From sugar highs to adrenaline highs, one of Scotland’s most significant historic dockyards could become home to the United Kingdom’s longest urban zipline, if redevelopment plans are approved.
The James Watt Dock, in Greenock, Inverclyde, where enough Caribbean sugar was once imported to earn the 19th-century title of “Sugar Capital,” is dominated by a 46-metre-tall Titan cantilever crane, one of just four left in the country. It was built in 1917 by Sir William Arrol & Co Ltd – the same Glasgow engineers behind other famous pieces of UK industrial heritage, such as the second Tay Bridge, the Forth Bridge and Tower Bridge in London.
The Greenock crane is now in need of restoration and cordoned off from the public due to damage suffered in a storm late in 2024. Under the new proposal, the structure, A-listed for its special historic interest, would be repaired to become once again a lynchpin in the regeneration of the area, supporting what has been touted as a record-breaking zipwire. To beat the UK’s current longest zipline (Bluewater, Wales) as promised, it will have to be over 724 metres long.
Nearby the dockland’s Sugar Sheds are also set to be acquired by the same buyer, Glasgow Arts Centre Limited, and are destined to turned into retail, restaurant, business, and residential spaces.
The new plans come in the wake of a range of other previous suggestions for overhauling the area, including a national museum exploring Scotland’s slave trade history.
While the zipwire development is still pending approval, at least one official response has been positive. Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “This is a significant moment not just for the historic sugar sheds and iconic Titan Crane but for the ongoing regeneration of Inverclyde.”
McCabe welcomed Glasgow Arts Centre Ltd “as the new owner of these famous landmarks, and their proposals to redevelop the site have the potential to create an exciting new attraction to encourage even more people, near and far, to discover Inverclyde and the many great things we have to offer.”
Meanwhile, Bradley Mitchell, director of Glasgow Arts Centre Limited, has said the project promises to “connect Greenock to Glasgow through culture and heritage.”
Residents have recently objected to a different nearby development plan based on the sale of council “open space” to housing developers for a residential expansion that critics said would spoil currently uninterrupted hillside views of Loch Long and Kilcreggan.
