Monday 5 August 2019

Rouken Glen. Water Worlds. A Magical Kingdom. Part One.

                                                ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
There's been a great deal of rain, flash floods and thunderstorms recently throughout the UK. Several areas have had a months worth of rainfall dumped on them within 24 hours, causing washed out roads, damage to property, and structural impact on dams and reservoirs.
For the last ten years I've not really been a fan of miserable weather up the hills- murk... drizzle... cold... wet ...no views..... but I've recently changed my mind.... at lower levels at least. After ten years without a wet walking day outside in Scotland I'm enjoying the sensation again. Not only that- being July and August it's warm rain. Also, as seen in the photo above, rain can actually add to a landscape in the form of dashing streams....
Rushing waterfalls...
Damp wood which really brings out the colours....
and different softer views... but often challenging photography. All misty mystery half lost horizons, dampness inside the camera, and frequent rain drops on the lens.
But other things made up for that.... colourful waterlilies here in abundance.
Where were we? Rouken Glen Park of course on Glasgow's South Side near Thornliebank and Orchard Park. It's one of my personal favourites, more so because it was the nearest large park to my childhood home and within walking distance...or a few stops away on the bus. It has an attractive large pond with islands, a deep wooded gorge section carved by an impressive waterfall then a gurgling dark shaded stream, a network of paths, open meadows and sunken glades. Like several of Glasgow's parks it was once a grand estate sporting a large mansion house but that disappeared decades ago. Although acquired originally by Glasgow City Council it transferred over to East Renfrewshire back in the 1980s when the city was strapped for cash under a long serving UK Conservative government, cut backs, and mass unemployment with the collapse of heavy industry on the River Clyde and a new economic service sector model centred around banking in London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouken_Glen_Park  Zoom in Map and brief info here. UK Park of the year in 2016 apparently. No surprise to me. It's always been number one in my heart.

As the weather forecast was predicting frequent heavy showers, thunder, and possible lightning flashes Rouken Glen was a perfect choice as you can walk from one end of it to the other using the deep glen network of paths and tree cover to avoid most of the downpour- should it occur.
Or, if sunny, wide open meadows and expansive views are also available.
Anne's last visit to the park was many years ago so she was keen to visit again, despite the weather.
Anne's dog Snapper here, cunningly disguised to avoid 5G facial recognition software tracing it back to its owner. Can't be too careful these days! Anne picked a colourful pastel umbrella to avoid similar overhead satellite detection devices. It pays to be crafty! Aliens descend in the lightning strikes you know- I've seen it on TV. That's how Donald Trump arrived.
All the rain and mist made for interesting photography. Shawlands Hi Rise flats here seen from Patterton. A zoom.
We reached this small hamlet/village on the Stewarton Road via more sheltered woodland paths and a track curving round beside the David Lloyd Centre Complex. Now labelled Rouken Glen Golf Course when I played on it occasionally as a teenager in the late 1960s for one shilling a go it was called Deaconsbank- a good course- very scenic.
And still good for photography.
As teenagers this was unknown landscape that called us strongly to explore it to see what was in the next wood or what lay over the unseen horizon... so long before we played on it officially with borrowed golf clubs we had traversed it in winter under deep snow and empty silence. New lands to conquer at that age proved completely irresistible- especially terrain normally out of bounds. I still feel that pull even today. Never lost that curiosity.
From the top of this golf course in East Renfrewshire I could pick out familiar lands. My own Magical Kingdom- the red and white vertical lines of Nitshill tower block- the only one in this area.
And the Kennishead Flats looking in another direction- three remaining- there used to be five. Everywhere very green, rolling, and semi rural.
And I've picked this photo as it sums up my very lucky childhood. Like these houses my own abode backed directly onto fields of short grass- grazed by dairy cows, meadows, mature deciduous woodlands, rural lanes, deep ravines, complex reservoirs, waterfalls, streams... but it wasn't in a park, or in Disneyworld,  or in a dream... it was very real and limitless... stretching in every direction for over 30 miles, past hill ranges and deep valleys...all the way to the coast and the dazzling blue sea heading south... and/or the snow covered high mountains heading north.... each new acre exquisitely formed and deliciously groomed yet wilderness feeling as well....or at least it felt that way to curious exploring children. Our very own New Eden to discover.
We were Alice standing at the Rabbit Hole... Dorothy stepping into Oz... Frodo Baggins  leaving his hobbit hole... and it happened every weekend for over 20 years. You only had to take fifty one steps off the hall carpet to cross over from Glasgow tenement slums, occasional gang violence, and ubiquitous graffiti laden walls to enter Renfrewshire's rural wonderland. An addiction that's never left me.

So holding her hand I took Anne/ Alice there as well... 


Well, you would, wouldn't you?

To be continued.....👰👯👮















6 comments:

Carol said...

Never seen yellow pink water lilies - very nice. Rainy weather is Waterfall-visiting weather that's for sure - we always did that in Wales - some spectacular waterfalls there...

blueskyscotland said...

Yep, some nice ones in Wales. Been a few camping and climbing trips down there in the past.

Rosemary said...

The heavy rains have mainly passed us by, just showers, but the garden does need more moisture.
I like the way that you shown that lovely rich ruby coloured stain on the saturated wood, the waterfalls, and the water lilies too.

Anabel Marsh said...

Rouken Glen was a favourite with my mum and dad when they were able. I continued to take mum for a while after dad died but it’s not really feasible any more.

At last an explanation of Donald Trump …

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Rosemary,
yes the rainfall is fairly hit and miss around the country. That branch reminded me of Parma ham slices or a human limb- very alive looking. Rouken Glen was a premier Edwardian park so it has a wide variety of exotic trees.

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Anabel,
yes it's a cracking park with so many memories dating back to hot summers in the 1960s, rowing boats on the pond, secret pathways and trails, many now long gone, tramlines still in place, and a still viable harvest, crops and cattle filled fields, and farms either built over today with housing estates or abandoned altogether and flattened. I can remember the Darnley Scheme when it was just open fields without a single building and you could walk from Nitshill to Rouken Glen Park without any traffic at all, just farm tracks and grass paths all the way. An entirely different era yet not that long ago. I'll keep that for part two.