ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
I've only moved house a few times in my life, all within the city of Glasgow, but I've always been lucky to have lived close to a small but beautiful hill range. Often within walking distance or a short bus ride. It started out with the Brownside/Gleniffer Braes above Barrhead and Paisley... and it is ending with The Kilpatrick Hills above Clydebank/ Duntocher. Years ago I used to be keen on climbing the summits of these ranges but having done them all dozens of times it's the lower slopes that hold the greater appeal for me now...if I'm on my own, as that's where most of the nature can be found.
And in May, June and early July it's a cornucopia of life and colour.
A goldfinch enjoys the Spring sunshine.
A good contrast of sunlight and shade here highlighting the Kilpartick escarpment in May with white hawthorn bushes and yellow gorse dotting the slopes. It is the season I've always felt most alive and euphoric. And why wouldn't you with all this going on after the bleak leafless winter months.
This is the cream season in the UK. April, May, June and July.
So instead of going up to the summits I'll sometimes traverse across the slopes of the escarpment instead. No paths to follow here, only open ground, but not that hard. This time I was on the hunt for butterflies. For several years I've noticed hundreds of tiny thumbnail sized butterflies on these slopes and elsewhere. They start in May, probably just hatched, then grow over the weeks to just over 50 pence size. I've spotted them often and admired them but never caught them with the camera as they move fast in warm weather.
This time I had the luck and the patience to capture them. Just seeing them fly past I thought they were different species at first. Orange tip butterflies and a tiny cabbage white type...
Until I saw them close up in detail, attempting to mate, and realised it was male and female orange tips.
Also spotted a small heath butterfly so that was me happy...and it didn't end there.
This is my idea of heaven. A quiet path, spectacular views, lush landscapes.
And you don't need any money at all to enjoy it... just respect for nature. The Renfrewshire uplands viewed from the Kilpatrick Hills.
Beautiful flowers in a boggy section.
Old Kilpatrick and Erskine.
A cattle herd in the landscape.
The Erskine Bridge and the Inverclyde hills.
Micro Worlds. Tiny fly or fairy queen.
On the Kilpatrick Escarpment.
Mythago Wood.
The descent from Heaven...
The four white poles of the new Yoker to Renfew swing bridge across the River Clyde bringing an abrupt end to the Yoker- Renfrew ferry service. The last ferry across the River Clyde. A ferry service had existed near this point (Yoker- Renfrew) from the 1700s or even earlier until May 2025. The swing bridge is ok, and can be convenient driving across it but it is slightly downriver, further away from Renfrew town centre and it does close almost every day for ships going upriver so it's not always as reliable as the ferry if you work either side of the river. I have been across it many times since it opened. Driving and on foot.
Descending the path.
July wildflower carpet.
Auchentoshan Distillery. Below the Kilpatrick hills.
Cemetery below the Kilpatrick Hills. Probably where I'll end my own journey in life. (turned to dust in the Clydebank Crematorium next door.... then scattered on the escarpment somewhere.) .... Or transformed into an orange tip butterfly. Who knows...
