All that remains of the once castle-like Glasgow Hydraulic Power Works on High Street in Glasgow. Built in 1895, this was part of Glasgow's hydraulic power system. At its peak, in 1908-1909, it supplied 202,141 gallons of high perssure water through 30 miles of heavy duty 7-inch diameter pipes under the city's streets to power industrial machinery.
You can see the remains of one of these pipes in the bottom left of this photo, and you can still see the distinctive access points with the letters HP on them on streets as far away as Anderston. Hydraulic power was, at one time, a major source of industrial power, but it was soon replaced by electricity. The plant finally closed in 1964.
The former Queen's Dock Hydraulic Power Station in Glasgow. Designed by J. Carrick for the Clyde Navigation Trust and built in the 1870s, it once contained steam engines to pressurise water so it could be used to power the swing bridge at the entrance to the dock and other machinery. The Italianate tower contained the accumulator tank used to hold the water prior to pressurisation.
I've posted both of these access covers before, but today I realised they're both part of Glasgow's old Hydraulic Power system.
From a pumping station on High Street, pressurised water was pumped through thirty miles of pipes made of one inch thick steel and up to seven inches in diamter to power industrial equipment across the city.
Going by the presence of access covers like these, the largest remaining part of this system seems to be running from Baltic Chambers on Hope Street down into Robertson Street.