Port Dundas

Port Dundas is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, located 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north of the city centre. It lies to the north of Cowcaddens, and to the west of Sighthill, with Hamiltonhill and Possilpark to the north-west.

The Port Dundas terminus was established at One Hundred Acre Hill between 1786 and 1790 and was named after Sir Lawrence Dundas, one of the major backers of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company. Port Dundas formed the terminus of a branch of the Forth and Clyde Canal in the centre of Glasgow, linking to the adjacent Monkland Canal. It became an industrial centre in the 19th century, with textile mills, chemical works, granaries, distilleries, glassworks, iron foundries, power stations and engineering works all operating in the area. In 1859, a brick chimney was built at Port Dundas for F. Townsend. At 454 feet (138 m) it was the tallest chimney in the world at the time, with an outside diameter of 32 feet (9.8 m) at ground level.

In 1900, the coal fired Pinkston Power Station was built at Port Dundas to generate electricity for the Glasgow Corporation Tramways network. Equipped with Belliss and Morcom generator sets, Glasgow Corporation had decided to electrify the network by 1901 for the opening of the International Exhibition at Kelvingrove Park. A large cooling tower was added in 1954 and was the largest in Europe at the time. After passing to the South of Scotland Electricity Board in 1958, it was decommissioned in the 1960s and eventually demolished in the early 1980s.

Industry in the area declined through the 20th century. The Monkland Canal was closed to navigation in 1952, and the Forth and Clyde in 1963. Charles Tennant's St.Rollox Chemical Works, at one time the largest chemical manufacturer in the world closed its plant to the east of Port Dundas in 1964. The M8 motorway was constructed immediately to the south, over the route of the Monkland Canal, in the 1970s, obstructing access to the canal basin. Early in the 21st century, the Forth and Clyde Canal was restored as a leisure attraction, and the canal and warehouses at Port Dundas were restored as apartments.

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