Botanic Gardens Station Revisit

Written by  on December 5, 2017 

I never expected to be back in Botanic Gardens Station again after my first visit – access was difficult and nerve wracking enough that risking it a second time didn’t seem worth it, and security was made even tighter last year. But a couple of weekends ago I found myself with some time to kill in Glasgow and, with rumours going around that this place was accessible, I decided to go check it out.

I was glad I did, as only a few minutes later I was walking through the familiar tunnel once more, towards Glasgow’s famous disused subterranean station. I didn’t hang around this time as I was on my own so it didn’t seem a great idea from a safety point of view. But since I’d taken a pretty comprehensive set of photos on my first visit, there was no need to set up time consuming long exposures this time. I decided to take video instead, and you can see the result here:

(I really need to find a way to stop the footage coming out so shaky when I’m walking around filming. It’s more than iMovie’s video stabilisation can cope with).

Although nowhere near as exciting as the first time, it was good to see the place again and I enjoyed my quick morning walk round.

Update: and only two weeks later, I found myself back in the station again! I was in the gardens for an unrelated reason and discovered it was still accessible, so I contacted a friend who I knew really wanted to see it, and that afternoon we went in. This time it seemed like a bit of a tourist destination as there were two other groups of people in there at the same time as us! (You can just see one group in the background of the photo below). I don’t think I will ever get tired of this place.

Category : TransportUnderground

Comments

9 Responses

  1. Panda says:

    A wee gimbal would stop the shake 🙂

  2. Sean McGinley says:

    Hi James
    I’m a journalism at the University of Strathclyde and I was hoping to get a few minutes of your time either today or tomorrow. I’m doing a story on the Botanics tunnels and urban exploration. I was just going to ask if I could ask for an interview and pull a quote or two from one of your videos. I’ cant seem to find a direct email address so hopefully you’ll see this relatively soon. If your interested I’d love to hear back from you ASAP. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Cheers

  3. Matthew Hudson says:

    Been accessible most of 2017, Just today I made my way from The botanic line down to the old Kelvinbridge station.
    I also have taken in more tunnels heading out toward and following the forth and Clyde canal nearby Maryhill Drop Locks.

  4. Ally says:

    Hi. Is there any way i can join these exploring missions? I am keen to get involved

    • JS says:

      I have lived near the old lines for years and have never been brave enough (or had friends interested enough) to explore the tunnels/routes. I’d love to do this too.

      • Richard B Carter says:

        About time that the line is reopened so that Glasgow regains the rail infrastructure it once had and will need again in the future! Are the City Fathers proud of the dereliction beneath their feet,brought about by civil servants and politicians hundreds of miles away who probably had never been to Glasgow and could care less at the time!, .Same with the cross city line it’s a no brainer that it would be well used if re -activated
        for passengers but no one wants to stick their neck out and see that it happens Glaswegians should be prouder of their fascinating and elegant city and take steps to rid the city of dereliction and re activate their assets.

    • Matthew James Hudson says:

      Add @Urbex_Dad on insta and drop me a message, always looking for company / someone to watch my back

      • gcat says:

        Just finally added you on there! Sorry for the delay, I became a dad myself a few months ago so haven’t had a lot of free time lately.

  5. […] was a little different from my previous Glasgow railway tunnel explores. Most of the others were double track tunnels on the Caledonian […]

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