Bodinbo Island

Last updated

Bodinbo Island
Meaning of nameBow shaped island with underwater rocks
Bodinbo Island summit & the Erskine Bridge, Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland.jpg
Bodinbo Island from the Clyde Coastal Path
Location
Renfrewshire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Bodinbo Island
Relief maps of Bodinbo Island
West Dunbartonshire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Bodinbo Island
Bodinbo Island (West Dunbartonshire)
Scotland relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Bodinbo Island
Bodinbo Island (Scotland)
OS grid reference NS463719
Coordinates 55°54′58″N4°27′36″W / 55.915999°N 4.4598746°W / 55.915999; -4.4598746
Physical geography
Island groupIslands of the River Clyde
Areac.3ha
Highest elevation<3 metres (9.8 ft)
Administration
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Country Scotland
Council area Renfrewshire
Demographics
Population0
Lymphad3.svg

Bodinbo Island is an islet in the estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to the old ferry slipway at Erskine. [1] Before the dyke or training wall was built the rocky Bodinbo Island was a prominent feature in the river hereabouts and a hazard to shipping, especially sailing craft in the dark, during foggy weather, flood conditions and in high winds. On Ordnance Survey maps the name has been transliterated to Bottombow Island [2] and Boden Boo is the spelling variant used for the nearby woodland plantation. [3] [4]

Contents

Islands in the River Clyde

The training dike from Bodinbo Island. From Bodinbo Island towards the training dike, Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland.jpg
The training dike from Bodinbo Island.

Islands of the River Clyde, rather than sand or mud banks only exposed at low water, once included in order, working upstream towards Glasgow :- Inchgreen in Greenock, [5] Bodinbo, Newshot, Ron, Sand Inch, King's Inch, Buck Inch, White Inch and Water Inch. Green Inch or Milton Island is located at the old Dumbuck Ford near Dumbarton. Colin's Isle once sat in the waters of the Cart near its confluence with the River Clyde. [6]

The name 'Inch' is Scots deriving from the Gaelic 'Innis', an island. [7] The name 'Ron' in Scots refers to a thicket of hawthorns or rose briers, an area of stunted and crowded woodland. [8] Shot or variants was an ancient unit for a division of land or alternatively a projecting area of land, a peninsula. [9] A 'Shot' also has the meaning of a place from which fishing-nets were cast and in salmon fishing, a part of the river from which nets were cast. [9] The island has a possible fishing weir remnant built across the inner lagoon. [10]

Bodinbo Island

The old Erskine Ferry slipway and the bridge from the island. From Bodinbo Island towards the Erskine Bridge Hotel, Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland.jpg
The old Erskine Ferry slipway and the bridge from the island.

The name 'Bodinbo' is recorded on Timothy Pont's early 17th century map [11] and also on Joan Blaeu's 1662 maps 'Præfectura Renfroana' and 'Levinia Vicecomitatus' that are derived from Pont's work. [12] The island may have been included and named on these maps due to its significance as a hazard to shipping.

John Ainslie's map of 1800 shows the bow-shaped or elipsical island within the flow of the river prior to the construction of the training dike that was built circa 1857 [13] to reduce the width of the river with a view to increasing the water current's scouring of the river bed, making it deeper and less prone to silting up. The Erskine Ferry was operational by this date however at this time it ran from Donald's Quay that lay slightly further downstream. [14] The old bank of the River Clyde in this area runs close to the Clyde Coastal Path and is lined with trees.

James Watt's 1736 survey of the River Clyde. James Watt's survey of the River Clyde.jpg
James Watt's 1736 survey of the River Clyde.

The name may be Scots as both 'Bod' and 'Bo' in place-names mean a sunken rock or as a term for small low-lying rocks on the shoreline. [8] The island was originally bow shaped prior to the silting up of the area behind the training dike. [15]

The OS Name Book gives the "Property Plan Robinson's Chart of R. [River] Clyde. Hugh Paton. Ferry House" as the authority for the name 'Bottombow'. [13]

The surface area of the island is given as 0.768 of an acre or 0.31 of a hectare and the maximum height above high water mark is circa 3m or 9 ft. [16]

An 'Erskine Harbour' is marked on some maps and this has led to a degree of confusion in that the training dike, island and old river course has on occasion been mistakenly identified as a harbour and jetty. [2]

Wildlife

The area is important for its extensive reed beds and diversity of flora. The island's summit lies well above the high water mark and carries typical land based plants such as hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) shrubs. Brackish water plants dominate the open water saltings and the surrounding silt deposits.

Newshot Nature Reserve lies near by on the banks of the River Clyde facing the old Island of that name. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Clyde</span> River in Scotland

The River Clyde is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major city of Glasgow. Historically, it was important to the British Empire because of its role in shipbuilding and trade. To the Romans, it was Clota, and in the early medieval Cumbric language, it was known as Clud or Clut. It was central to the Kingdom of Strathclyde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erskine</span> Post town in Renfrewshire, Scotland

Erskine is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the lowest crossing to the north bank of the river at the Erskine Bridge, connecting the town to Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire. Erskine is a commuter town at the western extent of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, bordering Bishopton to the west and Renfrew, Inchinnan, Paisley and Glasgow Airport to the south. Originally a small village settlement, the town has expanded since the 1960s as the site of development as an overspill town, boosting the population to over 15,000. In 2014, it was rated one of the most attractive postcode areas to live in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chryston</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Chryston is a village in North Lanarkshire, around 7 miles (11 km) east of Glasgow, in Scotland. It lies north of its sister village, Muirhead, which is on the A80. The village has around double Muirhead's population, although the exact boundary between the two modern villages is difficult to find.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scots' Dike</span> Cross dyke built as a Scotland-England border mark

The Scots' Dike or dyke is a three and a half mile / 5.25 km long linear earthwork, constructed by the English and the Scots in the year 1552 to mark the division of the Debatable lands and thereby settle the exact boundary between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunters Quay</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Hunters Quay is a village, on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. Situated between Kirn to the south and Ardnadam to the north, Hunters Quay is the main base of Western Ferries, operating between Hunters Quay and McInroy's Point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loch of Stair</span> Body of water

The Loch of Stair was a typical Ayrshire post-glacial 'Kettle Hole', situated in a low-lying area below the farm of Loch Hill, in the Parish of Stair, East Ayrshire, Scotland. This freshwater loch was drained in the 19th century, leaving a wetland area which still periodically floods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irvine Harbour</span> Port in Scotland

The harbours serving Irvine at Seagatefoot and Fullarton in North Ayrshire have had a long and complex history. Irvine's harbour was one of the most important ports in Scotland in the 16th century. Across from the main harbour at Fullarton on the River Irvine there was also terminal for the ICI-Nobel Explosives plant on the River Garnock. Much of the harbour went into decline in the 19th century when Glasgow, Greenock and Port Glasgow achieved higher prominence as sea ports. There was still some commercial sea traffic linked to local needs, though the harbour went into further terminal decline in the 20th century. The weir on the River Irvine forms the formal upper limit of the harbour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erskine Ferry</span>

Erskine Ferry sailed across the River Clyde from Erskine to Old Kilpatrick. The ferry was also referred to as East Ferry of Erskine as there was another ferry to Dumbarton a few miles down river, known as West Ferry. It is reputed to be the oldest ferry crossing of the Clyde. The crossing was part of the A740 route from Paisley to Old Kilpatrick. It was established in 1777 and replaced by the Erskine Bridge in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Burn</span> Stream in Cumbernauld, Falkirk, Scotland, UK

The Red Burn is one of two main streams which flow out of Cumbernauld. The Scottish New Town’s name derives from the Gaelic for "the meeting of the waters" and there is broad agreement that one of these waters is the Red Burn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald's Quay</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Donald's Quay was once the location of the northern terminus of the Erskine Ferry then run by Lord Blantyre of Erskine House that provided foot passengers with a crossing of the River Clyde, giving direct access between Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire. At some point in the early 19th century the northern terminus of the Erskine Ferry moved to a site closer to Old Kilpatrick and opposite the Ferry House at Erskine, before closure in 1971 when the Erskine Bridge was completed. Donald's Quay once had an approximately 170-foot-long (52-metre) stone pier that was used by coal boats that transferred their loads into canal barges on the Forth & Clyde Canal at Ferrydyke Wharf and thereby avoided paying fees at the Bowling Basin. The quay was demolished during the construction of the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway in 1896.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Patrick's Rock</span>

St Patrick's Rock or St Patrick's Stone is located in the River Clyde (NS461724) close to the Erskine Bridge and the old Erskine Ferry on the Renfrewshire side of the river. It is reputedly the location from which the 16 year old Saint Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates whilst he was fishing. The rock is covered at high tide and it is also the location of a navigation light known as St Patrick's Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Quay</span> Port in Scotland

The disused Park Quay or Fulton's Quay is located on the old Lands of Park, situated on the south bank of the River Clyde in the Parish of Inchinnan, close to Newshot Island and the old Rashielee Quay. A slipway is also part of the infrastructure, giving access to the dock at low tide, both once served by roads running through the Park Estate from the south. It was recorded as Fulton's Quay in 1830, the name of a previous owner of the Park Estate who may have built it prior to 1801. A fixed light was installed at Park Quay in 1869.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milton Island</span>

Milton Island or Green Inch was an island in the Clyde's estuarine waters close to the old ford across the river at Dumbuck near Dumbarton. The island was once part of the tidal ford supposedly built by the Romans. Industrial activity has changed the river currents and the island has become substantially reduced in size and split into islets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashielee Quay</span> Port in Scotland

The old Rashielee Quay or Rashielie Quay (NS471709) was located on the old Lands of North Barr, situated on the south bank of the River Clyde in the Parish of Inchinnan, between Bodinbo Island and Park Quay. It was built to facilitate the loading of boats and barges with whinstone excavated from the nearby Rashielee Quarries that was brought to the quay by a horse drawn wagonway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newshot Island</span>

Newshot Island or Newshot Isle was an island of circa 50 acres or 20 hectares lying in the estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to Park Quay in the Parish of Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Due to silting, etc. it has become part of the southern, Renfrewshire side, of the river bank and is used for grazing cattle and as a nature reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Inch</span> Small Scottish island

King's Inch and the much smaller Sand Inch were islands lying in the estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to Renfrew in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Due to dredging and a change of the course of the main current of the River Clyde, silting, etc. it has become part of the southern, Renfrewshire side, of the river bank and is now built over.

White Inch was an island lying in the estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to Glasgow in the Parish of Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Due to the deliberate disposal of dredged material from the Clyde, it became physically part of the northern, Lanarkshire side, of the river bank from the 1830s and is now entirely built over. The name lives on in the Whiteinch district of Glasgow, street names, etc., and probably relates to white colored sand deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newbie Castle</span> Ancient castle in Scotland

The site of the old Newbie Castle, Newbay Castle or Newby Castle was the caput of the Barony of Newbie near Annan close to the River Annan's confluence with the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Held by the Corries and then the Johnstones. Newbie Harbour on the River Annan was located nearby.

<i>Blaeu Atlas of Scotland</i> Atlas of Scotland and Ireland published 1654

The book commonly known as Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, the fifth volume of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Sive Atlas Novus, is the first known atlas of Scotland and Ireland. It was compiled by Joan Blaeu, and contains 49 engraved maps and 154 pages of descriptive text written in Latin; it was first published in 1654. Most of the maps were made by Timothy Pont, a Scottish cartographer. Those maps, made between 1583 and 1596, were collected, edited, and augmented with other maps by John Scot, Lord Scotstarvit, a Scottish laird.

References

Notes
  1. "OS 25 inch map 1892-1949, with Bing opacity slider". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Geograph" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  3. John Moore (2017). The Clyde. Mapping the River. Brlinn. p. 197.
  4. "Forestry Commission" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  5. "Admiralty Charts of Scotland, River Clyde, from Greenock to Dumbarton". National Library of Scotland Maps. 1850. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. "Gazetteer of Scotland - Parish of Inchinnan" . Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  7. "Timothy Pont's map No.33" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Dictionary of Scots" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Dictionary of Scots" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  10. "A Wildlife Walk Along the Erskine Shore" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  11. "Bodinbo". Pont Maps of Scotland, ca. 1583-1614 - Pont Placenames Search. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  12. "Bodinbo". Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654 - Place Names search. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  13. 1 2 "OS Name Book" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  14. "John Ainslie, Map of the County of Renfrew". Other County Maps. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  15. "Joan Blaeu's map" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  16. "25 Inch mile. 1892-1914" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  17. "Newshot Nature Reserve" . Retrieved 4 July 2018.
Sources