- River Cart
The River Cart is a
tributary of theRiver Clyde ,Scotland , which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns ofErskine and Renfrew.The River Cart itself is very short, being formed from the confluence of the Black Cart Water (from the west) and the White Cart Water (from the south east) and is only 0.75
mile (1km ) long. The River Cart and its tributary the White Cart Water were navigable as far as the Seedhill Craigs atPaisley ; and, as with the River Clyde, various improvements were made to this river navigation.In 1840 the 0.50
mile (0.8km )Forth and Cart Canal was opened, linking theForth and Clyde Canal , atWhitecrook , to the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Cart. The aim was to provide a direct link between Paisley,Port Dundas ,Edinburgh , and theFirth of Forth .Lindsay, Jean (1968). "The Canals of Scotland". Newton Abbott:David & Charles ISBN 0-7153-4240-1]Black Cart Water
The Black Cart Water originates at
Castle Semple Loch inLochwinnoch ,Renfrewshire . From there, it flows northeast toJohnstone ; and then under theM8 motorway at Blackstoun, where it is joined by theRiver Gryfe . The river then flows parallel with the main runway ofGlasgow International Airport ; passing under the A8 at Renfrew by means of a stonebridge , where it joins the White Cart Water.White Cart Water
The White Cart Water originates near
Eaglesham inEast Renfrewshire , where it flows north to Busby andStamperland before entering the southern suburbs ofGlasgow atCathcart . Here, the river turns west, flowing throughPollokshaws and cutting throughPollok Country Park before leaving Glasgow at Crookston, where it is joined by theRiver Levern . From Crookston, the river crosses intoRenfrewshire and flows through the farmlands of Hawkhead, parallel with the Paisley Canal railway line. On entering the town of Paisley, the river falls over the Seedhill Craigs and flows under a number of roads, through bridges and coveredaqueduct s, to emerge in the town centre atPaisley Abbey . It then passes under Gauze Street, the Piazza Shopping Centre andPaisley Gilmour Street railway station where it emerges from the Abercorn Bridge, a wide, higharch ed redsandstone bridge at Old Sneddon Street. From there it runs, mostly hidden from view, towards Glasgow International Airport and Renfrew.In the town of Paisley the White Cart is joined by a number of tributary streams including the Lady Burn, the St Mirin Burn, the Sneddon Burn and the Espedair Burn. Just outside the burgh boundary, close to Glasgow Airport, the river meets with the Abbot's Burn.
The
Greenock Road (A8), betweenInchinnan and Renfrew, passes over the White Cart Water by means of the Swing Bridge. The White Cart Water then joins with the Black Cart Water, just downstream of the bridge, to become the River Cart.Robert Burns ' poem "The Gallant Weaver" mentions the River Cart.A major [http://www.whitecartwaterproject.org flood alleviation scheme] is currently under construction by
Glasgow City Council to protect vulnerable property on the south side of Glasgow. Designed by Halcrow the scheme will be the largest flood alleviation project undertaken in Scotland.Former industrial uses
Paisley Abbey has amedieval drain, belonging to themonastery , which was rediscovered in the 1990s; and excavated byarchaeologists .Malden, John (2000). "The Monastery & Abbey of Paisley". Paisley: Renfrewshire Local History Forum. ISBN 0-9529195-7-5] The abbey/monastery drain linked with the White Cart Water both upstream and downstream of the abbey, near to where the Town Hall now stands. The White Cart Water provided both drinking water for the monastery and was used to flush awaykitchen waste and thelatrine s.River Cart Navigation improvement schemes
The River Cart and the White Cart Water are
navigable to Paisley; being blocked in the 1960s, at Sneddon Street, by the aqueduct under the Piazza Shopping Centre.18th & 19th century improvements
An
Act of Parliament was obtained by the Cart Trust for the river's improvement in 1787, in response to pressure from Paisley's shipbuilders.Clark, Sylvia (1988). "Paisley: A History". Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing] This led to some improvements around Inchinnan. The first steamer service to Paisley started in July 1815, it was provided by the "Prince of Orange".Osborne, Brian D., Quinn, Iain and Robertson, Donald (1996). "Glasgow's River". Glasgow: Lindsay Publications. ISBN 1-898169-08-X.]The original Swing Bridge, at Inchinnan, on the Turn Pike road, now the A8, was opened in 1838; the mechanism for swing bridge was made by Barr and McNab of the Abercorn Foundry, Paisley. A year earlier the,
Scotch gauge ,Paisley and Renfrew Railway had opened between Paisley Hamilton Street and Renfrew Wharf.Awdry, Christopher (1990). "Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies". London: Guild Publishing] The railway was intended to both enhance the capabilities of the River Cart navigation as well as competing against it for goods and passenger traffic. The Cart Trust later wentbankrupt .The
Forth and Cart Canal , opened in 1840, together with theForth and Clyde Canal , was intended to provide a direct link between Paisley,Port Dundas ,Edinburgh , and theFirth of Forth , without the need to go down the River Clyde to Bowling and return along the Forth and Clyde Canal to almost the starting point. Its aim was to bringcoal to Paisley.In January 1866 the Paisley and Renfrew Railway was temporarily closed; it reopened as a
Standard gauge railway and was linked to theGlasgow and Paisley Joint Railway atArkleston Junction ; Hamilton Street station then closed.Paisley's harbour was expanded in 1891 and the re-opening in April 1891 was celebrated by a fleet of steamers sailing from Paisley to Rothesay.
20th century improvements
Further, unsuccessful, attempts were made to improve the River Cart at the start of the 20th century. In 1920, after the end of
World War I , attempts were made to buy out the bankrupt Cart Trust; but they resisted these attempts.The swing bridge at Inchinnan was replaced by the present bridge in 1923; it was made by
Sir William Arrol & Co. It lifts vertically so it is more of aBascule bridge than a Swing bridge, but it is still known as the swing bridge. It is still capable of opening, as theBabcock and Wilcox (nowDoosan Babcock ) factory at Renfrew requires the capability to move large loads by river.Sir William Arrol and Co also made the
pedestrian lifting bridge across the White Cart Water at Carlile Quay (off New Sneddon Street) but this has been disabled from lifting for over 30 years and has been closed to traffic since 1997, the structure being deemed unsafe.An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1938 by the Ministry of Transport, the
Admiralty and the Ministry of Shipping. Aharbour was built at Laigh Park (Laighpark harbour) at which large cargoboats /ship s could load and unload; it was linked to the Paisley and Renfrew Railway. This was used extensively duringWorld War II . Carlile Quay being used for smaller boats. The navigation lights were also upgraded.The harbour fell into disuse in the 1960s and has been used as a
scrapyard for many decades. Carlile Quay has been landscaped, refurbished and made more attractive to pedestrians. Apartment buildings and houses have been built on the vacant site adjacent to the quay.Sewage
All of Paisley's
sewage and industrialeffluent had been discharged untreated into the River Cart via its tributaries: the St Mirin Burn, the Lady Burn, the Sneddon Burn, the Espedair Burn, etc. By 1870 this had led to many complaints about smells andepidemic s."Intercepting sewers" were therefore built on either side of the St Mirin burn to intercept the sewage and discharge it directly into the White Cart Water. Whilst this helped clean up Paisley it did not clean up the River Cart. It led to complaints from
Johnstone ,Renfrew andGlasgow and calls by them for Paisley to provide a sewage treatment farm. Johnstone,Bridge of Weir ,Lochwinnoch and Glasgow already had sewage treatment farms. Glasgow's works had begun operations in 1894.Land at Laigh Park was bought for this purpose between the first and second World Wars although construction work did not start until 1949 with the works opening in 1952. The sewage works were linked to the intercepting sewers and took all of Paisley's sewage and industrial effluent for treatment.
Water power
Both the Black Cart Water and the White Cart Water provided power to drive mills.
External links
* [http://www.scotcities.com/cathcart/whitecartwalk.htm White Cart Walkway] - Section of walk from Cathcart to Netherlee.
* [http://cartblanche.org/ Cart Blanche] Local interest groupReferences
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