Craigends Hill. A Very Enjoyable Erskine Walk.

                                                 ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN

 A very pleasant and varied walk starts off from the Boden Boo Car Park, which lies not far from the Renfrewshire side of the Erskine Bridge, right beside the old Renfrew Ferry Slipway which used to cross the River Clyde at this point. Driving across the Erskine Bridge from the Clydebank/Glasgow side you take the first slipway left signposted Erskine/Bishopton which leads you down onto the A726. Turning right takes you through Erskine New Town, but almost as soon as you do that a minor road on the left just after the Welcome to Erskine sign is signposted Crisis Counselling. Follow this minor road down to the River Clyde and at its end is the Boden Boo car park. This only holds around 20 cars, including an adjacent and obvious over-spill parking strip, so if doing this walk it's advisable to arrive before 9:30 am.... or in the afternoon. The view above is from the small sandy beach and the walk starts here, heading left along it until you come to the support pillars under the Erskine Bridge. Another fine walk leads along the River Clyde here in the direction of Bishopton before turning inland between two different golf courses into the Big Wood in a circular return to the car park.

 Our route leads along the beach with fine views over the river to the rugged slopes of the Kilpatrick Hills.

Directly under the support pillars here with a view across to Old Kilpatrick village. You do not really need to walk this first stretch along the beach to the Erskine Bridge but as it's an easy walk of only a couple of hours duration this makes a spectacular start with a great variety of different landscapes.

You now head inland through the Boden Boo plantation (marked on most maps and seen here, above.) but in reality it's a very pleasant park setting with several broad trails running through it. Do not cross under the bridge supports but keep to this side of the bridge and head up until you reach the A 726 you arrived in on, right next to the same Welcome to Erskine sign and Crisis Counselling signposted minor road. Cross the A726 here and you will find another path directly opposite  the Welcome to Erskine sign leading into Erskine Public Park. (When I discovered Craigends Hill, almost by accident, on my first visit here I made the mistake of weaving through the various Erskine housing developments as this hill is not an obvious high elevation to aim for at any point in this walk- but a later look at Google Maps, Erskine... satellite view... showed me the greener alternative route I might have waked, although in truth both routes proved interesting to me, for different reasons.)

 Attractive bluebell woods in the Boden Boo plantation walk....

 

... soon turned into more open vistas when I reached Erskine Public Park.

 

 A professional looking pitch, complete with flood lights greeted me here but over the years the original concept of night time football must have dissipated somewhat as the pitch was now green instead of the normal red ash surface with a covering carpet of clover and other low lying flowers.

  

Still playable for local children and teenagers but no longer suitable for important competitive matches I would suspect. However, it was very enjoyable  for mere onlookers passing by. This entire walk in fact was very pleasant. 8 out of 10.  

 Continuing on from the park a path leads slightly uphill between the M898 and the last houses in Erskine at Bargarran and this green path ribbon continues to the start of Craigends Hill, which is just a grassy rising slope ahead that you ascend directly.

 Erskine green path network on the way to the hill.

 Demon mouse hunter encountered on the way.

 Here, kitty kitty.

 Horse chestnut tree with candelabra flower clusters just before the hill. Chestnuts (or conkers) on strings is probably a forgotten custom and play activity as ancient as rune carving in this era of open world games and personal avatars.

 

 

Starting up Craigends Hill and looking back at the route I arrived from.

 

The hill is an easy climb, less than two hundred feet, but the views are exceptional across Erskine to the Kilpatricks...

 

a rather murky view of Clydebank... No idea why looking in the direction of Glasgow is the only murky view here... heat haze over a built up area of concrete? Traffic exhaust pollution? Smog? Or the valley effect of Glasgow being in a bowl surrounded by hills?

.

 

anyway ...you can see from this one how green and sylvan Erskine New Town is... even looking across the central built up heart of it towards the Erskine Bridge. 

 One of the main shopping arcades in Erskine in this one. Apparently, looking online,  Erskine NewTown is one of the most desirable places to bring up a family in Scotland.

 Looking over Erskine New Town towards the North West.

On the far side of Craigends Hill the slopes are dotted with horses and a small animal farm underneath that has an array of Llamas, donkeys, goats, ducks, etc..

 Donkey Hoti.... ( have a think about it) 

Llama and pony...

Second Llama and pony...

 Unusual duck.... and several more animal types here...

Next to Animal Farm I spotted this sign the last time I was here but this time I decided to follow it as I wanted a different circular return route coming out more or less at Erskine Harbour and the Muthu Hotel beside the River Clyde.

Although on minor roads through the centre of Erskine this was just as enjoyable with little traffic, lush grass verges and an array of late spring/ early summer flowers...

 

Hawthorn blossom...

 

Pink or red campion.

Yellow broom....

 Peasants and children's sunflower. A stubborn die hard weed for adult gardeners...  as inquisitive toddlers roadside verge dandelions, buttercups, and daises are often the first gateway flowers/drugs to the addictive world of psychedelic colours. In spring and early summer they fill a child's universe with the flower equivalent of a smiling face. And as toddlers are much closer to the ground they seem beach ball sized to them. For Vincent it was sunflowers in the south of France that attracted him instantly...like iron pulled towards a magnet.... for children... it's the humble but ever so colourful weeds they see during that initial aware and walking upright precious first few summers when everything has a stunning impact through being completely fresh and original. You never forget it.

As intended I walked back via the Muthu hotel (formerly the Erskine Hotel) along the River Clyde walkway, seen here, to the car park....

 The wide River Clyde at Erskine.

 

And as a true born child of nature myself I even spotted a young seal playing in the river to end the trip. A very enjoyable walk.

 

DIY meal thrown together in 20 minutes to finish my evening entertainment/nourishment. Very tasty mixture.

and with the money saved on heating bills (See end of last post) I allowed myself a little treat. Seedless grapes and a cheese selection. Did not think much of my tasteless avocado but did enjoy the rest. Hedonism has its sweet rewards.

Bland avocado. What do people see in them?! Makes a nice photo though. A fruit with no juice in it...!?