1991

NS4373 : Esso terminal at Milton

taken 35 years ago, near to Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Esso terminal at Milton
Esso terminal at Milton
From the wall that is visible in the foreground, I was able to identify this old photo as having been taken from the road at NS4274 : Ruins of Mattockhill. The old wall is in the fields just south of those ruins; see NS4274 : Remains of enclosure at ruins of Mattockhill for a more recent photo, which also shows the cleared area formerly occupied by the terminal.

To the right of the terminal, some bollards are visible in the Clyde: NS4273 : Bollards on the River Clyde. Compare NS4273 : River Clyde at Milton, and, from the other side of the Clyde, NS4273 : Former Esso terminal at Milton.

Click on the end-note title for related pictures.
Former Esso terminal at Milton

The site is no longer an oil terminal, and its structures have been cleared away; however, as of early 2018, the site is still closed to the public. See LinkExternal link (at Canmore) for further details.

The information in the next paragraph was obtained from the booklet "Dunbartonshire: The Official Handbook of the County" (1965); note that, in this context, "bunkering" is the act of refuelling a ship, and "bunker(s)" is the fuel oil itself:

The terminal was operated by the Esso Petroleum Company, and was its main storage and distribution point in Scotland. The site was originally developed as a marine bunkering point after the First World War, but was later extended to 150 acres, and expanded to make it a major ocean terminal capable of handing a wide range of oil products. The terminal was mainly supplied from Esso's refineries at Fawley (SU4403) and Milford Haven (SM8706, now the site of South Hook LNG Terminal) by ocean tankers which could be accommodated at either of the Bowling jetties. The largest tanks around the jetties were capable of storing 8000 tons of oil each. In the mid-1960s, when the aforementioned booklet was written, bunkering was still a feature of the site: deliveries to ships in Glasgow docks were carried out by self-propelled bunkering barge, while bunkers could also be pumped aboard directly from the terminal at the coaster berth.

Associated with the former terminal is a group of standing structures in the Clyde; they are identified as "bollards" on OS mapping.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Lairich Rig and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Energy infrastructure Near: Milton Former: Oil Terminal Image Buckets ?: Gone River: Clyde Category: Oil terminal
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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Grid Square
NS4373, 41 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Lairich Rig   (more nearby)
Date Taken
April 1991   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 15 April, 2010
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 4305 7369 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:55.8349N 4:30.8294W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 4288 7496
View Direction
SOUTH (about 180 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Supplemental image
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