Milngavie
Milngavie is famous for two pretty impressive things. First, it was the
location in 1930 of a futuristic monorail invented by Bennie (the guy
with the woolly hat out of Crossroads, if you remember). Second, around
1950, the regulars in one of its pubs got something of a shock when an
elephant tried to get in.
George Bennie was the monorail chap. His invention was way before its time and consisted of a bullet-shaped carriage propelled by a propeller. It was thought the thing could achieve speeds of 120mph. Unfortunately the length of track was not long enough for this to be proved, no one wanted to invest any money, and the whole project was abandoned.
In 1949 a new zoo was opened up in the nearby Craigend Estate. Amongst the many attractions in this short-lived venture (Milngavie, it seems, is full of short-lived ventures) was Big Charlie - the largest elephant in captivity. His mahout would take him into town of an evening, tie him up, and pop into a pub for a drink. Well, seemingly he was taking too long one night, Big Charlie got impatient, and in trying to remove his mahout from the premises managed to get himself stuck in the door of the pub.
That's my sort of elephant.
George Bennie was the monorail chap. His invention was way before its time and consisted of a bullet-shaped carriage propelled by a propeller. It was thought the thing could achieve speeds of 120mph. Unfortunately the length of track was not long enough for this to be proved, no one wanted to invest any money, and the whole project was abandoned.
In 1949 a new zoo was opened up in the nearby Craigend Estate. Amongst the many attractions in this short-lived venture (Milngavie, it seems, is full of short-lived ventures) was Big Charlie - the largest elephant in captivity. His mahout would take him into town of an evening, tie him up, and pop into a pub for a drink. Well, seemingly he was taking too long one night, Big Charlie got impatient, and in trying to remove his mahout from the premises managed to get himself stuck in the door of the pub.
That's my sort of elephant.
WEST HIGHLAND WAY & DUMGOYNE
MUGDOCK CASTLE
VIEW FROM CRAIGALLIAN LOCH
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How to
GET THERE
GET THERE
You can get a train to Milngavie from Glasgow Queen Street Railway Station (low level).
