Walk 103 – Pollok Country Park, Glasgow – 2.6 miles

Posted on by gillianswalks

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Pollok House, a grade ‘A’ listed mansion which is managed by the National Trust for Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Maxwell family and dates back to the 13th century.

Home to one of Scotland’s grandest Edwardian country homes, Pollok House, and also to the world famous Burrell Collection, Pollok Country Park is the largest park in Glasgow. This circular walk takes you past both of these attractions, as well as through quiet woodlands and gardens, along the White Cart Water, through the Old Stable Courtyard, past the kids play area, and also visits the quirky Hobbit Village. Something for everyone! 

buggy-friendly-image  Buggy friendly walk (with the exception of the Hobbit Village which is built on a steep slope)

Print  Dog-friendly walk

  Chargeable car parking at Pollok House (G43 1AT). If using public transport, I suggest joining the route at Pollok Avenue* (see route info below), as you can reach this very easily from Pollokshaws West train station, where there is also a bus stop.

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route-image  Route:  Follow the road back out of the car park entrance and turn right towards the rear of Pollok House. Continue through the stone archway, following the cobbled road through the courtyard and taking a left to return to the main road. You will come to a crossroads – take the road diagonally to the left through a barrier and continue on it uphill through the trees. At the second fork, take the track on the right past an overgrown pond. Just at the end of the pond there is a crossroads – continue straight and then at the fork turn right. The path winds down to the car park at the Burrell Collection. At the first opportunity, cross the car park towards the play park. At the park turn left, cross the road and go through the trees to a footpath. Keep right at a fork to emerge onto Pollok Avenue*. Turn left here and after a short distance cross the road and turn right onto White Cart Way which runs parallel to the river.  At the end of the track keep right to go through a gap in the wall and immediately afterwards on your right you will see the hobbit village! When you are finished looking around, return to the bottom of the hill on which they are built and turn right to walk past the nursery and gardens of the Old Stable Yard. Cross through the courtyard and pick up the wide tarmac path past the front of Pollok House. Continuing straight along will lead you back to the parking area. 

Pollok Park

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WALK REPORT: 4th January 2017

Doing this circuit today I found myself wondering why on earth I have not been to Pollok Country Park more in my life. Until recently, one of my best friends lived only a 10 minute walk from it and we could easily have wandered down when I visited. It made me realise how important walking has become in my life over the past year. On deeper reflection I quickly recognised that my time spent in Shawlands generally used to involve a Chinese takeaway followed by lots of alcohol to make The Shed nightclub bearable, followed by a hangover….. not the ideal mix for a countryside walk!

I did meet a friend here around a year ago and I don’t know why I didn’t track that walk for the purposes of my blog…. However I did decide that I was going to map out a route and come back one day to do so. And that brings us to today! School was still out for the Christmas break, the sun was shining, and I had committed to walking 1000 miles in 2017 so I thought I best get some under my belt! The kids did really well to walk the whole distance, with only one tantrum when it came time to leave the play park…. nothing new or unexpected there then! Really enjoyed having the company of my mum and dad for this walk, as well as Fiona who I had only met that day through the #walk1000miles Facebook community.

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Sandstone archway leading to the small courtyard behind Pollok House. I am a sucker for anything with ivy growing up it!
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Pollok House as seen from the back. There was a lot of scaffolding on the lower sections of it when we were there, and some building materials around the courtyard. The work is scheduled to be finished in April 2017.
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We hung several children’s books from trees along the route – gifts for people to find and take home. A random act of kindness in memory of my best friend’s husband Mark McCloskey who sadly passed away unexpectedly in 2016 at the young age of only 35. He had a kind heart and a tendency therefore to do nice things for people, and this was one way for us to pay tribute to him #24daysofmark. Perhaps someone you know found one of the books and if that is the case, I hope it made them smile :-)
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The Burrell museum and art gallery – currently closed for refurbishment until 2020. It was designed to showcase a collection of almost 9000 items, given to the City of Glasgow in 1944 by Sir William and Lady Burrell.
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Little Robin posing for his photograph :-) We also saw some grey squirrels scurrying around the base of the trees.
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This is part of the White Cart Way, a 4 mile walkway and cycle route between Pollok House and Holmwood House. This section of it is a narrow footpath which runs between Pollok Avenue (the main vehicular entrance road to Pollok Country Park) and the Old Stable Courtyard. The White Cart Water runs parallel to it on the left, and to the right there are large open grassy areas. During our visit we were a little annoyed by the constant noise of dogs barking,  A LOT of dogs! We thought it must be kennels but I have since learned that the Strathclyde Police Dog Branch sits here.
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The White Cart Water originates from the edge of the Eaglesham Moor in East Renfewshire and eventually joins up with the Black Cart Water at the swing bridge in Renfew to become the River Cart
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Part of the Hobbit Village, created by George the gardener in 2015 – a very unique feature of Pollok Country Park. You will even find Smaug the dragon asleep guarding his treasure!
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The Walled Garden – bare at this time of year but I imagine it will be quite a sight when in bloom!
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Biggest flower pot I’ve seen in a while!
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The elegant White Cart Bridge

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