Wednesday 26 August 2009

Another sunny day on the edge of the Campsie Fells, I think it was Monday that the sun last shone... Forgot the pictures on the day but found them again when transferring today's rainy pics from Ballagan.




Ballagan Spout main drop

Another scramble through untracked, steep, birch, oak and bracken woodland to the bottom of Ballagan Spout. Worth the scramble. About two hour's worth of Glasgow rain to get this amount of water going down.



The only dry place outside of a house for several miles, tucked under the overhang where the burn drops down. Fantastic place. I hope it will be easier to get to in the Spring before the bracken grows.






Bit of a rough landing for anything going over the fall. There is a flat, non slippery boulder (probably recently fallen!!!!) that you can sit on, in full waterproofs, in the spray drift at the bottom of the drop.






Some idea of the fall.

Thursday 20 August 2009

Kelvin seat

Are you sitting comfortably?



The short clip gives an idea of how the water is moving around the chair Not sure who put it there, but quite an achievement!

Dumgoyne under the clouds

Dumgoyne and the base of the Campsie Fells in a gap in the rain today. River is up. It's raining again in Bearsden, where the picture was taken.

Friday 14 August 2009

Ballagan Spout

Ballagan Spout is a waterfall in a Scottish Wildlife Reserve on the edge of the Campsie Fells. It's not like a wildlife reserve in Berkshire. There are no paths. The only semblance of a track is up the fence on the Eastern edge. The valley itself is mostly shoulder deep bracken.


This is the whole of the reserve pretty well.



You can get access, if you are very persistent, to the burn just above the big drop. Careful boulder hopping lets you go downstream...





or upstream




Upstream a few tens of yards gets you to this small waterfall and plunge pool



Downstream you come to the Spout. First drop is about 20 feet, the lower one with the burn disappearing is, apparently, 20m or about 60 feet. You can't get to to sill as far as I can see.

Magical place. Next trip I'll struggle down to the burn at the bottom of the reserve and try walking/scrambling upstream to the Spout.

No car park, no footpaths, no boarded access tracks. Wild. Near Glasgow!

Thursday 13 August 2009

Kelvin rain shower

We had a night of heavy drizzle in Glasgow which might have been rain in the Campsie Fells.


It was enough to convert this almost dry waterslide in to this:



Still not looking remotely dangerous. More water to cover the scrape down rapids too!

Dumgoyne

Dumgoyne is a small hill just outside of Glasgow, I see it in the distance taking Squiggs to nursery every day. It's on the edge of the Campsie Fells.



View from just outside Strathblane, about 15 minutes drive from home.



The track to the top goes pretty well up the middle.



View from the top along the edge of the Campsie Fells, hot weather!



Towards Glasgow



Or towards Loch Lomond

Sunday 9 August 2009

Kelvin Walkway

I took the train to Partick, picked up the Kelvin Walkway and walked home, shifting to the canal towpath in Anniesland.



This is the last drop on the Kelvin. Mostly it's a bit too dry, rocky and has an unknown depth of water at the bottom. I gave this one a miss and got out at the Transport museum when I made the paddle down from Bearsden.



The last easy shoot weir. No problems.



This one becomes a serious play hole in serious flood. Will need a paddling buddy for that time.



Water slide by the Arboretum. Probably a drowning pool in flood. Fun, if a bit steep, in these conditions.



First water-slide below the Vet School in Bearsden. Fine in low water, might not be so much fun in flood...



Flight of locks on the Forth and Clyde canal. This is by the gasworks, but looking the other way!

Anniesland Gasometers

These are down the road from our rental house. Glasgow is a very mixed city, with the salubrious close to the rough stuff and industrial areas, what little is left. I think the gasometers are derelict or moth balled as we run on North Sea gas and there's a lot of grass growing on what looks like a brown-field site. The structures remind me of the gasometers in Nottingham from my childhood.