Searching for Glasgow's rich history can often be difficult - all the more so when it is hidden underground.

All over the city there are tunnels, long since disused, that transport us back in time to the days when the railway really was king.

Most have been out of use for 50 years or more but many of the tracks still exist and, in some cases, the old platforms are still visible.

Tucked away in undergrowth in the Botanic Gardens is a reminder of one of the stations on the once-busy Glasgow Central Line.

Botanic Gardens Station was opened in August 1896 and closed in February 1939.

All that is visible now are the old ventilation shafts and the remains of the tunnel through which the trains used to run.

A plaque on a set of railings within the Gardens reads: "Before you are the ventilation shafts for Botanic Gardens Station. Plans were passed ion the 10 August 1888 for Glasgow Central Railway which would link Strathclyde Junction on the Dalmarnock branch with Stobcross in the west. The railway opened on 10 August 1896.

"The line entered the Gardens close by the Main Gates and exited at Kirklee Station by Kirklee Gate.

"Botanics Gardens Station was the first on the line to be closed on 6 February 1939 followed by Kirklee Station on 1 May 1939. The entire line was finally closed on 5 October 1964 after just 68 years."

The Glasgow Central Line ran from Maryhill to Newton in Lanarkshire. The Botanics plaque is found by turning left at the main gate then left again at the first opening.

The old station building in the Botanics also came to a sad end. It was an ornate red brick building and a landmark on Great Western Road.

In the 1960s it housed a cafe called the Silver Slipper and a nightclub known as Sgt Peppers. But in 1970 it was destroyed b y fire after a "Battle of the Bands" competition.

In 2008 ambitious plans were lodged to redevelop the entire site and build a restaurant and nightclub. People Power, however, put paid to the scheme.

The disused station at Botanics is one of several dotted around Glasgow. Beside the West Brewery in the East End, for example, is the remains of the old Glasgow Green station.

What seems a shame is not that they fell out of use - the railways served a valuable purpose at a particular time - but that they have been effectively left to rot.