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Pollok Country Park
- The Best in Europe!
Find out why Pollok Country Park
has been voted Europe's Best
& come see for yourself...
The Lowdown | History | Don't miss... | Getting there | Gallery
Continue to Pollok House | The Burrell Collection
 The best of the Dear Green Place
When Pollok Country Park Glasgow was voted the Best Park in Europe and, in true Glaswegian style, everyone here used it as a dodgy excuse to go out & get blootered, I decided straight away that if I was being totally serious about doing this whole Top Ten thing, it'd be pretty amiss of me not to write about it here.
Well yeah, I put my hands up, to be honest I came to this decision the day after I'd joined in the blooterfest - what can I say, I never like to miss a party!
It did get me wondering however, just exactly how anyone can vote & say that one park in any way is better than another. I mean, surely everyone likes their own thing - the amount of free green space & stunning, lovingly-kept scenery, or just some clean, fresh air, or plenty of walking & cycling routes, a few attractions or above all else, a sense that everyone in the community just loves visiting it all year round.
But then, being as I am an extremely intelligent individual, I thought to myself - fair enough, well Pollok Park has all of that and more, so actually I can see then why it's been put right there on top of the pile.
This enthralling expanse of beauty in the southside of Glasgow opens up for you an awesome feast of relaxing activity. In a City known more for being wrapped 24/7 in throbbing energy, Pollok Park just allows you to kick back for a while. I mean don't get me wrong, we do have over 70 other parks dotted around that add deservedly to our global reputation for being the Dear Green Place, but if you spend some time in this one in particular, you'll understand pretty quickly that it really is something special, a place to remember & revisit.
Tracey & I head to the park as much as we can to relax, spend some quality time together just wandering around in the colourful surroundings and yapping about this & that (and by the way, instead of watching re-runs of Friends & drinking endless glasses of Irn Bru, taking in the fresh air of the park's a superb alternative way to detox after a great night out!). The park looks absolutely stunning no matter the weather, and even if you're sitting here thinking that it's only a park Scott, calm the beans why don't you, all I'll say is that there's plenty of genuinely great reasons this place found its way onto my top ten of all the Glasgow attractions and not just of all the parks.
Have a read below to see the best of Pollok Country Park Glasgow, and if you've got some time to spare when you visit I'd suggest that you spend it exploring this enchanting sanctuary, and learning why it deserves all the plaudits & visitors it attracts year in year out.
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 A gift in green trimmings
Pollok Country Park will be associated forever with Sir John Stirling-Maxwell of Keir, 10th Baronet (1866 - 1956), head of a family which has played an extremely significant role in Scotland's history (although to keep you awake, that's a story for another day!), and among many other notable achievements was a founding father of the National Trust for Scotland.
That said, the various segments of the park and its surrounding area have a history which extends long into the formative timeline of Scotland, and in the ancient whispering woods, the intricate stonework, in every gesture of the White Cart Water as it meanders quietly through the grass, you'll begin to breathe in the legacy of all the wars, bloody family feuds and deep-rooted philanthropy that's carved the shape not only of the park itself, but of the Country beyond.
To cut a long story insultingly short, in 1270 the Maxwell family secured the barony of Nether Pollok and thereafter the lands of Haggs, Shields & Govan to form the Pollok Estates. The family lived in various castles in the Estate that unfortunately don't stand today, although Haggs Castle has thankfully been rebuilt & preserved. The Maxwell family had lived there until the middle of the 18th century, until 1752 when Sir John Maxwell, 3rd Baronet, built & completed a new home in Pollok Country Park, in other words the Pollok House you'll have the privilege of touring around today when you visit.
In the centuries leading up to that time, the Old Pollok Estates had borne witness to a whole succession of Maxwells, the lineage of which strikes right through the heart of Scotland's perpetual fight for independence & evolution down the years. There was Sir John Maxwell, the Fifth of Pollok, who fought fiercely at the infamous Battle of Otterburn; Sir Eustace who rode with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn; Sir John the Eleventh, who defended Mary Queen of Scots on the broken field at Langside; and the generations of Maxwells of Pollok who sat gloriously in the Lord Rector's chair in the University of Glasgow.
Sir John Stirling-Maxwell's father, William Stirling of Keir, inherited the Maxwell name, lands and baronetcy from the brother of his mother, and when he died in 1878, bequeathed the extensive Pollok Estates to Sir John, who went on to lovingly cultivate each magnificent part of the land to the standard of perfection you can witness today, what's been referred to as 'a landscape of national importance' and 'a remarkable rural oasis in the surrouding urban area'.
Sir John's daughter, Anne Maxwell Macdonald, presented Pollok House & several acres of the Pollok Estates to the City of Glasgow in 1966 'for the enjoyment of the citizens of Glasgow', and it's now managed by the very same National Trust for Scotland that Sir John helped set up.
So as you amble around Pollok Country Park, spare a few moments wondering about the generations of Scottish heroes before you who've tread the path you're walking on, and you may well end up realising that there can be much, much more to a stunning park than trees, plants and a relaxing, enjoyable time!
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 What not to miss...
Pollok Country Park is massive. In fact, at 361 acres it's the largest in the City. It's like a rural biosphere that exists completely in contradiction to its urban surroundings, and is so big that as you walk or cycle around it, you forget very quickly that you're actually still inside a City and right next to the busiest motorway in Scotland.
One of the most pleasing things about it is that it's extremely easy to get lost for hours in all the trails, paths and adventure to be had there, something which delights the big kids like me as well as the little tikes. At any given moment and within corners of the park you could take days to find, you'll see families out for a bike ride, old folks walking their dogs, romantic couples gazing at each other in the secret depths of the woods, kids pretending they're Robin Hood & his Merry Men. Just a space for fun & relaxation, and for that reason alone it's what a park should be.
But it's so much more than that!
Pollok Country Park houses two of Scotland's most visited attractions, Pollok House I mentioned before, and the internationally renowned Burrell Collection (check out the links to both from this page).
It also lays out for you the ever-popular extreme Glasgow Mountain Bike Circuit. As you can imagine with Scotland's world famous terrain, mountain biking here has become one of the fastest-growing sports (I mention this more in my Cycling Glasgow page), and thousands of the best cyclists on the planet descend on our circuits all year round to tear it up. So it goes without saying that given the amount of work that's went into the circuit in Pollok Country Park, not a day will go by when you don't see cyclists of all speeds & experience enjoying their escape from traffic.
Cycling Scotland & the Council run courses with accredited trainers there for the beginners like me, and once you're all set you can head off to one of three circuits of varying difficulty. The green circuit is for the less experienced, the blue one gets steeper & if you get up enough speed might toss you in the air a few times, and for the hardened BMX Bandits out there you can also choose the red circuit, which pretty much ensures that you'll end up like Elliot in E.T., flying through the sky with the moon behind you!
If that's too energetic for you however, you can amble around the Old Stable Courtyard & Sawmill with its awesome heavy horses; the beautifully-tended walled gardens where amongst others you'll see a collection of over 1,000 species of rhododendrons; a great play park for younger kids; a Countryside Ranger Centre; a wildlife garden & woods which create a habitat for woodpeckers, weasels, vole, otter, foxes, butterflies and much more (watch out for the intriguing kingfishers along the White Cart Water); and as I mentioned before, plenty of woodland, riverside & themed walks where you can stop along the way for a picnic.
My personal favourites in Pollok Country Park to go hunting for are North Wood, which is arguably the most tranquil and visually attractive section of Pollok Country Park, the Deer Park and the pedigree fold of lazy Highland Cattle.
Like I say though, just head there and find your own enjoyment, and if you take any pictures just send them my way in the Photo Box!
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How to get there
Given that many cyclists head to Pollok Country Park no matter the weather, it's probably a good idea to tell you how to cycle there. You can reach it very easily by heading via Routes 7 & 75 of the National Cycle Network, or by cycling the local link routes (again, check out my cycling Glasgow page for more information). You could also take your bike on the train from Glasgow Central Station to Pollokshaws West Station which is just around the corner from the park.
If you're driving, the easiest way from the City Centre to Pollok Country Park is via the M8, head towards Kilmarnock & the M77, and come off at Junctions 1 or 2 and follow the signs for the Burrell Collection.
Alternatively, you could jump the First Bus Numbers 45, 47, 48 or 57 and get off at Pollokshaws Road where you see the Pollokshaws West Rail Station.
Any probs getting there, please let me know.
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A few wee pickichoors
And just to finish things off before my droning descriptions put you off heading there altogether, I've put up a few photos of Pollok Country Park to give you a flavour of what's there.
They're not the best quality, to be honest, so if you've got any of your own I'd be happy to put them up here!
Either way, I hope you enjoy your time at the best park in Europe and agree with me that it totally deserves its awards.
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