This cold February morning, the sunshine pulls me out. I am, after all, a creature of light. It seems that I no longer have to try. I just release my self to Nature and let her take over.
I'm off up to Neilston. It's a short route but absolutely beautiful. And so energizing. To not do it on a day like today would be tantamount to a crime against nature. But that's what modern society appears to be, a crime against Nature writ large.
What a wonderful route to get to the train station! Through the woods of Pollok Country Park towards Pollokshaws West train station for the train up to Barrhead.
From the train, a wonderful view of the lumps and bumps of Glasgow's southern periphery. Neilston Pad is on the right.
From atop Neilston Pad....
The great walker and writer Theodor Brotchie in his wonderful Some Sylvan Scenes Near Glasgow opens his 18 Afternoon Rambles with a trip to Neilston and its surrounds:
The old-fashioned and still quaint little village of Neilston lies in a straight line about nine miles from the city. Those who still cultivate the art of walking may fix on this upland town as the starting point for a delightful Saturday afternoon's ramble....The air is keen and bracing, and carries with it the nip of the moors, for Neilston stands high. A beautiful landscape unfolds itself to view as we pause to take breath. We have around us a charming variety of hill and dale, and wood and water, with all their varying local life and colour...
About the pad itself, he writes:
A more wild or beautiful scene cannot be imagined. A perfect panorama of hill and dale, woodland and moor, mountain, loch and sea radiates on all sides from our vantage spot. There are few places in fair Scotland which command such a wide-stretching view.
It's a rousing call, surely...
No comments:
Post a Comment