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. I said in that post 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. 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 is two different photos of Silverburn shopping centre and surrounding woods, looking like an ancient temple from a distance. We arrived here, walking friend Alan and I, then crossed Peat Road near the roundabout to enter the nearby Househill Park. 

  This is it here 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, 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.

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 this woodland however as grass paths 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 nearby. 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. I did it last in 2023 and already I noticed changes occurring.

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, not tangled jungle where they can be trapped.

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 volcanoes but with it's hilltop parks, open spaces, and deciduous mature woods Glasgow (and Paisley) is 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 and enter the hospital grounds.

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 here them still building houses in that direction.

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.

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 

 

Rosshall Park. Crookston Wood and Castle. Leverndale. Paisley. The Beautiful South.

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The great wood of Pollok. It was while we were on the 22 bus from Braehead to Silverburn to do the walk mentioned in the previous post (Arden, Darnley) that we passed Rosshall Park and I discovered that Alan had not been in it. This suggested another walk so the next week we took the same 22 bus from Braehead to Silverburn shopping centre but got off it on Crookston Road at the gates to Rosshall Park.

Rosshall Park entrance gates. This is a small park but it packs a lot into it. Over many decades I've cycled and walked through it so I know it fairly well.

Rosshall House and Park info. It's been around since the Mid to late 1800s and was once a private estate. Rosshall Hospital is close by as is Leverndale Hospital.

It's usually a nice quiet park, not a busy one. Monkey puzzle tree showing it's vicious spikes and  thorns. A tree type that's been around since the dinosaurs and largely unchanged since then so who knows what it needed this level of protection from. Certainly not monkeys but they would find it equally hard to ascend.

For a small park it has everything. Mature trees and atmospheric vistas. As it was May the wild garlic covered the woodland floor, giving off a pungent scent.

Like all the Glasgow Parks since the covid lockdowns it looks slightly overgrown in places, and neglected, but nature can handle that lack of maintenance, for a few years at least. Before brambles and other land left lying plant specialists take over.

The meadow section with a yellow disc basket. This is a Frisbee type game I've only seen in one other park. Ruchill Park. Skimmed accurately the disc should hit the chains and be captured by the basket.

The pond.

Lush vegetation at this time of year. I had a mental image of snapping turtles basking on a log here. It just had that kind of vibe.

 The highlight/oddity in this park is the grotto. An artificially created small labyrinth of stone blocks, swampy puddles, and trees but with a path twisting through it. I have seen this in every state of neglect since the 1960s, most barren looking in the winter months, but in May, with thick vegetation, it looked every inch the ancient jungle ruin.

A cave lies at its heart. Not that many folk come in here so it is secluded.

Not far away and a 15 minute walk further on through the back end of Rosshall Park lies Pollok and Crookston Wood. On the left ( red roofs) is the local Lyoncross Road row of shops in Pollok. On the right is Crookston Wood and this is the direction we entered it from. Lyoncross Road halfway down. A path here leads up into the woods then out the other end onto Dormanside Road.

I've always thought of it as a dark wood but not on this occasion. Not only Crookston Wood, seen above, but the surrounding grassy meadows along Linthaugh Road in Pollok offers visitors around a million bluebells every May. It was spectacular... but gone now for another year. 

 No wonder I love May. Although this particular wood has unpleasant memories for me.

Even as a youngster I liked exploring new places but this wanderlust didn't always go down well in rival territory so my luck ran out and I was stabbed here. Even today it's not a wood that feels friendly. A few male local dog-walkers and that's it. Back in the late 1960s however it was surrounded by flat roofed tenements similar to Priesthill in the last post and I got caught trespassing and paid the price. Luckily no major arteries got pierced and Leverndale and it's calm nurses worked not far away. I think he was aiming for my balls but got my groin/ upper thigh instead as I was a moving target. 

At that time a large water tower (gone now) stood in the centre of this wood used as a hangout by the local gangs but I didn't know that as it was my first time here so was caught unawares. It was not the 'summer of love' for me in 1969. 

An incident I mentioned in the first and last chapter of my book Autohighography as it's not the sort of thing you forget. This was a solo bike trip over ten years ago when the water tower was still standing.

 Even now it is not a wood to enter lightly. Although the general surrounding area is much improved. No 1950s tenement clusters exist nowadays. Although some lone tenements in better condition still remain in the district.

We then arrived at Croc's Castle ( Croc's town)  or Crookston Castle nowadays and this is worth a visit for able bodied people. It stands on a small hill in the middle of Pollok and is open in the summer months. Toilets beside the entrance cottage. It was free to get in. One of the oldest buildings in Glasgow dated 1400s. Free parking in the surrounding streets but to make a day of it use buses and add in extras like this walk.

Although a ruin it's one of my favourites as three vertical interior ladders lead onto the roof giving magnificent views over the surrounding area. 

Main info board. Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots might have been in this area during their courtship. They certainly gave their names to many places locally in Glasgow. Like Darnley (he did own an estate here) The Darnley Tree ( an ancient large sycamore) and Queen's Park.

And most of this view is one of trees. Pollok is truly amazing for displaying wild nature within a city environment. Neilston Pad here in the distance. A woodland realm stretching  to the far horizon. 

And from the roof we could see our route ahead. The dotted line. Up through Leverndale, more woods and open land, then eventually Paisley, where we would get a bus back. 26 bus every 15 minutes from Paisley city centre to Glasgow city centre. This bus also runs past Braehead.

The entrance path up to the castle.

Leverndale came next. A mental health hospital, once an asylum, but now some of it is private homes.

And the iconic tower, seen from miles around. Also on a hilltop. A couple of hours pleasant walk when linked with Rosshall Park and Crookston Castle. 

We carried on however, passing more bluebells, to take a tarmac path from the tower along the White Cart Water ( you can include this as well on that shorter walk, looping back towards Rosshall Park.)

We kept going however as our end was in Paisley, White Cart Water path, above.

Ornate cycle gate near Hawkhead. Still on our tarmac path.

Art Deco buildings at Hawkhead.

Modern housing. Good colour makes all the difference.

Approaching the town of Paisley. Once one of the richest towns in Scotland and the UK with a textile and thread empire that spanned the globe. Cotton, textile, and thread mill equipment plus Paisley HQ expertise got exported worldwide to set up satellite factories in numerous countries from the 1800s to the early 1970s when it became cheaper to make it in factories abroad with lower labour costs.  Paisley still has many grand period buildings from that time. A fitting end to a magnificent walk.  3 to 4 hours duration walking. Add another hour for buses.