Rainbow Bridge is an integral feature of the Art Park. Located within the grounds of House For An…read moreArt Lover, the park was completed in 2008. I dig bridges, and few more so than this one. I've spent many an hour playing on it with my nieces and nephew - the kids love the perspex, multicoloured panels - they rotate and provide a great opportunity to play hide and seek. I'd highly recommend a visit - especially to burn off some of the kids energy!

I walk through this beautiful wooded area everyday to work when I take the train. The woods are…read moresituated on the top of a steep hill, connecting Henderland Road and Ravelston Road by many trails and paths. The woods have many different kinds of old large trees, wild flowers and large thickets of berries. As you walk along the paths you feel like you are in a hallway of singing birds. I'm sure there are various wildlife that lurk in here too. Lovely carvings in trees must be from a local carver or a community project. If you are looking for a weekend place for a stroll or a unique place to walk the dog around Glasgow, Cairnhill Woods is a good choice.

This memorial to the dead of both world wars, also known as 'The Spirit of the Crusaders', is…read morefound at the junction of Gilmore Street and High Street in the town centre of Paisley. It comprises a rectangular plinth with bronze plaques and inscriptions, the burgh arms and crosses of St Andrews and St George. On the top is a bronze knight on his horse, flanked by four soldiers. The architect was Robert Lorimer, who also designed the National Monument in Edinburgh, and it was sculpted by Meredith Williams. It's a very striking and tall monument in this central location and a reminder of the terrible losses of war. Easy to find for visitors to the town as it's very close to the railway station.

Normal I don't give write ups for war mamorials. But here goes…read more Despite passing this icon for the past several years & yet respecting the lives lost in such battles there was an internation market here from the 10th Oct. to 22th Oct. part of some galic type thing that was being held in the town hall or abbey or both that were near by. But despite the bad weather at the time that I had arrived I was lothed to spend dodging the hordes at the nearest argos down hill a bit that's always far too busy out side the shop due to the bus stops but hands for the size of the items I was planning on getting, but decided to head to head for a different argos just to try to avoid one of my mainy petty hates. Well either way I had a quick look around & had a slighlty longer look at the bits that caught my b udding eye & or interest. The international market there was a beer stall (way far too early for me for a quick pint 11:40am ish), a stall seling various types of coffee beans & granuals (I think didn't ask IF the jared stuff was granuals), burger stall going on from the signage possibly Austrailan burger stall few other types that I only glanced at momenteraly but as such IF the weather hadn't been as bad as it was at the time that I went I would have stayed longer. But the stall that was selling Turkish goods was a bit too temping for my liking & despite how many little tasters the seller was offering my I had to curb my spending at this one stall despite how good the stuff was. But other than that exept for the few permanent stores that are note worthy that are left in Paisley it has an abundance of pubs that could be described as near enough all within walking/staggering distance of the local taxi rank out side of Gilmour street station. Though despite the recent poster/drawing loacal govorment drwing on the former Arnots sight thats been emptey for near enough or over 10 year that it might be getting developed into housing & shops (all suposedly at the moment from whats advertised & what I looks like from poster)

This impressive and striking old building is a familiar sight in this part of the city. One of the…read morehistoric Merchant City buildings, it was built in the 1920s and designed by A. Graham Henderson as part of the redevelopment of Glasgow Cross. It has a very grand façade fronted by two large Ionic columns and featuring some interesting scupture by Benno Schotz. These days (rather a shame I think) the ground floor is simply a large furniture store. It's found at Glasgow Cross between London Road and the Gallowgate in the southeast corner of the Merchant City.

Great place for all us Urbex explorers - Castle is great and if you are feeling adventurous...or…read moresuicidal someone has put up a rope swing with a tyre inside the castle attached to the rotting metal staircase that used to go up to the high tower - Stairs are equally dodgy to get up to the high point on the tower roof so only for the brave of heart or stupid or those with a death wish...like me! Apart from this there are hundreds of trails that take you up into the forestry commission trails and the views are great, hidden steps that take you down into the lost and forgotten gardens; there is even a fairy tree that someone has fitted little doors to and magic talismen hanging from the branches. The castle is fenced off but there is always an opening to get into grounds and getting inside the castle itself is a tap in although not good for the ankles as the whole thing is full of rocks and falling masonry so be careful - photography wise there are too many trees inside and outside to get any good photos but if you have a quadcopter I would strongly recommend it to get some great shots from above the main tower looking down and traversing the outside. Apparently there is a ghost of a woman who was supposed to have been murdered by the staff when it was an insane asylum that prowls the castle at night so take your night vision lenses and prepare for a scare lol! There are also many other abandoned ruins around - The old Golf course clubhouse is near the new Celtic training ground which I believe was built on the old golf course - even got a photo of the old Golf Club scoreboard and there is an abandoned warehouse in the woods on the road down to the Celtic entrance as well as an abandoned well deep in the forest which is hard to find but well worth the effort! All in all a rather interesting Urbex day out and will keep you fit as the trails are all uphill and quite long and tiring for us oldies, so wear a pair of wellies and bring a torch if you want to go further and deeper down into the dungeon of the Castle! When we were there yesterday the place was absolutely stowed with other Urbex explorers from as far as America and Canada and inside the castle there were numerous couples doing the same thing so make some friends like we did on the day - always a good day out when you meet new and interesting people!

Photographers heaven!…read more I spent many of days and nights camping and exploring this castle, doing a lot of history research on the grounds and the building. It's such a wasted building now with vandals setting fires etc. The building is now a dangerous listed building and quite possible be pulled down in due course, such a shame to see a once beautiful building wasted. Very spooky at times but well worth the treck up to it.

Did you know that in Glasgow we have the tallest tower in Scotland? And that it's also the only…read morebuilding in the world capable of fully rotating itself? (#Guinessrecordandall) No? Me neither. That is, before I had a science-loving friend from Poland visit this weekend and he insisted we go check this tower out. At first, we thought it was closed. To be fair, it does look closed from the outside. The reason is, of course, there is a secret passage from the Glasgow Science Centre. Whoa, I know. We managed to find this passage and got to go up. We were quite lucky, because it was a sunny bright day and the last day of the tower being open before it closes for winter. Good timing, huh? As I wasn't really expecting much apart from a pretty view, I was pretty impressed. A tower that can fully rotate? And it only takes a single 6kW motor (equivalent of 6 microwaves, ha!)? Cool! The view from the top was great and we were able to see quite a lot, due to the nice weather. The staff was really nice and ready to answer all of our questions ("What are those rotundas on each side of Clyde for? And "Why isn't the tunnel between them open anymore?" - Learning new exciting facts about Glasgow every day!) and seemed to really enjoy their job. I'm so glad I went, I love to explore new places!

Like so many people, I thought the tower was still closed. This is due to when it first opened…read moremany years ago they had to close it shortly after due it being built on ground that was subsiding. Thankfully that's sorted now. It was a lovely sunny day so I decided to head up. You can pay to just go up the tower, I thought you could only do it as part of the science centre ticket. You head in through the science centre, get your ticket and head towards the cafe. You then head down a ramp to the base of the tower. I had booked my ticket but only had to wait about 5 minutes before my tour began, there was lots of info to read up on whilst you waited. The tour started, the tour guide explained all the the facts about the tower and how it is the only free standing tower that can rotate 360 degrees in the world (Guinness book of records certificate in the wall to prove it) the tower is 127 metres tall. After all the information, we entered the glass lift, the lift is small and can only fit 6 people at a time. The lift takes about 2 minutes to get to the top. Once at the top you get out into the pod. The views are amazing and on a clear day you can see as far as the hills. As it was sunny the pod heats up quickly, so you don't want to hang about too long. I'd say that the full trip takes about 30 minutes and is well worth a visit.

This is a very striking medieval landmark which you'll find at Glasgow…read moreCross on the east side of the Merchant City area. It is actually all that remains of a larger building which comprised a debtors' prison, the town clerk's office and the council hall. It was built in 1636 and stands 7 storeys and 126 feet high, being an extremely prominent landmark within the city. This area was, at one time, the centre of Glasgow (now considered to be George Square owing to the first railroad terminus being built at Queen Street). On the steeple you'll see some of the oldest sculpture to be found in Glasgow, including a shield which portrays the city's coat of arms. It has recently been renovated and repaired at a cost of £200,000, and I think it looks quite beautiful! I know that, at one time, it was possible for tourists to view the interior (and views from the top!) but I can't find out if it's allowed today. Perhaps someone will tell me, or I'll ask at a tourist information centre.

For me, the Kelvin Walkway is the highlight of the West End and one of the main reasons I love…read moreliving here. It's just a wonderful corridor of greenery to wander through and transport yourself away from traffic noise and pollution. Mind you, it wasn't always like this - in Victorian times and before the Kelvin was very much a working river and was extremely polluted, and it's only really in the latter years of the 20th Century that it was properly cleaned up and transformed into a walking route. The Kelvin is Glasgow's 'other' river and I recommend the book of the same name by Alex Matheson if you want to know more about the history of the river. The walkway is great for accessing the Botanic Gardens or Kelvingrove Park, and a pleasant walk into town is to take the walkway round the back of the Museum & Art Gallery then cut through Kelvingrove Park and along Clairmont Gardens and Woodside Place, which brings you out nicely at Charing Cross without encountering much traffic. I live within a mile of its downstream efflux into the Clyde, and I just adore the fact that I could step out of my front door and end up in Fort William by following the Kelvin Walkway to Milngavie and then joining the West Highland Way. How does Bilbo's song go? The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. Definitely on my bucket list - I may not make it as far as Fort William but Milngavie station is a definite possibility!

A simply gorgeous part of Glasgow to explore - I only knew of a small part of this walkway until…read moreSara T took us on a west end wander further north from Inn Deep up to Queen Margaret Drive. What a delight the walkway is - leafy, lush and somewhat like a rainforest. You'd never knew you were in the middle of a city when you're wandering along. There's some delights to discover along the way, including the mills and at the right time of year, loads of wild garlic. If you've never been before, it's a must for any Glasgow resident for a lovely weekend wander.

This is a fragment of the Antonine Wall which ran through Bearsden back in Roman times. It was at…read moreone time the most northerly point of the Roman Empire. There are quite a few Roman relics in this part of the world, the most notable one being the Roman Bath House. This one however, consists of some rocks in a fenced off enclosure in a park consisting of a large long hill with trees on it and a large ditch beside it. It just looks quite like some woods now and is mostly just a nice grassy path for people to walk dogs or run on, but it's not too hard to imagine Roman soldiers patrolling it way back in history, as you get a good view North and it would have been rather majestic. If you go further up round the corner there is another park with Historic Scotland signs pointing out the path of the wall, and then further on again, a big hill with trees on top is supposedly a main base or watch tower, though to be honest it now looks more like hilly field with trees in. I would recommend having a look at these places, as it is interesting to think how long people have had some semblance of civilisation around here, and it's not every day you have Roman artefacts on your doorstep.

So, I was having a think last week that I wanted to review something epic for my 300th review - the…read morePrinces Square Peacock certainly ticks that box. The Princes Square building has been a fixture of Buchanan St since the 1840's. By the mid 1980's it was due for a refurb - and the Peacock was borne from this. The main Peacock is located atop the building, and his tail feathers drape all down the front of it. It's structure is a mix of iron and steel - and was all hand cast. This is one of my absolute favourite art installations in Glasgow - it strikes that difficult balance of being imposing, yet graceful at the same time. As soon as the nights start drawing in, the Peacock (and his feathers) are lit up and he truly comes into his own. But when the Christmas season hits, he's wrapped in twinkly lights and basically looks like a gigantic Phoenix getting ready to take off. You should swing past him on your way to see the Argyle Street Reindeer :) And yes, I do have a name for him too ;)