waterfront development with leisure facilities. Turning it into a ship scrapping site, or landfill and grassing over it, would be better than what the current bunch of tubes are thinking.

Restoration plan welcomed for Govan Graving Docks

 

[stevie69p]

I visited Bristol a year or so ago and loved what was going on around the old docks area there. It was vibrant and drawing in tourists. Glasgow is a decent draw for tourism already, so why not feature the river in more of it? If any one group have lacked imagination, it's been successive councils, both labour and SNP. Developers only want to make a quick bang for their buck, but what the city is left with, lasts for decades. They've done some fancy landscaping here and there, but there's no substance. As you say, it's dead in the evenings. Even back in the late 80s, early 90s, there was more going on, as there were still some pubs left along the Broomielaw and the Tuxedo Princess disco boat. The only thing there now is the Ferry (decent wee venue to be fair) and the casino. The graving docks and Princes Dock could be given over to a maritime museum showing the history of what was built on the Clyde, but I think it needs certain areas to be developed as kind of "villages" with lots going on rather than just one thing.

 

[penfold]

There's a campaign group for the govan drydocks, but the suggestion of them being working docks and the land accommodating museum space, retail or whatever is delusional; the activities that go on in drydocks are dirty, noisy and sometimes smelly, no retail business wants to be right next to that and no-one wants to live next to it, as experienced at Inchgreen after a housing estate was built right next door. There is clearly business for drydocks as the Garvel drydock in Greenock is rarely unoccupied.

I visited Bristol a year or so ago and loved what was going on around the old docks area there. It was vibrant and drawing in tourists. Glasgow is a decent draw for tourism already, so why not feature the river in more of it? If any one group have lacked imagination, it's been successive councils, both labour and SNP. Developers only want to make a quick bang for their buck, but what the city is left with, lasts for decades. They've done some fancy landscaping here and there, but there's no substance. As you say, it's dead in the evenings. Even back in the late 80s, early 90s, there was more going on, as there were still some pubs left along the Broomielaw and the Tuxedo Princess disco boat. The only thing there now is the Ferry (decent wee venue to be fair) and the casino. The graving docks and Princes Dock could be given over to a maritime museum showing the history of what was built on the Clyde, but I think it needs certain areas to be developed as kind of "villages" with lots going on rather than just one thing.

It's such a waste; as you say Bristol has made a go of its waterside, Belfast's waterside has been transformed in the last couple of decades, admittedly a lot of funding was available and momentum created as a result of the GFA but I believe its status as a trust port has been important, unlike the Clyde where Peel have done what developers do and chased the easy money and GCC cheered them on.

 

[JumbleDuck]

It's such a waste; as you say Bristol has made a go of its waterside, Belfast's waterside has been transformed in the last couple of decades, admittedly a lot of funding was available and momentum created as a result of the GFA but I believe its status as a trust port has been important, unlike the Clyde where Peel have done what developers do and chased the easy money and GCC cheered them on.

The rot set in in Glasgow a very long time ago ... it's 50-ish years since Kingston Dock was filled in. Glasgow could have had a docklands second only to London's but the council blew it.

 

[penfold]

One of my hobbyhorses is St Enoch station and the bulldozers they drove through it; the rubble probably went into the Queen's Dock.

 

[Alicatt]

The rot set in in Glasgow a very long time ago ... it's 50-ish years since Kingston Dock was filled in. Glasgow could have had a docklands second only to London's but the council blew it.

Yeah a lot happened back then in South West Scotland, it was also the time we got a compulsory purchase order put on our business as the council wanted the land to put a new road in, 50 years later the road is still not there and they sold the land off for private housing.
The council, in the name of progress, ripped the heart out of our town and built shops with accommodation/flats above them, now 50 years later and they all vacant and have danger signs on them as they are crumbling away. The council now are asking for ideas to replace the monstrosities that they built in the early 1970s.
My flat is one street back from the main street and it was built in 1852/3 and is as solid as the day it was built.

One of my hobbyhorses is St Enoch station and the bulldozers they drove through it; the rubble probably went into the Queen's Dock.

I can well remember it, it was not a station I used though, Dr Beeching has a lot to answer for

 

[JumbleDuck]

Yeah a lot happened back then in South West Scotland, it was also the time we got a compulsory purchase order put on our business as the council wanted the land to put a new road in, 50 years later the road is still not there and they sold the land off for private housing.
The council, in the name of progress, ripped the heart out of our town and built shops with accommodation/flats above them, now 50 years later and they all vacant and have danger signs on them as they are crumbling away. The council now are asking for ideas to replace the monstrosities that they built in the early 1970s.
My flat is one street back from the main street and it was built in 1852/3 and is as solid as the day it was built.

To be fair, there were a lot of good intentions around. Glasgow had some truly appalling slum housing which the City Improvement Trust had never got round to. Oscar Marzaroli's pictures of Glasgow in the early 60s are shocking, and the desire to improve things led to visions of airy housing on hillside (Drumchapel, East Kilbride) or in the sky (all those tower blocks). The intrinsic design faults of towers - chaildren can't go out to play - are now recognised, but all that housing could have been great if it had been properly built and, crucially, properly maintained. Instead it was built and left to rot from the start, with inevitable results.

The decision to treat the Clyde as no more than an inconvenience is a different matter, which I put down to a mixture of poor imagination and the endemic Scottish contempt for industrial heritage. Remember when the Kelvingrove gallery and Royal Scottish Museum both had engineering displays? When the Transport Museum in Glasgow actually let you see the finest collection of Scottish cars in the world instead of stacking them up a wall as decorations?

The Clyde could have been a fantastic asset for Glasgow but when London, Liverpool and Bristol were realising the possibilities, Glasgow was stubbornly destructive.

And ... relax.

I can well remember it, it was not a station I used though, Dr Beeching has a lot to answer for

It's arguable that Glasgow didn't need both St Enoch and Central, but I miss it too.

 

[JNKScot]

To be fair, there were a lot of good intentions around. Glasgow had some truly appalling slum housing which the City Improvement Trust had never got round to. Oscar Marzaroli's pictures of Glasgow in the early 60s are shocking, and the desire to improve things led to visions of airy housing on hillside (Drumchapel, East Kilbride) or in the sky (all those tower blocks). The intrinsic design faults of towers - chaildren can't go out to play - are now recognised, but all that housing could have been great if it had been properly built and, crucially, properly maintained. Instead it was built and left to rot from the start, with inevitable results.

The decision to treat the Clyde as no more than an inconvenience is a different matter, which I put down to a mixture of poor imagination and the endemic Scottish contempt for industrial heritage. Remember when the Kelvingrove gallery and Royal Scottish Museum both had engineering displays? When the Transport Museum in Glasgow actually let you see the finest collection of Scottish cars in the world instead of stacking them up a wall as decorations?

The Clyde could have been a fantastic asset for Glasgow but when London, Liverpool and Bristol were realising the possibilities, Glasgow was stubbornly destructive.

And ... relax.



It's arguable that Glasgow didn't need both St Enoch and Central, but I miss it too.

I am old enough to have travelled from and to Buchanan Street, Central, Queen Street and St. Enoch.

 

[Alicatt]

The big problem of the Glasgow redevelopment was where to put the over spill, they built huge estates in our area of The Vale of Leven and decanted the folk from Glasgow there, this was going on at the same time as the redevelopment of our town centre and that of Dumbarton too.
Not to get political.
At that time the council was very much leaning to the communist side of red and had a big anti private enterprise chip on their shoulders and was what made us close shop and move away, that was 15 panel beaters and 3 painters out of work, it is still a touchy subject in our family. It was the same kind of interference that lead to the shutting of Denny's ship yard where my uncle worked, and where my father worked during WW2.
Is the old Renfrew ferry still being used as a restaurant on the Clyde near the Kingston Bridge? I've not been down that way in a good few years, I know the Tux Sux (Tuxedo Princess, ex TSS Caledonian Princess, another Denny built ferry) had been moved to the Tyne the last time I heard about her - Ah she has been scrapped.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I am old enough to have travelled from and to Buchanan Street, Central, Queen Street and St. Enoch.

I don't think I ever travelled from St Enoch or Buchanan Street, but I can - just - remember catching the trolleybus from Muirend terminus, and I was on the last crossing of the Kelvinhaugh Ferry.

Is the old Renfrew ferry still being used as a restaurant on the Clyde near the Kingston Bridge? .

Yup. The Ferry.