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Helen Rose Outdoor Diary: Drumchapel Way

February, 2026

I had an interesting urban walk on the edge of the countryside in the west of Glasgow before Christmas with Glasgow Ramblers  . It was a circular walk from Bearsden, a dormitory suburb outwith the Glasgow boundary, to Drumchapel inside the Glasgow boundary. These are two areas of contrast with Bearsden being an affluent area and Drumchapel being an area of deprivation. Physically, the housing does not have as much contrast as there has been substantial funding to upgrade the housing stock in Drumchapel in recent years. However, although these areas are less than a mile apart, the male life expectancy is 82.8 years in Bearsden and  and 68.3 years in Drumchapel. The disparities are attributed to major socio-economic differences between the two areas.

The walk started from Bearsden Station and we headed down to Garscadden Woods along streets lined with handsome sandstone villas. It was a lovely woodland walk on a very good path but we had a detour to Castlehill.

Castlehill

It is difficult in central Scotland to go a walk without coming across the site of Roman remains or Bronze Age Forts. In this case, we walked up Castlehill to where there had been a Roman Fort although there are no remains to be seen and it is mainly a  circular beech tree plantation, which sits over part of the fort, alongside signage for the Antonine Wall, We sat on one of the logs for our morning break with good views over Glasgow. We descended Castlehill back to the woods.

Garscadden Woods

The two woods at Garscadden make up a Local Nature Reserve,  one of Scotland’s special places to enjoy and learn more about local wildlife. Garscadden Wood, also known as Bluebell Wood, is important because it’s one of the oldest semi-natural woods in Glasgow, and one of only two woods in the city where you can find the purple hairstreak butterfly. This tranquil woodland, with its majestic ancient oaks and old hawthorn hedges, has been growing on this hillside on the edge of Glasgow for hundreds of years.

Drumchapel Way

The woods are part of the Drumchapel Way, which offers hidden green gems within Glasgow but needs investment to reach its full potential as a fantastic local walking resource. I had not heard of it until Yvonne included it in the Glasgow Ramblers’ programme. The route itself needs some TLC, with many waymarks and information boards missing. Sadder still, litter and fly-tipping blight some of the sections closest to housing. Ramblers Scotland is working with the community and partners to try to address some of the issues and, hopefully, the months ahead will see some improvements. We walked by the golf course and there were horse riders on the path.

As we reached the open countryside we noticed horses frolicking and rolling about in the fields, possibly as a result of leaving the stables and taking advantage of the space to enjoy themselves. We did notice a dog off lead chasing a roe deer, the dog owner should be ashamed to allow the pet to chase a wild animal.

Drumchapel

The name Drumchapel comes from the Gaelic Druim a’ Chapaill, meaning “the ridge of the horse,” referring to the area’s distinctive grassy ridges or hills, with ‘Drum’ meaning ridge and ‘Chapaill’ relating to horses, possibly linked to local lore or features. An alternative view connects it to a specific 15th-century chapel, making it the “ridge of the chapel,” but the horse interpretation is more widely accepted. We reached Drumchapel, a post war housing scheme, where there has been considerable financial investment in the housing stock but there remains the social problems of deprivation. The Drumchapel Loop continues alongside the housing back towards Bearsden. We continued on a path crossing a bridge and a main road to the upmarket stone houses in Bearsden to the station.

A very interesting day out and thanks to Yvonne for planning and leading the walk.

Coming attraction; Cumbernauld

This section: Helen Rose Hillwalking Diary, Walks and Tours Glasgow