Bulldozers to move in on 'Scotland's Chernobyl'

11 April 2025

Calum Watson

BBC News

'Scotland's Chernobyl' - Inside Scotland's derelict Clune Park estate

A derelict housing estate dubbed "Scotland's Chernobyl" for its eerie ghost-town like appearance is finally about to be razed to the ground.

The tenements at Clune Park in the Inverclyde town of Port Glasgow were built a century ago as housing for shipyard workers but have lain mostly abandoned for years.

A stand-off between private landlords and the local council has thwarted redevelopment, leaving the site frozen in time with just a handful of tenants remaining.

Demolition contractors are expected on site within days, preparing to take down a third of the buildings, including a fire-damaged school and crumbling church, after they were condemned as structurally unsafe.

The site has often attracted urban explorers and photographers despite warnings of the potential dangers

Urbandoned An empty inner close of tenement blocks. The grass is overgrown and the site looks derelict — The site has often attracted urban explorers and photographers despite warnings of the potential dangers

The run-down estate has in recent years become a magnet for urban explorers and photographers, forcing the authorities to step up security patrols and issue danger warnings.

Comparisons have often been made with the Ukrainian city of Pripyat, abandoned after the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant led to a huge radiation leak.

Clune Park was first described as Scotland's Chernobyl more than a decade ago, and the name has stuck. Local politicians say it was an easy badge to apply to the area because of its desolate nature.

Beyond superficial appearances, though, their stories are very different.

Almost all of the tenement blocks on the estate are now empty and derelict

Sandstone fronted tenements. The windows are smashed and rubble is piled up in the street. — Almost all of the tenement blocks on the estate are now empty and derelict

The red sandstone-fronted tenement blocks radiating off the town's Robert Street were built just after World War One by shipbuilder Lithgows to house its workforce.

Back then the waterfronts of Port Glasgow and neighbouring Greenock were filled with shipyards.

It was densely packed housing - 430 bedsits and flats, mostly in four-storey blocks - but there was a church, a school, local shops and a sense of community.

Clune Park Church, now a rubble-filled shell, is one of the first buildings to be demolished

A gutted church building, built of red sandstone. There is a stone tower on the left and and an ornate Art Nouveau window. The rear wall is covered in graffiti and the roof has gone. — Clune Park Church, now a rubble-filled shell, is one of the first buildings to be demolished

Former resident Karen Thomson and her husband Allan bought their first flat together as a married couple in Wallace Street in 1992, and stayed for six years.

"It was lovely - the neighbours were nice. It was a nice area, it was very friendly - everybody knew everybody," recalled Karen.

"It was very busy and the houses were sought after. It was very hard to get one of the houses in the area."

But Clyde shipbuilding had long been in decline, people were moving out and the cheap flats were increasingly bought up as rental investments.

Karen said: "The area was starting to fall down, they weren't keeping maintenance on it - the area started going to pot. I don't think they were putting money into it."

Clune Park fell into a spiral of decline, with property values plummeting further as it acquired a reputation for drug use and crime.

Marshal Craig is one of a handful of remaining Clune Park residents

An elderly man in a blue tartan pyjama top leans against a kitchen worktop — Marshal Craig is one of a handful of remaining Clune Park residents

Retired forestry worker Marshal Craig, 73, is one of a handful of remaining residents.

He's lived at Clune Park for 20 years and his current rented flat on the edge of the estate is in far better condition than most. He describes it as the "posh end".

Some years ago he was hospitalised from smoke inhalation caused by one of the frequent deliberate fires in the abandoned buildings.

But as a keen reader, guitar player and nature lover, he values the quietness.

"There's seventeen different species of tree across the road," he said.

"At night you've got the foxes and owls and all the rest of it. I love that."

A handful of the estate's flats are in good condition - and still occupied

A red sandstone four storey tenement block — A handful of the estate's flats are in good condition - and still occupied

His block is not yet scheduled for demolition and his landlord is in no hurry to sell, so for the moment Marshal is staying put.

His home is well-decorated, boasts a large bay window and a Chesterfield sofa - all in stark contrast to the dereliction of the empty flats just a stone's throw away.

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