Cafe Dumbarton England

Ian R. Mitchell takes a review of Partick's fascinating history

Such has been the decrease of Scots whilst the lingua franca in Glasgow that very few folks would know very well what a girnal ended up being. The cosmopolitan nature of this city features created unique argot, which can be expressive and creative, nonetheless it contains fairly few Scots words. I happened to be surprised on-coming right here from Aberdeen to locate that people don't understand what a brander had been, or a scaffie. This, with my help for the Dons, made myself feel quite proud of myself. A century ago, many Glasgow folk would have understood that a girnal ended up being a grain upper body hence Partick had been the location where was landed and prepared all the city's grain.

Partick's Grain Mills

Partick's western edge with the town ended up being the River Kelvin, which falls steeply to your Clyde, and which powered the first granaries along its banking institutions. And in which these days survives the town's final whole grain mill. This is had by position Hovis and creates flour for their Duke Street bakery. Timothy Pont's map of Lennox c1600 shows a cluster of mills on reduced lake, including Bishop's Mill and meals mill leased by the city of Glasgow. The incorporation of Glasgow bakers additionally owned two mills regarding lake, one called the Bunhouse Mill. Although various other works, such as for example spinning and slit mills used water power for the Kelvin, it had been grain mills which predominated.

Large scale manufacturing flour milling started using orifice of Scotstoun Mills when you look at the 1840s, however once the Kelvin supplied such inexpensive and efficient energy, these were nevertheless water-operated, and remained therefore till the later development when you look at the nineteenth century. The Regent Flour mills were built across the Kelvin from the Scotstoun mill when you look at the 1890s. Owned by the SCWS from 1903, this mill made the popular Lofty Peak flour. (your website happens to be a car or truck park when it comes to Kelvin Hall). This cluster of mills big and little managed to make it logical the Clyde Navigation Trust to ascertain its whole grain depot at Meadowside in Partick in the early 1900s, and until very recently the foundation of all material for Glasgow's ubiquitous jeely peece was at the girnals of Partick.

A good place to start a research of location is at the connection across Kelvin, created to join Partick with Glasgow in 1877, only west regarding the Kelvin Hall. One end regarding the connection holds the Glasgow layer of arms, the other compared to Partick - which appropriately has actually millstones and a wheatsheaf on its crest. Or about that what many reports state; i've never discovered all of them, so maybe its another metropolitan myth.the earlier connection lies just to the north and it is still ready to accept pedestrians. From here a walk down Bunhouse path, and appropriate along Old Dumbarton path brings you to definitely the Wheatsheaf Buildings. Now flats this cameo was built in the 1830s on the webpage of the initial Bishop's Mill, and has now wonderful wheatsheaf motifs created on its gables. It operated as a mill till the 1960s, and ended up being water driven till the 1950s.

No these types of brand new usage is discovered when it comes to derelict Partick Central station further on, though the land introduced by demolishing the main Scotstoun Flour mills is now occcupied by stunning contemporary flats. Partick will be squeezed amongst the West End together with Riverside, old and brand-new middle class residential places. A large cleared website towards the western of Partick Central awaits residential development, as a corridor for connecting the riverside on western End. This is formerly the Partick Foundry and after closure within the 60s became your website of unsightly scrap metal depots. However, back around 1600 this was the website opted for the building of Partick Castle, a fortified home providing whilst the country house of George Hutcheson, co-founder of Glasgow Hutcheson's Hospital. Partick Castle ended up being demolished in 1836.