Clarkston, East Renfrewshire

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Clarkston is the name of a mainly residential area in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. The district borders the other south Glasgow suburbs of Giffnock, Newton Mearns and Thornliebank, and is served by railway links into Glasgow Central and to East Kilbride. There is a complete lack of pubs in Clarkston, largely as a throwback to archaic laws ensuring the existence of so-called "dry areas" amongst the suburbs of Glasgow - requiring that certain areas were not allowed public houses ^{[citation needed]}. These "dry areas" were allegedly created to prevent working class people from having easy access to alcohol.

It is within the boundaries of East Renfrewshire.

On October 21 1971 the shopping centre was the scene of a major gas explosion, which killed 22 people and injured around 100. There is now a plaque up on a wall near where the incident happened and at the local library, to commemorate those who lost their lives.

In 2006, plans were approved to build a public house by Clarkston toll, putting an end to the "dry area" which has made Clarkston unique. "The Rascasse" opened on 2006-04-28.