| Rouken Glen | |
|---|---|
 The waterfall at Rouken Glen | |
 | |
| Type | Public park |
| Location | East Renfrewshire, Scotland |
| Area | 58 hectares (143 acres) [1] |
| Created | 25 May 1906 |
| Operated by | East Renfrewshire Council |
| Status | Open all year |
| Designated | 31 March 2006 |
| Reference no. | GDL00332 |
Rouken Glen Park is a public park in East Renfrewshire, [2] to the south-west of Glasgow, Scotland.
The lands of Rouken Glen Park originally belonged to the Scottish Crown, and then to the Earl of Eglinton, presented to Hugh Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Eglinton on the marriage of his son in the year 1530 by James V. [3] It takes its name from the old Rock End Meal Mill in the glen, which dates back to the early 16th century. The remains of the meal mill can be seen at the foot of the waterfall, deep within the foliage and rhododendron bushes high on the slope away from the pathway. Amongst the park's owners were Walter Crum of Thornliebank and Archibald Cameron Corbett, M.P. for Tradeston, Glasgow (later Lord Rowallan) who gifted the estate and mansion house to the citizens of Glasgow. It was officially opened on 25 May 1906 and leased in June 1984 to the then Eastwood District Council, whose area was later included by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 into East Renfrewshire in April 1996.
Rouken Glen Park won the UK's Best Park as voted by YOU! 2016 Award [4] at the Fields in Trust awards ceremony on 30 November 2016 - coming top in a public vote from 214 nominated parks across the UK.
The glen has many of the typical features of an Edwardian urban park, such as a boating pond started in 1923 by Sir Robert McAlpine to replace a former curling pond. Rouken Glen includes a large waterfall on the Auldhouse Burn surrounded by steep woodland; the waterfall is based on a natural waterfall, doubled in height to form a reservoir to supply the printworks downstream at Thornliebank during the early 19th century. There is a walled garden in the grounds of the former manor, Thornliebank House (demolished 1965). [5]
Directly to the south of the park is a golf course (part of a David Lloyd Leisure club based at Deaconsbank, [6] at the southern extremity of which (close to the Neilston branch railway line) is a 16th-century circular dovecote. [7]
The park features in an episode of Scottish comedy series Rab C. Nesbitt , when Rab gets a job sweeping leaves by the pond. A scene from the film Trainspotting was also filmed in Rouken Glen, [8] and the pondside cafeteria, 'Boaters', was featured in an episode of the BBC Scotland drama series Sea of Souls .
East Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde. Although no longer a local authority area, Renfrewshire still remains the registration county and lieutenancy area of East Renfrewshire.
Barrhead is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, thirteen kilometres (8 mi) southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268.
Newton Mearns is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, 410 feet (125 m) above sea level. It has a population of approximately 26,993, stretching from Whitecraigs and Kirkhill in the northeast to Maidenhill in the southeast, to Westacres and Greenlaw in the west and Capelrig/Patterton in the northwest.
Giffnock is a town and the administrative centre of East Renfrewshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland.
Netherlee is a suburban residential area in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is situated on the west bank of the White Cart Water about 4 miles (6.5 km) south of Glasgow city centre. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is mostly contiguous with the city, and is just beyond the boundary of its local authority area. It is a separate census locality from Glasgow, like other areas such as neighbouring Giffnock and Clarkston. Netherlee is directly contiguous with Stamperland. It is also in a council ward with Clarkston and its neighbour Busby. As of 2012, Netherlee has a population of 4,550.
Eaglesham is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, situated about 10 miles (16 km) south of Glasgow, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Newton Mearns and south of Clarkston, and 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of East Kilbride.
Arden is a medium-sized housing estate on the south-western edge of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The M77 motorway runs directly to the west of the neighbourhood, with Junction 3 serving the area; a small industrial estate is located to the south-east. The residential area of Carnwadric is to the north-east of Arden, and the Jenny Lind part of Deaconsbank to the south, while the land to the north is open ground and woodland.
The River Cart is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank.
Thornliebank is a suburban area in East Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is located on the Auldhouse Burn about six miles south of Glasgow city centre, and just outside the city's administrative boundaries. The neighbouring East Renfrewshire town of Giffnock lies directly to the east, with Rouken Glen Park to the south.
The River Garnock, the smallest of Ayrshire's six principal rivers, has its source on the southerly side of the Hill of Stake in the heart of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. About a mile and a half south of this starting point the untested stream tumbles over the Spout of Garnock, the highest waterfall in Ayrshire, once thought to be the river's origin. The river then continues, for a total length of 20 miles (32 km) or so, through the towns of Kilbirnie, Glengarnock, Dalry and Kilwinning to its confluence with the River Irvine at Irvine Harbour.
Busby is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Busby is in the same urban area as Glasgow, although it is administratively separate. It lies on the White Cart Water six miles south of Glasgow City Centre and 3⁄4 mile northwest of the outskirts of East Kilbride. It directly adjoins the town of Clarkston, with which the village is closely associated.
Deaconsbank is a neighbourhood in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde. The main feature of the area, which falls into the Greater Pollok ward of Glasgow City Council and directly borders the East Renfrewshire council region, is an estate of around 639 private houses built in the late 1970s by Barratt Developments, prior to which the area was open farmland. Deaconsbank is bordered by the M77 motorway to the west and by Rouken Glen Park and golf course to the east. The northern parts of the suburban town of Newton Mearns are a short distance to the south, as is Patterton railway station.
Jenny Lind is a small neighbourhood in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde, contiguous with the larger Deaconsbank neighbourhood and across a dual carriageway from the Arden and Thornliebank Industrial Estate. It was extended slightly in the 21st century by the addition of Jenny Lind Court. Jenny Lind falls under the Glasgow City Council Greater Pollok ward and has a short border with Deaconsbank Golf Club and Rouken Glen Park in the East Renfrewshire council region.
The A727 road in Scotland runs from East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, through East Renfrewshire, to Junction 3 of the M77 motorway in Glasgow.
Linn Park is an 82-hectare (200-acre) park in Glasgow, Scotland, surrounded by the suburbs of Cathcart, Muirend, Simshill, and Castlemilk, also bordering Netherlee in East Renfrewshire. It is Glasgow's third largest park, after Pollok Country Park and Dams to Darnley Country Park, although Dams to Darnley is half in East Renfrewshire. Both Linn and Pollok parks have the White Cart Water flowing through them. Some areas in the park are unsuitable for prams and the infirm.
St Andrew's Cross, also known as Eglinton Toll, is a road junction in the south side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland.
Walter Crum FRS (1796–1867) was a Scottish chemist and businessman. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1844.
Calderglen Country Park is a country park in the town of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is situated along the eastern edge of the town and is its principal greenspace and recreation area.
Parkhouse is a residential neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland. Within the G53 postcode area and the Greater Pollok ward of the Glasgow City Council administration, the eastern cluster of private housing was constructed in the 1980s and the western part in the 2010s, prior to which it was open farmland annexed to Glasgow in 1938.
Eastwood is a residential neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated south of the River Clyde, and is part of the Newlands/Auldburn ward under Glasgow City Council.
Media related to Rouken Glen at Wikimedia Commons