The Cuningar Loop is a meander on the River Clyde in Scotland which was converted to a woodland park in the mid-2010s. It lies within the territory of Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, directly east of the district of Dalmarnock in Glasgow.
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History edit
The first Glasgow Water Company's Act was obtained in 1806, and the company began to supply water early in 1809.[citation needed] Before the Victorian Loch Katrine aqueduct project was completed in the 1850s, it supplied water to Glasgow. Cuningar Loop was the location of several reservoirs that raised water from the Clyde and pumped it to a secondary reservoir at Sydney Street, from where it was distributed throughout the city.[citation needed] The Dalmarnock reservoirs were originally designed under the direction of Thomas Telford and James Watt.[citation needed]
The derelict site was transformed into a country park, augmenting the 2014 Commonwealth Games village across the river.[1][2] The site features boulders for rock climbing, riverside boardwalks, a BMX track, a playpark for children including a 'flying fox', public art installations[3] and a common green area capable of hosting events.
In 2019, holes were dug in the park in preparation for a facility to access naturally heated water underground in disused coal mines to provide it to nearby homes.[4] The research was still ongoing in 2021.[5]
In the autumn of 2021 the park was the Glasgow area venue for the touring Jurassic Encounter open-air attraction featuring life-size animatronic dinosaurs.[6] Later that year, a 23 metres (75 ft)-high sculpture by Steuart Padwick titled 'The Hope Sculpture' was installed.[7]
Footbridge edit
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A footbridge over the river connecting the west side of the new park to the Legacy Village area in Dalmarnock (and joining up with the Clyde Walkway and National Cycle Route 75 on the opposite bank) was completed in 2016.[8]
References edit
- ^ Cuningar Loop, Forestry and Land Scotland
- ^ Marking the opening of green space in heart of Glasgow, Robertson Civil Engineering, 24tOctober 2017
- ^ The Cuningar Stones: The Farme Castle Stone, AxisWeb
- ^ Disruption at Cuningar Loop as world-leading research site is created, Daily Record, 7 May 2019
- ^ Could abandoned coal mines in Glasgow support the UK's net zero ambitions?, British Geological Survey, 27 May 2021
- ^ Dinosaurs set to roam and roar on the banks of the River Clyde, Jenness Mitchell, STV News, 30 September 2021
- ^ Soaring 23m Hope Sculpture unveiled at Cuningar Loop, Clyde Gateway, 10 December 2021
- ^ Cuningar Loop pedestrian footbridge, Robertson Civil Engineering
External links edit
Media related to Cuningar Loop Park at Wikimedia Commons- The Water Supply of Glasgow (chapter of 'Glimpses of old Glasgow', 1894)
- Cuningar Loop: a new woodland park in Rutherglen - video by Forestry Commission Scotland
