'Woodilee Lunatic Pauper Asylum' was opened in 1875 and held 400 inmates. By 1930 it expanded to house 1250 inmates and was the largest psychiatric unit in Scotland. In 1987 large structural defects were found in the building causing large sections of the hospital to be evacuated - by 2000 it was closed. This is one of the last remaining buildings located on the site. It is a place that had always captured my imagination growing up as the imposing ruins were visible on my fairly regular train journeys to Glasgow over the years. It was only recently I decided to get myself down there for a proper wander. I took these photos during a bike ride in early May 2010 but I had meant to visit on a prior excursion but a combination of not being able to find a space in the heavy security fencing to get my bike through and me being ever-so-slightly apprehensive about entering the ruins of an old abandoned mental hospital on my own scuppered that particular visit. After hearing that work had begun demolishing the ruins to make way for another new housing estate I got down there straight away to see if there was actually anything left to explore and photograph. Fortunately the main section of the ruins which included the clock old clock tower and another building in the North East section of the ruins (pictured) were still there. The old arched sections which always stood out in the view from the train and which I was looking forward to taking some photos of had already been bulldozed and the remains had been piled up to be removed from the site. It’s likely that these will be some of the last photos taken of the Woodilee Ruins as another interesting and curious landmark is erased to make way for another developer to create more unaffordable houses.