AN ELEGY TO COMPLEXITY
Looking north to the Dome of Duncolm. This, the highest hill in the Kilpatricks at roughly 350 feet, is a splenid vantage point for the Highlands beyond, the Campsie Fells to the east, the city to the south, and the coast to the west.
Living as I do in Warsaw smack bang in the middle of the Great European Plain I know what flatness feels like. As much as I enjoy a stable Mazovian climate, I miss the hills that Glasgow (whether in the city or around it) has to offer (and all that fickle weather to boot). There is a certain variation, a certain complexity that hills bring to a landscape (and the mindscape), a complexity that is absent with flat un-undulating land. The following pictures, call it an elegy to complexity, represent only a few of the hills around Glasgow.
Small and unassuming Saucelhill, behind Paisley, offers wonderful views in all directions but particularly north over Paisley and its many fine old buildings to the Kilpatrick Braes and the Campsie Fells beyond.
Looking south over Craigend Muir from the spout of Ballagan, with the plug of Dunblane on the far left of the picture and Mugdock Reservoir barely visible on the right. The city is in the hazy distance.
The walls of Mugdock Castle are covered in May and June with the fairy foxglove. Mugdock offers excellent views over Glasgow and beyond.
Neilston Pad is another hill of attitude not altitude. Its little conifer mohawk makes it an unmistakeable landmark from all around.
From the 16th green at Windyhill Golf Course up at Baljaffray.
From the Cathkin Braes looking north-west. The five tower blocks in the centre of the picture are (were) Mitchelhill Flats, amongst the highest residential blocks (along with Red Road in Springburn) in Europe. They were demolished in 2005. Red Road flats will be demolished between 2009-2015 and it is expected that Glasgow's count of approximately 167 remaining tower blocks of 12 stories or more will be reduced to around 120 within the next decade.
Taken from the top of Castlemilk Road, looking north. On the left, lamposted, are the twin towers of Petershill Court in Parkhead (scheduled for demolition). Behind stand Red Road flats and others in Springburn.
From Dechmont Hill above Cambuslang and Gilbertfield Castle (there's a picture of this in another entry) looking north-west, Dumgoyne and the Campsies (just right of the smoke) barely visible in the background. The Kilpatricks are behind the smoke and to the left. Dechmont Hill is smack bang in the middle of an MOD firing range, so if you see any red flags waving...
Above Port Glasgow looking across the Firth of Clyde towards Helensburgh, Kilcreggan and 'doon the watter' to the rolling hills of the Cowal Peninsula.
Glen Fruin up above Helensburgh on the way round to Loch Lomond.
Living as I do in Warsaw smack bang in the middle of the Great European Plain I know what flatness feels like. As much as I enjoy a stable Mazovian climate, I miss the hills that Glasgow (whether in the city or around it) has to offer (and all that fickle weather to boot). There is a certain variation, a certain complexity that hills bring to a landscape (and the mindscape), a complexity that is absent with flat un-undulating land. The following pictures, call it an elegy to complexity, represent only a few of the hills around Glasgow.
Small and unassuming Saucelhill, behind Paisley, offers wonderful views in all directions but particularly north over Paisley and its many fine old buildings to the Kilpatrick Braes and the Campsie Fells beyond.
Looking south over Craigend Muir from the spout of Ballagan, with the plug of Dunblane on the far left of the picture and Mugdock Reservoir barely visible on the right. The city is in the hazy distance.
Ballagan Glen, managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, is a small but beautiful reserve carved by the Ballagan Burn which cascades down a series of waterfalls. Heath, grassland, wet boulders, cliff faces, steep slopes with wet flushes and mixed woodland, collectively support a remarkable diversity of plants and animals. As a great fissure in the Campsie Fells Ballagan Glen offers the possibility to read into the various exposed strata of rock and shale and travel back in time. It also, as the other photo above illustrates, gives us exceptional views of Craigend Muir and the plug of Dunblane below.
The walls of Mugdock Castle are covered in May and June with the fairy foxglove. Mugdock offers excellent views over Glasgow and beyond.
Neilston Pad is another hill of attitude not altitude. Its little conifer mohawk makes it an unmistakeable landmark from all around.
From the 16th green at Windyhill Golf Course up at Baljaffray.
From the Cathkin Braes looking north-west. The five tower blocks in the centre of the picture are (were) Mitchelhill Flats, amongst the highest residential blocks (along with Red Road in Springburn) in Europe. They were demolished in 2005. Red Road flats will be demolished between 2009-2015 and it is expected that Glasgow's count of approximately 167 remaining tower blocks of 12 stories or more will be reduced to around 120 within the next decade.
Taken from the top of Castlemilk Road, looking north. On the left, lamposted, are the twin towers of Petershill Court in Parkhead (scheduled for demolition). Behind stand Red Road flats and others in Springburn.
From Dechmont Hill above Cambuslang and Gilbertfield Castle (there's a picture of this in another entry) looking north-west, Dumgoyne and the Campsies (just right of the smoke) barely visible in the background. The Kilpatricks are behind the smoke and to the left. Dechmont Hill is smack bang in the middle of an MOD firing range, so if you see any red flags waving...
The wavy hill-line of the Arochar Apls in the distance as seen through the Herculean pillars of Dumgoyach (on the left) and Dumgoyne (eking out on the right). This picture was taken in June from the Campsie Dene trail (accessed in Blanefield) which follows the old waterworks route up to Killearn and further beyond to Loch Katrine.
Above Port Glasgow looking across the Firth of Clyde towards Helensburgh, Kilcreggan and 'doon the watter' to the rolling hills of the Cowal Peninsula.
Glen Fruin up above Helensburgh on the way round to Loch Lomond.
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