A Time For Reflection. Glasgow City Centre to Partick. River Clyde Night Walk Part One.

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Barclays Bank Complex. River Clyde Reflections. It was after my previous Bowling Harbour post I remembered  that the River Clyde from Glasgow City Centre to Partick on a still day is one of the lesser known highlights of the city for tourists. As it only happens on still evenings, or mornings/afternoons, with winds under 5 miles per hour many passing tourists will never see it. Even light rain can spoil perfect reflections. The strange elastic nature of blog time meant I thought I had done this walk about five or six years ago with friends Anne and Belinda but it turned out to be nine long years since that last visit. Again a November walk. I had raved about it then but we are so spoilt in Central Belt Scotland for great scenery, even within 30 minutes drive from Glasgow and Edinburgh city centres that almost a decade has flashed by before I thought of another visit.

In that time period several changes have occurred. Barclays Bank Complex being the largest addition to the waterfront reflections. I arrived down here at 4:30pm and 2mph wind. Perfect reflections. This is an easy flat walk along the waterfront from Glasgow city centre to Partick. Walking fast you can probably do it in about an hour but I took my time, getting the right positions and waiting for the best shots. So two hours walk for me. I am of course Central Scotland's Best Landscape and Urban Housing Estates (Still Alive) Photographic aficionado.... so I place high expectations on my tremendously broad shoulders. 

Pedestrian bridge across to Barclays Bank. Even 20 minutes with the light fading can change the colours dramatically. Naturally I had also ordered a delicate ever changing sunset for my walk.

Orange sunset. Kingston Bridge. Seeing the almost static traffic on this bridge every rush hour I am very grateful that none of my many jobs over the decades have involved city centre traffic, which must drive people completely nuts. ( Falling Down (film) style.)

We had a few large storms at the end of October 2026 and this is just some of the debris in the river. Surprised there's not a traffic cone on it. As well as a lifebelt.

Riverboat Casino and the Hotel waterfront.

Two different angles of the pedestrian bridge across the River Clyde. It used to be numerous ferries when Glasgow had loads of ships and some smaller boats were unloading cargo at docks right up to the Broomielaw/ Clyde Street... but now it's bridges of various shapes and sizes. 

Not often you see the underside of this bridge, and it looks good, so two photographs of it from both sides.

Barclays Bank close up. Nice formal gardens around this bank complex. Different light as I hung around for a while here watching the light changing. In fact I took so many photos on this walk I have three posts worth. A bit of a bummer as I'm already ten posts behind. Never mind.

A later shot of the Kingston Bridge as the light has now changed from orange to pink/purple. Sunlight dying away. Like a tiptoeing ballet swan. Exit stage left with slowly flapping wings.

George V Bridge earlier shot. Central Station Rail Bridge above.

Glasgow's International Financial District. ( a small part of it anyway.)

Kingston Bridge from the other side.

Slightly later and the bridge lights came on yet I don't remember seeing them nine years ago. Two girl companions can often do that to my powers of observation as to what lies around me in the general vicinity. This time I was alone so I noticed the river properly.

Which was just as well as loads of bikes were racing around in every direction. Having enjoyed the experience of being hit by a motorhome racing through a red light to get me ( one year recovery time) and having experienced several very close calls already from E bikes and E scooters on pavements this is an added hazard to any modern city or town you have to watch out for. On this walk from Glasgow to Partick I was passed by around 100 bikes. Nine years ago it would have been a mere handful on this walk. But it is what it is.

City Wharf. Glasgow's latest apartment project. Still being built.

The Anderston Centre. A 1970s mega structure still looking good after a revamp. I used to hang out here back in the day when it still had a bus station under it.

Last of the light on the walkway/ cycle track. Around 5pm. Early November 2026.

Clyde Arc Bridge. A pedestrian and traffic crossing. The Arc changes colour.

The Rotunda. A close up. Both of the old Victorian tunnel entrances/exits have lain empty for spells. Malin Group occupy this south unit... and the north side will soon be an event venue connected to the nearby Radission Red Hotel.

The good ship ALEA. A rival for the Waverley paddle steamer perhaps?

The Quay. An entertainment hub. I occasionally used to go the cinema here as it was very easy to park my car. No hassle- no fuss. Then they changed the parking rules and layout. Never been back since then.

A bridge over 'untroubled' water. End of part one.

A Magical Day at Bowling. Autumn tree colours. Reflections. Ships and Kayaks.

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Not all my visits to Bowling, a small village on the River Clyde between Clydebank and Dumbarton, have been wonderful. Sometimes during the busy summer months I was glad to leave it. Too busy, too popular, no feeling of personal space or freedom on a walk... but in certain conditions. No wind. A sunny morning. Night time temperatures falling to zero degrees and ice all over the car. All signs of the stars moving into place for one rare enchanting day. I sent a message to Alan. He was keen as well.

In these conditions the Forth and Clyde Canal at Bowling is a magical place....for  reflections. With the first freezing temperatures of this autumn arriving overnight house boilers and boat stoves are being used again. Wood smoke drifting up above the autumnal trees.

A backdrop of the Kilpatrick Hills makes Bowling a special place for a photographer. No need to go to Skye or  Applecross to see a pretty Scottish harbour. Here's one only 15/30 minutes drive or bus or train from Glasgow City Centre.

Plenty in Bowling Harbour to see....

And plenty out on the River Clyde to enjoy. Erskine Bridge view here. But it could easily pass for the Mississippi River. It has that wild, huge untamed river aspect to it here with the sand bars and the forest edges.

A group of kayakers waiting in the shallows to go down the river. Deep water channel markers with the Renfrewshire Uplands behind. You still do not see that many kayakers out on the river these days. Yet another great adventure Alan and I did around ten years ago, by kayak, dingy, foot and bike exploring the River Clyde, it's many tributaries like the White and Black Cart, the River Gryfe and River Kelvin. And before that exploring Loch Lomond and the Scottish offshore islands by kayak and fast RIB boat, bagging the best of its 800 or so islands with various outdoor clubs in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and throughout the early 2000s. Fading memories of all of them. Places. people. cities. Many have never been on the blog before but are mentioned in my Autohighography book. Kayaking across Rannoch Moor west to east one very wet summer. Coast to coast. Dragging our kayaks overland to reach the next loch. And then again... and again.... and again.  Every new trip back then... all are/were very special. A lifetime's worth of effort and joy.

The reason why they were waiting... a large ship heading upriver.

A gas ship.

Kayakers start their journey again. Apart from the ship having the right of way it also can create a large wave behind it, even at slow speeds so it's better to get to a safe spot out the way and let them pass before moving off again. 

Male Mallard duck with iridescent green head. Sometimes a dazzling dark blue one.

Different light. Early morning. Grey Heron.

The sandy beach at Erskine. Start of two fine walks mentioned/detailed in the last post. From Bowling Village we walked up the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Saltings and Erskine Bridge itself then doubled back close to the River Clyde waterfront. 

Now and again you get a day that is truly sent from Heaven. And this was one.

The beauty of Bowling... in autumn.

The Customs House. Built in the days of shipping rum, sugar, tobacco, spices etc and still in operation today, recording departures and arrivals by sea or canal. 

Swan Sculptures at Bowling. 

No wind is essential for good reflections and it does not happen in Scotland very often.

Even had a couple of tugs make an appearance later on. What a difference a week makes though. Currently Scotland and the UK has just had two back to back big autumn storms with 85 mile an hour winds and over 100ml of rain falling overnight in places. Resulting in flooded main/high street shops in Dumbarton, Largs and Saltcoats as the sea moved inland for a day plus several sizable boats washed onto dry land or rocks and a few cars squashed by fallen trees. North Atlantic storms occur every year here but they are getting more powerful and more destructive.     Bye bye rare reflection day. 

And here's another person with magical fairy dust sprinkled all over them. An exceptional talent. A musical gift to the people of Santa Monica and LA. With  the equally sparkling Daniele Vitale on Sax. A well known instrumental number.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8homwi

Two Enjoyable Walks in Erskine New Town.

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This is two very enjoyable walks that I've done in Erskine many times over the decades so I was slightly surprised that Alan hadn't been around them for many years. 

Both walks start from the car park at the end of old ferry road right next to the Erskine side of the Erskine Bridge next to Ferry Lodge, where until the early 1970s a ferry operated across to Old Kilpatrick. A couple of other smaller car parks for a few cars exist along old ferry road and a road strip/layby next to ferry lodge. On sunny weekends these fill up so best to arrive before 10:00am to get a place. Walk one is circular and starts from the Erskine side of Erskine Bridge at a sandy beach, seen above, At low tide you can walk along this shore line or a path a stone's throw inland runs along a green fence beside Mar Hall Golf Course.

Good chance of seeing some bird life, a grey heron here, and I have seen the occasional young seal and otter in the river as well.

Good views across to the Kilpatrick Hills and this was as far as the invading Romans got up the West Coast of Scotland. Warlike Celtic tribes and mountainous, heavily wooded terrain, meant frequent ambush tactics picked off any advance groups. Which is why the Antonine Wall stretched across Scotland at this point coast to coast as a deterrent barrier and lasted a mere 20 years or so before being abandoned altogether. The only tribes the Romans met travelling up ancient Britain that they failed to subdue, although admittedly the unhelpful landscape played a major part in that. And the Scottish Highlands are not exactly a rich prize for any invading force. What do you do with endless hills/ mountains/forest/lochs once you conquer them? Even today you can't get much to grow or farm above a thousand feet- except more trees. And even conifers struggle that high this far north.

The path then turns away from the river, opposite Bowling across the water, and heads inland between Mar Hall Golf Course and Erskine Golf Course and goes into a deep wood. It then turns left through this 'big wood' to come out at the former Compaq factory, now a Hewlett Packard refurbishment centre for old computers laptops etc....

This is it here and near the far end of this building and beside the large obvious concrete main car park to the left of this photo step over a small wire fence to gain access to the grounds of Erskine Hospital for Veterans. ( there is a gate further down going back towards the river direction.) An obvious well made path is then followed right, through woodland to the hospital buildings and then the main road leading down to Mar Hall is followed up to the roundabout at Ferry Road B815. 

This is the quiet road leading down to Mar Hall. Unless you want to see Mar Hall itself you walk up this road to the two roundabouts.

Although a hospital Erskine has always had a pleasant park like feel to it and is usually quiet and serene. A covid memorial here.

When you get to the two large roundabouts follow the pavements leading under the Erskine Bridge then turn down a path just before Old Ferry Road which leads you down to the car park again but avoiding any traffic. Total around a 2 hour walk at an easy pace.

Walk number Two is also circular. Starts at the same car park. This time take the path upwards on wooded ground that parallels Old Ferry Road then cross the A826 into a grassy level area with a large floodlit football pitch, seen below.

No longer used to the same extent so grassed over. Keep to the right hand side of this and make for the right hand side of the low housing. A good paved path runs parallel to the M898 Motorway leading onto the Erskine Bridge and once past the houses of Erskine march up the obvious grass slope to reach the summit of Craigend Hill with its covered over reservoir. This highpoint gives great panoramic views over the area.

View over Erskine and Erskine Bridge. As you can see here Erskine is one of the smaller and better kept new towns with loads of green pathways and walkways even through the middle of it. Town shops on the right here.

Dumbuck quarry direction here.

The Renfrewshire uplands. 'The shire' always to me as I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings around 12/13  years of age and both books made a big impression that lasted. Forget, elf, orc, dwarf, goblin, etc...for me it was the ultimate adventure story across strange lands taking place in deep woods, hills, rural villages, towns, castles, caves, mountains, rivers, tunnels, ancient kingdoms and mysterious buildings. And as a teenager I had that all here within cycling or walking distance from my house... and I'm still doing it 50 years later.

Below Craigend Hill, following the tarmac service road down from the summit, is a farm with an attached community animal enclosure. Pot bellied pig...donkeys, horses in other field, Llama or Alpaca...

 A tarmac lane leads directly down from this small field that is blocked off from car entry so it makes a quiet walk past Park Mains High School travelling in the right direction. Rashielee Road then leads down to the right to the roundabout then Kilpatrick Drive area takes you down to the River Clyde again where you follow shoreline paths back to the car. 

An offshoot path signposted Newshot Island takes you to a rough beach where you can examine several mud punts abandoned here after being used to deepen the river in past times. Only accessible at low tide and the path ends at them. In the other direction, heading back to the Erskine Bridge, you pass the old Erskine Hotel and Erskine Harbour. Total around two to three hours walk.

 If you have wonder and imagination.....

Portals... or doorways... exist everywhere in life.... or for future folk this might be everyday quantum technology 101.