Govan Mural Trail. Elder Park. River Clyde Waterfront. Glasgow Attractions.

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A solo trip to Govan a few days ago as I'd spotted from a bus a couple of murals there I hadn't photographed before. The last time I visited Glasgow's underground system (The subway) was a few years ago. Since then these barriers have been erected, both at Govan and Partick (and I presume throughout the city system) and the sloping seats on both platforms have been made more comfortable to sit on waiting for a ride to arrive. £1:75 return with my over 60s ticket but worth it as it's a half hour walk on foot over the new swing bridge from Partick bus station. And it was hot for Scotland, about 24c/25c predicted. ( 28c today as I write this.) The barriers are a safety feature, keeping folk from falling onto the live rail, something I did think about at Hillhead Station, when it was mobbed years ago and the narrow middle platform there had trains and live rails on both sides of it, unlike here.

If visitors are already down at the Riverside Museum and Tall Ship Glenlee, both seen here, it is easy now to walk across this pedestrian bridge and visit Govan. From the Riverside Museum central Govan, The Govan Stones, Elder Park and Fairfields Shipyards are all less than 30 minutes walk away. Although to visit them all and the murals takes around 2 to 3 hours at an easy pace. Plenty of seats here for a rest as well.

As soon as you are over the swing bridge a short walkway leads along the River Clyde to Old Govan Church where the Viking Era hogback stones are kept. Govan is an ancient settlement so before Glasgow got going, (a church and a few cows back then) Govan was the place to visit for anyone sailing up the river: Ancient Kings, Viking warlords, local bigwigs. 

Given the violent times many are buried here around this church. The mouth of the River Kelvin flowing into the River Clyde and small boat flotilla, seen above. Glasgow Harbour modern apartments, seen below, from the walkway. which leads into the back of the church.

You can do a circular walk here as the front entrance of Govan Old ( church) leads onto Govan Road and many interesting period buildings there. Alternatively other murals on the Partick side exist at Eastvale Place just the other side of the Clydeside Expressway, ten minutes walk from the Riverside Museum, then Byres Road, the new University of Glasgow Plaza, Botanic Gardens and Kelvingrove Park and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. All under an hours walk away. Glasgow can be a walking city and a delightful one. Or seen by bike, electric or otherwise.

For this post though the main focus is on Govan. A sign for Govan Old (church) and Fairfield Shipyard Museum, both free entry, (donations box only) Both are worth visiting.

Govan old church. Various excavations have been carried out in this area around the graveyard as the findings are of national importance and the TV series Time Team has visited this site for TV programmes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Team
 

 Govan itself is a mixture of new and old buildings with an underground station and adjacent bus station hub at its heart. Although gentrification is slowly taking place here it still looks and feels like an old working class district, (same as Partick,) and there's not many districts left in Glasgow that have that distinct feeling.

Part of the reason for that is the traditional old Scottish stone tenements  which still stand in both areas in large numbers, dating from the late 1800s early 1900s period and still lived in today by local families.

Ten minutes walk further along Govan Road in the direction of Linthouse sits Fairfield Shipyard museum. ( these two photos are a few years old) Worth a look inside. Free entry as well. BAE systems still has working shipyards in this vicinity operating on the river, but best viewed from Glasgow Harbour on the other bank.

And directly across the road from Fairfield Museum is the green and leafy Elder Park. Last time I was here it was a few years ago in winter with a cold bitter wind blowing and grey skies overhead. I was not impressed by it. A stark and brutal place that day. Bare trees. No life. Freezing cold. This time however I fell in love with it. Colourful baskets around the entrance, local children playing in the broad grass meadows, summer growth in full swing. A medium sized park.

Elder Park view. From the gates of Elder Park, seen above, you can see one of the murals on Govan Road already but as I walked through the park first we will go that way.

Elder Park in June. Children playing football in the distance. This was a gift from Isabella Elder the wife of the shipyard boss who did a lot of charity work in the area and had the title 'Lady' not from handed down peerage but bestowed by the local community for all the efforts she put in on their behalf.

She gifted this park and local library for their lasting benefit. Info here.

You could smell the roses in the rose garden before you could see them. The statue to Isabella Elder. (and her husband John as the park is in his memory. Like a lot of workaholic Victorian pioneers he died early.) Just behind this statue you can see one of the gable end murals and another gate leading out the park onto Langlands Road.

The first mural. 'Being a parent'  I'm calling this one. You can also see a local shop.

Local Shop frontage. Sir Alex Ferguson, football manager, who came from Govan and learned his man management skills working in the local pubs here as a young man. A useful education in how to handle folk I'd imagine.

A smashing little display in a nearby window from a few years ago. Forgot to check if it was still there this time.

My attention being grabbed by one of the new murals I was here to see. Still in Langlands Road. Another by Rogue One. ( Bobby McNamara) I'm a big fan of his work and his realistic style. Isabella Elder with her local library ( five minutes walk from here) her roses and her bees for company. The same artist also painted the boy and oak tree mural in Arden a few posts ago. He also did the Candleriggs mural and many others I've liked.

Two local Govan icons who made a big impact and lasting impression on the area.

And back across Elder Park I went, past this park pond, to find another cracking gable mural on Govan Road.

This time to a young Mary Barbour, leading organizer of the Govan Rent Strike protests then later a political pioneer, this time painted by muralist Jeks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Barbour

Heading back along Govan Road, just at the Fairfield Shipyards main gate and these colourful modern flats....

Is this unusual metal sculpture...then down this nearby street where Fairfields main gate is. Elder Street and Taransay Street leads to a bunch of other murals in a different impressionist style...

Which leads you back again to the Govan Walkway and the swing bridge to Partick.

One other mural in Govan is the daffodil girl. ( Daffodil King.)Ten minutes walk in the other direction along Govan Road past Govan Cross heading towards Kinning Park. This one by artist Smug, another of my favourite muralists.

And nearby the old press buildings. Passed on the way to Daffodil girl.

So there's plenty to see in a walk around Govan for locals or tourists.

Mermaids. Fairfield Museum detail.

The Pearce Institute on Govan Road. Cat A listed building and community hub. built early 1900s.

University of Glasgow from Govan Old Church Walkway. Lush summer growth.

Silverburn to Paisley via Househill Park. Hurlethill Plantation And Dykebar Hospital.

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This is the third and last of a trilogy of green walks in the Pollok district and, if you do not like skirting the edge of housing estates, the wildest and most serene walk of the three. Years ago with Alex I went to Knoydart for a holiday weekend. (supposedly the most remote pub in mainland UK situated on a remote extremely rugged peninsula yet it was heaving with munro baggers, yacht folk, tour boat folk, youth groups and campers. Around 200 visitors that weekend packed into a tiny Highland village without a tarmac road leading into it. Boat arrival only... or backpacking in from the road end along an up and down coastal path for many miles. I said in that post however it was no longer so remote in today's world, certainly in spring to late autumn. ( you could reach it in a day from London with good planing via public transport. Great for local business operators admittedly, but not exactly lonely, in summer anyway.) As I've said before on this blog the outskirts of Scotland's cities often contain the quietest places... as no-one thinks to go there. This is certainly the case here.

Above: two different photos of Silverburn shopping centre and surrounding woods, looking like an ancient temple from a distance in the first one. We arrived here by bus, walking friend Alan and I, then crossed Peat Road near the roundabout to enter the nearby Househill Park. 22 bus stance 6 from Braehead or X8 express bus from Buchanan Bus Station to Silverburn Shopping Centre.

  This is it here (Househill Park) so you are immediately in pleasant surroundings on good open paths. As we were on the Haughburn Road side of the Levern Water at this point we crossed over the stone bridge when we came to it then took a grass path beside this stream across open ground, thus avoiding any noise and traffic on the nearby Barrhead Road. But you do want to be on the Barrhead Road side of the stream by this point. No other bridge across it until Nitshill Road. If you are on the wrong side either double back to the stone bridge or carry on to Nitshill Road, then double back to Roughmussel. Not much longer in fact. About an extra 15 mins.

Heading down to the stone bridge. Househill Park.

Alternatively if it's wet underfoot tarmac paths are available throughout this park. Before you reach the Hurlet the route cuts up the last street in quiet Roughmussel, Faskin Road, which leads you up into wild but pleasant open land at Hurlet Hill. Open meadows and woods stretch from here all the way to Paisley via grass paths.

Bluebell woods in the Hurlethill plantation. You don't need to go into any woodland however as grass paths always lead over open meadows with extensive views.

A large emerald kingdom is now your prize. It's amazing this area has remained untouched for the last 70 years. Cattle used to graze here in these fields but as far as we could tell no farms remain open nearby. ( but I maybe wrong after only two visits) When that happened in the 1970s in South Nitshill houses soon replaced the fields so if you fancy doing this walk do it in the next year or so. I did it last in 2023 and already I noticed changes occurring from that visit. Hurlet Hill, which we just walked from is in the distance here, above.

This stretch is still wonderful but as the Dams to Darnley Country Park shows once the grazing animals go it soon turns into a tangled overgrown mess. We spotted several roe deer here including a stag with antlers but deer like grass to eat and easy ground to escape predators, including dogs, not tangled UK jungle where they can be trapped.

This one wasn't trapped and seemed perfectly happy where it was. Roe deer near Dykebar.

Neilston Pad from Temple Hill. The mighty Table Mountain of Barrhead :o). Glasgow is the drumlin city, a city of almost 100 small hills so everywhere in it is reached over gently rolling ups and downs. We might not have Edinburgh's soaring volcanoes and cliffs but with it's hilltop parks, open spaces, and deciduous mature woods Glasgow (and Paisley) can be beautiful. And much quieter than The Scottish Highlands these days. Excellent sunny day in May... saw three people (on foot) on this walk. That's all. One in the park. A female dog-walker on Hurlet Hill. A guy in the far distance at Dykebar. Far quieter than Knoydart.

At Temple Hill, seen here, you head down to Dykebar Hospital, cross Hurlet Road near the roundabout and enter the hospital grounds via Grahamston Road.

This too is a pleasant serene place with several old sandstone buildings. One change since 2023 however is the old low 1960s style buildings, seen here in white behind the bus, which have disappeared and what looks like new housing or other infrastructure might be arriving soon. Gleniffer Braes above.

So do it before it's either blocked off or replaced by a new housing estate. Once past Dykebar Hospital grass paths lead on to the ruin of Hollybush. I found it no problem in 2023 but maybe that was earlier in the season or a lack of grazing animals have seen more small trees shoot up. It did seem different. Less open ground to walk across now on this section.

This time around it was still green but less open somehow. The last three years without any grazing animals on it might explain that change. I couldn't find Hollybush House at all this time, even though it's just a ruin. It may well still be there in the woods but the housing estate that was just starting to be built in 2023 at Thornly Park campus ( Stony Brae in Paisley) is now much expanded and we could hear them still building houses in that direction. (Hammers, heavy machinery, shouting.)

Still a five star walk in great open countryside but like everywhere else getting gradually nibbled away at the edges.

 Rather than end up in a half built construction site along Caplethill Road after such a pleasant green walk we changed direction completely and headed for South Avenue in upmarket Thornly Park in Paisley for a more lysergic surreal ending. See above. Path out to civilization again on left of photo.

Posh gardens and a colourful mix of flowers. Like stepping directly into Disneyland... or upmarket suburbia in this case.

Two shattered peasants staggered out the desert wastes... it was a real culture shock to suddenly be wandering in the land of grand mansions, tarmac roads, and supermarkets again. It was a hot afternoon by this time.

A distant view of Paisley with small plane.

While Alan had a pint in the Last Post pub ( a popular Paisley Wetherspoons.) at his suggestion I explored Gilmour Street train station as I'd never been in it. Seen above.

And I was very pleased I did.

Paisley folk. Fulton Mackay from the popular UKTV series Porridge. Singer songwriter Gerry Rafferty. The Paisley pattern. Thread Mill and mill worker.

Other half of the same mural. Robert Tannahill. Poet and songwriter. William Wallace. And a local witch who was burnt during the infamous Paisley witch trials... just last year. 

The train station itself was enjoyable. A glass roof above so afternoon sunlight poured down on the platforms and showed it off in it's best light.

We were catching the bus back though so this was a brief visit to this station.

Paisley North Church. A handsome building.

Paisley town hall with soaring gulls above.

Alan had his treat of a couple of pints. I had to wait slightly later at my local Lidl store for my treat to myself. Peanuts, two buns, dried fruit and a salad. 

 This salad was mostly good with some added cheese and boiled eggs apart from a few spoiled bits of lettuce, which I removed. All the rest was tasty. Around a 4 hour walk at an easy pace. Still very enjoyable and surprisingly wild. Fit folk could easily extend it further by including the Gleniffer Braes after Caplethill Road.

Paisley Witch trials here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley_witches