I like to think that I know Glasgow pretty well and have cycled and walked along the Forth and Clyde Canal many times but there is a gem of a site lying on the other side of the towpath near Port Dundas that I never knew was there.
Hamiltonhill Claypits near Possil is an amazing green space right in the heart of the city. Accessed behind the yard at the Scottish Canals offices, the track in isn’t very promising at first but if you carry on and ignore the fly-tipping and piles of aluminium cans you are rewarded by a green oasis. The 25 acres of woods and grassland are home to many creatures including a small herd of roe deer and breeding pairs of bullfinches – not what you would expect from a site so near the M8 motorway.
The site has a long industrial heritage including producing puddled clay that was used to line the canal system in the 19th century, a foundry, boat repairers on the canal and extraction of shale oil for heating.
The Glasgow Mid Week Group spent 2 days last week working hard to improve the sight lines into and out of the site along the canal edge, cutting back broom around the viewpoint and pruning back brambles and overhanging branches along the network of informal paths. We have a third day planned there on the 20th April.
On our second day there the sun shone and we were amazed to see snow on the top of Goat Fell on Arran some 40 miles away while we were working up at the viewpoint! But even on a cloudy day the panoramic views across the city are worth the stiff climb up to the top.
The team at the top of the viewpoint – Arran is somewhere in the background – honest!
Friends of Possil Park Greenspace are seeking Local Nature Reserve status for the Claypits and have a plans to improve the network of paths. For more information about the Claypits please go to: https://sites.google.com/site/possilgreenspace/local-work/clay-pit