Sticking with yesterday’s scene on the River Clyde, lets go to the year before. This rare photo shows the installation of a new sewage outfall at the end of the Parkburn, flowing in the River Clyde.

The photo was taken on 8th October 1902 and as you can see the river is incredibly low. In fact it’s so low, it may have been partially dammed to allow this construction! If natural, it certainly would be the lowest I’ve ever seen the Clyde around Blantyre.

Here’s the modern 2015 photo for comparison, which looks in the same place. I think the pipe wasn’t completely finished in the 1902 photo, for civil engineers would have then held the pipe down by H beams driven down over the pipe to weight it down and prevent floatation. Nowadays, pipe mattresses are used, quite literally large covers to go over submerged pipes.

In the modern photo you can see the tops of the “H” beams or timbers. I can understand fully how Gerry Young who took this picture could have thought it was piers of an old jetty or ancient bridge.

Very interesting….and thanks to Gordon and Gerry for sharing