Crookston Castle: July 2008

'oor castle in the sun'

While speaking to the gate keeper of Crookston Castle yesterday, she told us how the local young people refer to it as 'oor castle'. With the sun shining bright yesterday there was a variety of people enjoying their castle.
Here are a few of the people we saw out and about:

This little girl was so fascinated by the castle facts shown on the signs, she copied them down to read later at home.

We also chatted to a local youth group who were up at the castle filming the results of their research on it.

spot the castle!

Inspired by the notion that locals may not visit the castle regularly, but, always enjoy the view of it from their homes... Here are a few photos we took each showing a hint of the castle.

We would love to see the view of the castle you enjoy from your window...

Crookston Castle & a cup of tea...

Yesterday, we had the pleasure to talk to a few locals about Crookston Castle over a cup of tea at the village centre. They told us what they knew about the castle, when they visited it, the view they enjoyed of it from their homes and what they thought could improve it as a visitor attraction.

Frances: Remembers climbing up the castle tower as a child in the late 40's, she hasn't been up since but, has enjoyed the events that have been held at the castle... The castle was a place she also took her children when they were young. However she said "you've got to be fit to walk up the hill to the castle now!".

Tommy: Felt "there was no much up at the castle..." he believes a visitor centre, somewhere to have a cup of tea and maybe a children's play area would attract more visitors to the castle.

Betty: Enjoys the view of the castle from Lyoncross Rd... and would like to see what the castle looked like in its day.

Ena: Despite living in the area for roughly 43years, has never visited the castle. However, she told us "I have a great view of the castle from my living room window...". Ena also felt a hoist up to the castle would be good!

Janice: Lives on Brockburn Rd and enjoys the view of the castle from her bedroom window. She loves to see how the view changes through the different seasons (something to look out for!).

For those who are put off by the steep climb up to the castle, there are few parking spaces at the top so getting a lift up by car is always an option!

Bygone Times

Image taken from Wikimedia Commons

Please feel free to post any photos of the castle you may have taken through the years...

Crookston Castle Stories

While researching people's stories of Crookston Castle, we came across this person's childhood memory...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mo1960/2331620249/in/photostream/

If anyone has any stories of their own they would like to share, we would be interested to hear them.

From 'City Centre' to 'Crookston Castle'... (tip. take bus no.3)

After some investigation...

It emerged, that bus no. 3 (direction Silverburn) is the best way to get from the city centre to the castle. For anyone that wasn't sure how to get to the castle... there's no excuse now. Bus no. 3 even stops at the foot of the castle!

Below is a map showing the route of bus no.3 (with start & finish for visiting the castle):

Start = Union St

Finish = Brockburn Rd

Here's a collage visually mapping the journey:

Do you recognise this place?

Today we've been out in the sunshine asking people in Glasgow if they recognised this place and if they've been. Thumbs up = been there, thumbs down = never been there. We found about 10% of the people we asked recognised it and they were the ones that had been - and they all lived near by! Out of the hundred people we spoke to no tourists knew or had been to the castle and no one living anywhere else in Glasgow had been. Here's some of the people we spoke to today:

Here's a collage of everyone else we spoke to (those that were willing to be photographed):

we are curious about Crookston Castle

We are going to be out and about around Crookston Castle in the next few months finding out what people would like from the castle and what is going on in the local area. We're interested in what you would like to see happening there - facilities, services, resources, events. If you watch this blog we'll keep you updated with what we find. If you've got any comments, ideas or suggestions please leave us a comment or email us at info@wearecurious.com

The castle is hidden in an unexpected green spot amongst all the local houses with a spectacular view across Glasgow when you make the effort to climb its tower.