09-08-2025
'I walked 111 to the City Chambers and want to share a few hot takes'
Together with my friends, Gordon and Anne, and my kids, Edwyn and Ivor, I had completed the first-ever round of The Glasgow Way—a long-distance walk Gordon and I created which stays entirely within the Glasgow city boundary and visits every council ward.
We hope that others may be inspired to follow in our footsteps.
Perhaps The Glasgow Way could be a new addition to Scotland's roster of incredible walking routes?
An urban version of the West Highland Way; a big walk where a bus pass is more useful than a Berghaus jacket!
I thoroughly enjoyed planning and doing the walk and it has helped me appreciate different aspects of Glasgow.
Some thoughts will benefit from further reflection over days and weeks, but for now I wanted to share just a few 'hot takes' on what I have taken from it.
1. There's loads of nature on our doorstep and we should celebrate that more.
Glasgow really is the Dear Green Place, and it's a dear blue place also.
I'm not talking about football, but about trees, parks, nature reserves, canals, rivers and burns.
I reckon around 75% of our walk was in green or blue 'corridors', with some sections several miles long.
Highlights included the Claypits, Possil Marsh, the Seven Lochs Trail, Dams to Darnley country park and Garscadden Woods.
These are great ways to escape the hustle and bustle and it's important we keep looking after them and support nature in Glasgow.
2. If our natural environment seems to be doing okay, too many of our buildings aren't.
The sight of buddleia springing from our heritage buildings is all too common, as are other signs of disrepair affecting our traditional tenements.
But more recent developments show signs of poor maintenance too and there are modern designs which aren't standing up well to increased rainfall.
There's a need to address immediate issues and strengthen requirements on owners to maintain buildings, as well as making sure our next city development plan means we design buildings that last.
3. We are learning some lessons from the past but need to keep focused on creating healthy and vibrant communities.
There are great signs of a new Glasgow taking shape, including the new Sighthill, but still some sense that while we're delivering better homes, the amenities and connectedness that make these places where people live well aren't always given the same priority.
4. The coverage of our public transport network is pretty good.
Each stage of the walk was easily accessed by bus or train.
However, having everything under one, properly integrated transport authority, like most major European cities, would make a huge difference.
5. People still make Glasgow.
Everywhere we went, those we spoke to were hugely supportive and gave us loads of encouragement.
That included helping us to raise almost £2,000 for a charity, Tumour Support Scotland, which helps families like mine that are affected by the rare genetic condition neurofibromatosis.
Huge thanks to everyone who supported us.
I'd also love to hear from anyone who could help us develop The Glasgow Way.
