Botanic Gardens railway station
| Botanic Gardens | |
|---|---|
Botanic Gardens railway station in 2007
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| Location | |
| Place | Kelvinside |
| Area | Glasgow |
| Coordinates | 55°52′45″N 4°17′29″W / 55.87918°N 4.29129°WCoordinates: 55°52′45″N 4°17′29″W / 55.87918°N 4.29129°W |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Glasgow Central Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Caledonian Railway |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| 10 August 1896 | Opened |
| 1 January 1917 | Closed |
| 2 March 1919 | Re-opened |
| 6 February 1939 | Closed |
| 5 October 1964 | Line closed |
| 22 March 1970 | Station building destroyed by fire |
| Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom | |
| Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z |
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Botanic Gardens railway station was a railway station serving the Botanic Gardens located in the Kelvinside area in the West End of Glasgow.
The station was opened on 10 August 1896 by the Glasgow Central Railway. The station building was on ground level, and the platforms were underground, beneath the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It was closed between 1 January 1917 and 2 March 1919 due to wartime economy, and closed permanently to passengers on 6 February 1939, with the line being closed on 5 October 1964.
The station building was an ornate red brick structure with two towers sporting a clock and Caledonian Railway monogram, topped by domes reminiscent of a Russian orthodox church. The extant, but disused, station building at Possil is of a similar design. It was a well-known landmark along Great Western Road and was designed by the renowned Glasgow railway architect of the period, James Miller.
Miller also designed the next station on the line at Kelvinbridge and went on to design the main buildings for the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition in nearby Kelvingrove Park and the interiors of the famous Clyde-built ocean liners, the RMS Lusitania in 1907 and RMS Aquitania in 1914.
The building was converted into shops after the station's 1939 closure and by the late 1960s was occupied by a popular café called 'The Silver Slipper', a nightclub called 'Sgt. Peppers' and a plumbers shop, 'Morton's'. It was ravaged by fire on the night of 22 March 1970.
Local Glasgow newspapers, the Evening Times and the Evening Citizen, of 23 March 1970 stated the fire started after a 'Battle of the Bands' contest had been held in the nightclub and it was likely someone had left a cigarette burning in the attic as it was primarily the roof space that had burned resulting in the decision of the Fire Brigade to pull down the two domed towers for safety reasons the following day. The cafe owner's German Shepherd dog died of smoke inhalation but no humans were injured.
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Wikipedia