The curious story of Glasgow Sherbet Factory ruins – Scotland

We are in Glasgow, Scotland. The city is not exactly short of interesting monuments and buildings, and one of the great pleasures of Scotland is that there is always something new to uncover, and each corner is full of rich history and little-known facts.
If you’ve taken a stroll passed the River Kelvin, you may have come across a strange little sign. Or maybe not, because It’s easy not to notice this small plaque, that marks the reported location of where the Glasgow Sherbet Municipal Works once stood. Now a few walls from the supposed factory are scattered across the site, and it seems a tale that no one has ever heard off.
Confused? So are we.

A sign near the ruins describes, in great detail, an explosion that occurred at the factory around 1906 and It’s said that it could be seen all the way from Port Glasgow.
The plaque states also that the site was “one of the leading producers of sherbet in the world”, until a young apprentice named Bert dropped a glass of Pinappleade in Powder Room B, resulting in a massive explosion. The resulting sherbet explosion blew young Bert from the first floor into the adjacent brewery sending beer everywhere, the sign claims.
According to the plaque, “The resulting mix of sherbet and fuzzy liquid caused a foam explosion which could be seen from Port Glasgow and was to rewrite the town planning rulebook on the placement of sherbet factories.”
But the incredible story doesn’t stop there. Apparently children from all across the city “were drafted in to eat their way through the sherbet foam mountains”.
“Children as young as 6 and 7 worked tirelessly through the night to chomp trapped families from their homes and free up the areas streets and pavements – with no regard for their own dental health.”
It ends: “Amazingly, some sherbet residue can still be seen on local buildings and flagstones to this very day.” Really?

However, very little documentation exists proving the explosion occurred, or that the factory even existed, but the tale makes for great local folklore.