A Train Journey. Barrhead. Cowan Park. The Levern Walkway. Summer Flowers.

                                                ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.

 

Hill-walking friend Alan has been unavailable the last couple of weeks so this is a solo trip. I got out the maps and had a think about where to go. A light-bulb moment occurred when I realized I'd never been on the train journey from Glasgow Central out to Barrhead. I normally take buses as with my over 60s card they are now free. Trains are only a few quid though if you travel locally so my house to Glasgow Central then out to Barrhead was under £3 return journey. It's also much faster than two different buses to get there, crawling through traffic jams and numerous housing estates. The main reason I didn't use trains much in the past is buses were cheaper and also every house I've lived in seemed to be a 20 mins walk or more to the nearest train station whereas I always had several different bus stops 5 mins from the door. If you are already going for a walk that extra 40 mins train walk, there and back, was usually a mental hurdle setting off. Inside Glasgow Central Station. above.

 

I had a quiet inward smile at this one as the Welcome to Glasgow sign highlighted a not very touristy vision of an old building getting demolished in Tradeston and loads of graffiti along the line on this first section. Tradeston, an old tired looking district of inner Glasgow is changing though with the massive Barclays Bank complex situated here being the catalyst towards modernity.

 Passing Pollokshields East on the way out to Barrhead. I really enjoyed this journey.  Not only for the novelty of train travel but also seeing familiar places from a completely different angle, as here. The other reason is that the scenery on this line is beautiful. It is Pollok after all and ironically in a area known in past times for its gangs and deprived housing estates it always was. From Pollokshaws West train station then Kennishead, then Priesthill and Darnley, then Nitshill  the line is elevated above green fields, woods and farmland, the stations mentioned are bright and colourful with summer flower baskets and it was a very pleasurable experience. I even spotted several roe deer feeding in the buttercup meadows and buzzards soaring above the line from the train windows. 

 

My lifetime best friend and travelling companion Serendipity made her usual appearance at this point. Although buying a Barrhead return I had intended getting off at Kennishead as I already knew that district was surrounded by great scenery and green fields then walking over them via green pathways to Barrhead and the journey back. Not being used to train travel though and the bee hive swarming of Glasgow Central's massed humanity engulfing me somewhat I jumped on the first train out of that very busy place that said Barrhead on it but it turned out to be the Carlisle express, as seen in the photo above. So we shot past all those stations without stopping... the first stop for that train being Barrhead. The next stop being in Ayrshire. Thank you once again mighty Goddess of pure luck as it indeed turned out to be a blessing.

 

First thing I spotted was a lovely display of red poppies right outside Barrhead train station. From here you can walk up the minor road to the Brownside Braes by turning right under this bridge then left up the same street as the upward sloping row of tenements to a farm and the track onto the hills. Do not walk past the job centre. That's the wrong way if you go past it down that 'Paisley Road.'

 

Red poppies. The path I was intending to walk was The Levern Walkway, a low level route following the Levern Water as it flowed through Barrhead... then Cowan Park... then my own semi secret route across the fields... then the Dams to Darnley Country Park by a route less travelled..

This info board shows some of the route. Black dotted line is my walk. Although it shows a car park at Darnley Mill on this map, trust me on this, public transport to this location is a better option.

 From Barrhead train station I walked past Arthurlie football ground, seen above, then cut down to the Levern walkway. I'm giving detailed instructions as it's such a cracking walk, especially in lush summer conditions.

 The Levern and the walkway is reached across this old iron bridge. The buildings on the right are the large Asda on Barrhead's Main Street.

 This walkway is beautiful at any time of year, loads of wild flower raised banks so I stopped here for a quick sandwich, not having had a breakfast yet.

 I'm straight back into heaven again when I walk through scenery like this.

Raised daisy banks in Barrhead. Unfortunately, I now know, from observation, that seeded banks and strips like this only last the first year or so before other, less colourful weeds, take over. So enjoy them while you can. Might be far less here next summer unless they skim off all the weeds and reseed the bare beds with wild flowers again .

 

 One thing I discovered on Springwatch recently was that flea and tick repellent drops put on dogs and cats every month decimate insect life in rivers and streams by around 50 percent or more and that nearly every urban waterway is contaminated with them, tests have shown. Yet another concern when 50 to 70 percent of insects, birds, mammals, etc have already sharply declined in the last 30 years. Not sure if flea collars have the same effect. Probably do if it's the same chemical in them.

 

The Levern Water. Barrhead was a major industrial town in past times thanks to this stream with cotton mills, factories, bathrooms, sinks, toilets and other products shipped worldwide heavily polluting the rivers and streams yet wildlife in the 1960s when I was growing up in this area was everywhere and very abundant. It does look much cleaner now yet looks can be deceptive. I would never have thought that a tick and flea treatment would have had such a devastating effect on rivers as loads of birds, mammals and fish live on the insect life above or under the surface so they die as well.

 

 Anyway, we'll sweep all that bad news under the carpet and just concentrate on the good stuff as this is a fantastic walk.

 At the yellow painted bridge over the stream the left hand path in the photo takes you up to a roundabout, a Catholic church and Barrhead's Cowan Park.

 

St John's Catholic church in Barrhead.

 

Right beside the church is Cowan Park. I've played here on the swings and roundabouts since I was five years old as it was the nearest park to my old house in Nitshill. No nostalgia though. It was a lovely park then and still is today... which is the reason why I wanted to do this beautiful walk.

The top half of the park is the usual type with bandstand, tennis courts, mature trees and children's playground, slides, swings, etc. The other half is this oddity. A huge sweep of empty grass/ playing fields etc leading up to the woodland surrounding the Barrhead Dams.

After a wander around the park I came out here on Darnley Road with a view of the Brownside Braes. All these ancient lava flows- The Lochliboside Hills, The Fereneze Hills The Brownside Braes and the Gleniffer Braes all run into each other and being under 1000 feet are the nearest Scotland has to southern English hill groups like the Malverns, The Cotswolds, The Weald, The South Downs, etc... which is probably why I like them so much. They are unique up here...so far north... almost tropical on a warm day.

Anyway at the eastern edge of Cowan Park, next to the disused and graffiti strewn Columba club building and the lane up to Dubbs Farm you cross the Darnley Road and walk down a tarmac lane to this metal sign. A short distance down this path look for a grass path  to the right.... into the wilds.

This is me on the grass path offshoot looking back at the tarmac lane with the lamp-posts on it. ( one word of warning. This next stretch across fields is very secluded yet in an urban area. I did not meet a soul but it is wild and empty. Does not bother me but any lone females might feel unsafe walking this next stretch.  Better to walk up Darnley Road towards South Nitshill instead as the route continues from there and you can pick it up again on good dry paths.) 

This is a grass path I've also walked since I was five years old, with my parents, a green route from Barrhead to South Nitshill coming out halfway along Salterland Road where my sister got married in a country church at Waterside. The church is long gone but this trail remains although more overgrown and taller trees than I remember it being. With so much else having changed though in the last 50 years it is a miracle that this path and the surrounding countryside still exists at all.

 If you find yourself wandering off this grass path, easily done, just go back to where you lost it and follow it again as it will take you out to this fence on Salterland Road. There is a gap through it.

Salterland Road is still a nice country lane. As soon as you come out onto it from the grass path look out for this old wooden stump and another grass path a short distance away. This will take you over to South Nitshill through more fields.

This is the wooden post and path here.

At this time of year, June 2024, buttercup meadows are everywhere. Looks beautiful but we always avoided this path unless it was dry weather. One of the reasons I picked this route instead of a higher one was a sunshine and heavy showers weather prediction and so it proved. A heavy shower. I sheltered under a tree during it but my trousers and boots were still soaked when I continued the walk through knee high wet grass. Something to bear in mind if doing this path walk instead of the main road.

A couple of fields later I arrived at the edge of South Nitshill. Keeping to this field I walked right towards the roundabout on Parkhouse Road. This is the end of part one. It is such a good walk it is in two parts... to be continued... soon.