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George Service House
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Glasgow Harbour Tunnel

Burrell Collection Photo Library, 1955 Survey

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Glasgow Harbour Tunnel

Cleaning up inside the Glasgow Harbour Tunnel, 1955.

The Glasgow Harbour Tunnel Co built three parallel tunnels under the River Clyde in 1890-1896, connecting Tunnel Street in Finnieston to Mavisbank Quay on the south side of the river. One tunnel was for pedestrian use only, and the other two for vehicular traffic. Vehicles accessed the tunnels via entrances in the North and South Rotundas, where hydraulic lifts lowered them into the tunnel at one end, and out at the other.

The pedestrian tunnel was closed by the 1930s but pedestrians continued to use the vehicle tunnels. It is commonly stated that the vehicle tunnels were closed in 1943 and the hydraulic lifts removed, although several visitors to the HiddenGlasgow website disagree and recall seeing vehicles using the tunnels in the 1950s. It seems that the pedestrian tunnel was reopened in the 1940s and it continued in use until 1980. The vehicle tunnels were sealed in 1986.

In 1955 Partick Camera Club set out to create a photographic survey of Glasgow. As the project progressed, other camera clubs joined and each was allocated a district of the city to photograph. Glasgow Museums exhibited the photographs at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and at the People's Place, and in 1956 the exhibition was shown at the Palace of Art in Bellahouston Park. The photographs are now part of Glasgow Museums' collections.

Reference: 1005.97.77 / OG.1955.121.[79]

Reproduced with the permission of the Partick Camera Club

Keywords:
cleaners, Finnieston Tunnel, Glasgow Harbour Tunnel, Glasgow Photographic Survey 1955, pedestrian tunnels, pipelines, pipes, River Clyde, rotundas



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