Introduction

Today, I was one of a small group which undertook a 9.5 mile hike from Eaglesham. Location is about fifteen miles south of Glasgow in the west of Scotland.

As illustrated below ,the route was mainly through a mix of rolling farmland and moorland. On the way we encountered a wide range of plants, animals and landscapes.

Eaglesham

The oldest part of the village is a conservation area. Eaglesham (pop 3100) was designated Scotland’s first outstanding conservation area in 1960. It is likely that there has been a place of Christian worship here since the 5th or 6th centuries. The name is not connected with a bird of prey. It is derived from the Latin ecclesia which indicates a place of worship combined with early English ‘ham’. Overall the name suggests an early English settlement with a church, perhaps dating back 1500 years.

The core of the present village results from deliberate planning in the 18th century, unusual for Scotland. This has resulted in a collection of fascinating and diverse residential architecture. Historically, the key industry was a water powered cotton mill employing about 200 persons. However, this was destroyed by fire in the 19th century and never rebuilt.

Hiking route from Eaglesham

First, we walked up through parkland in the centre of Eaglesham and then turned west along a single track road. This took us past an equestrian centre, golf club then along farm tracks. Finally, we came to halt at a reservoir, had some lunch and then retraced our steps.

We passed through some outstanding and diverse scenery. This included a loch (lake), wetlands with a wide range of flora and farmland mainly populated with sheep.

More information

Scotland offers a wide range of hiking routes for the visitor. Information on this topic and much more can be found in the Visitors’ Guide to Scotland. ISBN is 978-1-9161332-0-4. Also available via Kindle.