Aftermath of Storm Eowyn in Glasgow.

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A couple of days after Storm Eowyn occurred I was out and about assessing the damage. Practically every trail, canal path or woodland walkway had trees blown down across them in the aftermath of this late January storm in 2025. Winds in excess of 80 to 100 miles per hour crossed Central Belt Scotland and parts of Ireland/ Northern Ireland and even now, a few months later, I'm still finding new ones toppled. To date over 100 large mature trees have been toppled between Anniesland And Clydebank at the last count, only one small quarter of Glasgow so city wide the number of lost trees must be considerable. Large tree. Above.  Forth and Clyde Canal. Blairdardie District.

Large Tree. Knightswood Park.

Large beech tree. Dawsholm Park.

Tree Down River Kelvin Gorge.

Even in cases where the roots held firm , half the tree was still snapped off, by the wind strength alone. 

Some trees toppled down over others nearby so 4 or 5 fell together and this group brought down power lines across a busy main road.

From my point of view so many trees down along the canal network brought back the peace and tranquility sadly lacking the last few years on many solo walks outdoors within the city. For once I didn't need to look behind me every 20 paces to see if a cyclist was racing past me before I deviated my course and footsteps on the path in any way. This might seem like a small thing but I strongly suspect if I ever get knocked down outdoors, chances are it will be by bike along a canal tow path somewhere. It's almost happened on a number of occasions already so for a precious few weeks this was like going back to the early weeks of lockdown for me, when people were scared/ reticent to go outdoors. In that human absence.... Nature thrived. Fact. Far less people around... and hardly any cyclists on canals. Bliss. When Nicola Sturgeon was on TV every day during Covid briefings telling people to get out and exercise at every opportunity for the good of their mental and physical health it obviously worked. But what if the sheer numbers of people enjoying the outdoors simply outweigh the benefits of being outdoors and feeling good in the first place?  I reached that point on a recent outing to Bowling a few weeks ago when it was so busy there I turned back in disgust. A future post to come.

On the negative side if the weather is getting increasingly disruptive trees may be one of the things that suffer in a future UK as several of Glasgow's parks are down dozens of specimens.... walking round each one.

It's not just one storm as every year more trees disappear from our woods.

Dawsholm Park again.

One where the roots held firm but the tree just exploded at the base.

Other examples were left dangling, like a survivalists dead fall trap laid across an animal track to catch unwary prey. One can but hope    :o)

Meanwhile, in Late March, Spring is on the way.... animals are breeding in pre-conditioned rituals..

Human beings are getting outdoors..... enjoying the benefits and wonders of nature... for that instant feel good vibe.

I used to be a fan of all things Spring... snowdrops, daffodils, crocus clumps, cherry blossom.... but nowadays I've noticed nature is also good at hiding the ubiquitous piles of rubbish in our hedgerows, canals, and roadside verges.

 This must be nature's most important job these days. It's main function.

Grey Squirrel on moss step.

A coot.

The blue feet of a coot. It's most remarkable feature. Did it stand in blue paint or is it natural? You choose. Could be paint though given all the rubbish dumped in canals these days.

A dead rat after the storm.

Flooded roads after storm.

Come on nature... do your stuff... in another month of growth... you will hide this mess ... completely...yet again...    So, One of the main modern benefits of Spring and Summer these days....as far as I can tell.... is nature's ability to hide our junk from sight. It's a miracle! So, enjoy.... so much of Humanity is hidden in the great outdoors.

Sawney Bean's Cave. Girvan Trip.

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Back In February Alan suggested an overnight trip to visit Sawney Bean's Cave. (seems to be two spellings of Sawny, this being the other.) Amazingly, considering we know Scotland fairly well, neither of us had been in it, too focused on bagging hill lists in the past. Sawney Bean equates to Alexander the Killer, as he was reputedly the head/ father of a cannibal family who lived in this cave centuries ago who pounced on luckless victims, robbed them, killed them then dragged them back to eat in the cave. A large family grown through many years/decades of incestuous breeding. It is a well known tale and several films have been inspired by it. The Hills have Eyes. The Descent, An X Files episode etc. This is the view from the layby on the A77(T) a few km south of Lendalfoot, and the cave is marked on the OS Landranger sheet 76 map. A steep path goes down to this small bay, snaking down grass above a vertical cliff. You need to be careful here with children or dogs as this photo is taken from the lay-by with a sudden drop of 150 feet straight down although there is a fence. Looking at the sea the grass path down starts to the right of the lay-by. The nearest town is Girvan.

Once down the grass path, seen in this photo, to the beach, the cave is hidden in the first ravine, the dark slot in this photo. At high tide it may be cut off. It was almost high tide when we did it but we still managed to scramble round into it.

This is the cave just behind the second boulder up. Although there is scant documented evidence as to the truth of this story ( they were supposed to have killed hundreds of folk before they were caught) I was impressed by the location as this cave is not obvious. You have to scramble over a six foot awkward boulder to gain entry and even then it's just a slot.

The view looking down from the cave.

The cave entrance. Inside it is large enough to hide 20 to 30 people as it goes back a good way though you have to be prepared to crawl in places if you want to explore all the various slots. We walked in around 30 to 40 feet but after that it's wriggle time and I'm too old and un-bendy for that stuff nowadays. On You Tube a brave/ mad girl... Ruth Aisling ...slept in it but I certainly do not fancy that. (Her video is worth a watch.)

For one thing it's covered in graffiti and for another it's next to the seaside and I've seen too many times what comes out of the cracks in sea walls after it gets dark. All manner of creepy beasties live in sea walls. None of them poisonous in the UK, just unpleasant as evening bed companions. Not for me although I have slept in mountain caves a few times but they were cosy and bright by comparison to this one.

Anyway, it was an adventure just being in it so thanks to Alan for the suggestion  to come here.

After the cave we ended up in another nearby layby at the village of Lendalfoot and the Varyag Monument. We had passed this on the way down. After the Russian/ Japanese War and the First World War Russian Cruiser Varyag had ended up here then sunk just offshore, hence the monument.

A bit faded but history info here.

The weather was grey and damp but mild, a couple of degrees above freezing so I camped in this large layby. Being midwinter no campsites or tourist facilities were open but luckily no one moved us on. Alan slept in his vehicle which was a wise move as it was a very windy night which rattled the tent and pulled several guy lines out. Also it was a noisy road with large HGV's ( presumably some off the Irish Ferry) passing 20 feet from the tent at 1:00am, 2:00am, 3:00am etc right through until dawn. A good trip though. Leaving nothing behind we left the next morning to use the toilets in Givan at Asda and buy breakfast which was a hot mince pie for me. Very tasty. Then this back in the house for dinner.

Beans and buttered toast. Smashing stuff.

The Barras Market and Art Gallery Day.

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A Sunday a few weeks ago down The Barras Market with Alan. This will be low on words as I have a keyboard problem to do with predictive text. Probably an auto upgrade or something or I've pressed an F12345678910 etc key by accident on the keyboard and messed it up somehow.

I had a better, longer post than this ready to go a few days ago and one jumbled key stroke lost the lot. Hours of work gone in an instant. Which really pissed me off. So this is a second attempt to see if it will upload this time.

Nowadays The Barras have to compete with Amazon, Charity Shops, Car boot sales etc so it's not the force it once was but it was busy enough on the Sunday we were there. A sunny or dry day helps the atmosphere. Rain does not.

It has a collection of street stalls and undercover areas and it's the undercover areas that are the most interesting. An almost Dickensian warren of passageways through these sheds.

Started by this woman in the early 1920s who hired out carts ( or barrows) in this vicinity between the Gallowgate and London Road centred around Bain Street. Just East of The Saltmarket.

The Bay City Rollers here might help to date this artwork.

A Gaza mural outside The Barras. The Bride....

Traffic cones permanently stuck on certain statue's heads is a Glasgow oddity. The council used to remove them but eventually gave up. 

Maybe because of all the other outlets, charity shops etc The Barras these days has had to cater for the unusual. Creepy stuff. WWII memorabilia, clothes, old vinyl records, Film posters, bric a brac etc.

But we also went round some of the period buildings in this area as well, including this church.

Which was nice inside.

Open on Barras time so mainly Sat and Sunday.

Good selection of stained glass windows inside.

Like any street market it sometimes has a slightly edgy feel to it as this mural maybe depicts but even in its current incarnation there still is nothing like it anywhere else in Scotland, especially wandering inside the sheds ( male and female toilets are available inside the main shed area.)

Period style sign. This was the main reason I came here in the 1960s as a child. My mum got fish/ seafood and dishes, plates, cutlery/tablecloths, curtains here and my dad just liked browsing the various stalls for bargains. Nowadays though I go to local charity shops for bargains but it is still interesting here in its own way. For the history and also for the fact very few places like this still exist in the modern world.

It had a few surprises. This yellow doorway led into a large undercover area of the weird and unusual that I've not seen anywhere else.

Movie prop material .... or a goth's bedroom perhaps. 

Not really my taste. But creative.

We then wandered along Argyle Street for a tour of several art galleries.

Where Alan noticed some of the homeless had triangular insulated sleeping pouches instead of tents... which would be warmer in winter I'd imagine although you can't sit up in them.

 Grey heron here.

Argyle Street Murals.

Robotic Street Entertainer.

Famous Glasgow TV Character. Rab. C. Nesbitt.

An old favourite mural photo as it might not be here much longer. Looking faded now.

By this time we had been in several art galleries along Argyle Street and Queen Street before we ended up at the GoMA, seen here, above. Gallery of Modern Art. I did like some more traditional but new oil paintings in another upmarket gallery nearby but the best one was £45,000 to buy so not for my already empty wallet and too big for my walls anyway. My last 3 framed pictures by amateur but exciting artists were all free or cost very little money in charity shop giveaways. 

 I've never been much of a fan of a lot of modern art. Dribbled paint on canvas, unmade beds, or animals sliced in half then pickled leaves me unmoved so most of the stuff in the GoMA over the decades has not provoked much of a positive response in me. Note the traffic cone at the GoMA, above, which is what the earlier photo mural was a direct reference to.

I did like this though. There was an exhibition on inside but this was my highlight. Which was only a bare tree to start with that visitors stuck coloured dots on if they liked the exhibition. So they made it themselves in other words. Says something when this was my personal favourite. In other studios elsewhere in the city centre we also took in a vintage rock/pop photo gallery and paintings by several famous people like Billy Connolly and Bob Dylan. B.C's work I'd seen before featured on Scottish TV but Dylan's Americana paintings were new to me. 

And I liked the toilet art in the GoMA. Funnily enough years ago I was in Edinburgh's Gallery of Modern Art and the best thing in there was the colourful toilets as well, which I also took a photo of.

And I've always liked the GoMA interior of the building... rather than the exhibits inside. I used to go here when it was a public library as I've always loved books, films and art, still do,  and this place had a very good selection as did Rutherglen Library. Back in the day.

GoMA interior Staircase.

For visitors if you do go to The Barras several other places are within easy walking distance.

Five minutes stroll away is Glasgow Cross and the High Street, seen above. Ten minutes walk up that takes you to Glasgow Cathedral, The Necropolis, Museum of Religious Life etc... The Merchant City District and Glasgow City Chambers ( daily tours inside) is another option nearby... as is Glasgow Green and River Clyde walkway. Also ten minutes from The Barras. As is the Calton heritage trail.  So plenty to see, even on a Sunday.

 

Watching Bob Dylan's biography a couple of nights ago about his early life was interesting. I liked Blowing in the Wind and Mr Tambourine Man but a full album of Bob's strident semi preaching delivery was a bit too much for me as I preferred the gentler tones of Donovan, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and Melanie Safka. I still have many of their LPs in my collection.

Which brings me to this. A beautiful song and video that mirrors my own feelings about 60 plus winters spent in Scotland although in central Canada winters can easily drop to 40 below. And she did get out... to a warmer climate. So very appropriate for the arrival of a new Spring in 2025.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA2OYBDXXsQ