Design Hero

Titan Crane

Whitecrook · 1.2 miles

Titan Clydebank, more commonly known as the Titan Crane is a 161-foot-high (49 m) cantilever crane at Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was designed to be used in the lifting of heavy equipment, such as engines and boilers, during the fitting-out of battleships and ocean liners at the John Brown & Company shipyard. It was also the world's first electrically powered cantilever crane, and the largest crane of its type at the time of its completion.

Crookston Castle

Pollok · 3.7 miles

A ruined medieval stronghold sits on a hill above the Levern Water, just before its meeting with the White Cart, roughly five miles south-west of Glasgow city centre. The site, known as Crookston Castle, lies within the Pollok area and forms part of the historic landscape that includes a 12th-century defensive ring ditch. The stone castle was erected by the Stewarts of Darnley around 1400, replacing an earlier timber and earth structure built by Sir Robert de Croc. Over the centuries it passed through the hands of the earls and dukes of Lennox, endured a cannon bombardment in 1489, and was besieged in April 1544. After periods of abandonment it was partially restored in 1847 for Queen Victoria’s visit and, in 1931, became the first property acquired by the National Trust for Scotland. Today it is a scheduled monument and the second-oldest building in Glasgow after the cathedral. The remaining fabric consists of a rectangular main block with a surviving north-east corner tower, a basement, and the vaulted hall on the first floor. Modern iron ladders provide access to the tower’s four storeys and a roof platform that offers extensive views across the surrounding countryside. Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for maintenance, and the castle is open to visitors; opening times are published on the listing. No admission fee is recorded in the supplied data, and the site is accessed on foot from the nearby Pollok area.

Castlehill Fort

Bonnaughton · 3.7 miles

A Roman fort that formed part of the Antonine Wall lies on the hilltop known as Castlehill, an archaeological site recorded in the OpenStreetMap database with Bonnaughton as the nearest town. The remains sit in East Dunbartonshire, positioned west of Bearsden, east of Duntocher and south of the A810 Duntocher Road. Today the most visible feature is a circular plantation of beech trees that marks the summit, from which a broad panorama of the surrounding landscape can be taken. Occasional signage attempts to indicate the line of the Antonine Wall, although the exact course is difficult to discern at this point. The fort occupied a strategic position between the larger installations at Bearsden and Duntocher, with a smaller fortlet at Cleddans intervening and Hutcheson Hill even nearer. Archaeological discoveries at the site include two Roman distance slabs that record the construction of 3666.5 paces of wall by the Sixth Legion; one slab, found in 1803 on Low Millochan farm, bears decorative pelta shields flanked by rosettes, while a second slab was recovered by a farmer in 1826. An altar dedicated to the Matres Campestres and Britannia was also uncovered in 1826. Such finds echo the typical garrison size of around 500 men for forts along the wall, with larger neighbouring forts housing up to a thousand. Visitors reach Castlehill via the A810, and the site is open to the public without an admission charge. No visitor facilities such as a car park, café or toilet block are mentioned, and the beech-tree enclosure provides the principal point of interest for those wishing to view the historic landscape.

Dawsholm Park Local Nature Reserve

Dawsholm · 3.7 miles

Woodland walks and open meadows dominate the 33-hectare expanse of this public park on the River Kelvin, north of the River Clyde. The reserve lies on the fringe of Glasgow’s Kelvindale, Maryhill and Temple districts and touches the southern part of Bearsden, with Dawsholm identified as the nearest settlement. Most of the area is covered by natural woodland, while the south-eastern corner offers grassland and wildflower meadows that attract a variety of local wildlife. The land was assembled in 1922 when Glasgow City Council bought the former Belvidere plantation and adjoining grassy fields from Sir Archibald Campbell of Succoth. A further parcel, contaminated with oil-shale waste, was gifted by Sir Archibald; the council levelled and grassed it to create a recreation zone that now hosts football pitches. In 2007 the council formally designated the site as a Local Nature Reserve, and a managed grazing scheme using Highland cattle is maintained to promote the development of the wildflower meadows. The park’s boundaries abut the University of Glasgow’s School of Veterinary Medicine, the Garscube sporting complex, the West of Scotland Science Park and one of the city’s four main waste-recycling facilities serving the north-west sector. Access is unrestricted, as the area forms part of the public park network, and there is no admission charge. Visitors can explore the woodland trails, observe the grazing cattle on the meadow, or use the football pitches situated on the eastern side of the reserve. The surrounding amenities, including the university and sports facilities, provide additional points of interest for those spending time in the park.

Riverside Museum

Govan · 3.7 miles

Set on the River Clyde at Pointhouse Quay in Glasgow’s Partick district, the Riverside Museum occupies a striking, angular building designed by Zaha Hadid Architects with engineering by Buro Happold. Opened to the public in June 2011 as part of the Glasgow Harbour regeneration scheme, the structure won the 2013 European Museum of the Year Award and sits opposite the confluence of the River Kelvin and the Clyde. A pedestrian and cycle link, the Govan–Partick Bridge, has been in use since 2024, providing direct access from the museum across the water to the Govan neighbourhood. The museum’s collections encompass a broad spectrum of transport heritage. Visitors can see the world’s oldest surviving pedal cycle, a substantial assembly of Scottish-built cars and trucks—including examples from Argyll, Arrol-Johnston and Albion—as well as a large showroom display sponsored by Arnold Clark. The Clyde Room holds around 250 ship models that illustrate the River Clyde’s shipbuilding legacy, while the railway and municipal transport galleries feature seven historic Glasgow tramcars, trolleybuses and a reconstruction of a 1930s street scene with a replica subway station and cinema. The site also allows the tall ship Glenlee and other visiting vessels to berth alongside the museum. Opening times are published on the museum’s website, and the venue is reachable on foot or by cycle via the new bridge, with further access through the surrounding Partick area.

The Clydeside Distillery

Kelvinhaugh · 4.3 miles

Located on the River Clyde’s quayside in Glasgow, the Clydeside Distillery occupies the former pump house that once managed water levels for the Queen’s Dock. The site, refurbished in 2017, lies just west of the SEC Centre and is linked to the Kelvinhaugh and Yorkhill neighbourhoods by a footbridge that passes beneath the Clydeside Expressway and the Argyle Line railway. Vehicles reach the distillery via Stobcross Road, which connects to the expressway at the Finnieston and Pointhouse exits. Water used in production is drawn from Loch Katrine in the nearby Trossachs. When production started in 2017, Clydeside became the second active distillery in Glasgow after a century-long gap. The enterprise is operated by Morrison Glasgow Distillers Limited, with Tim Morrison as principal owner and Andrew Morrison as operations director; the family’s historic ties to the dock date back to John Morrison’s 19th-century construction of the original pump house. The distillery’s facilities include two two-tonne Forsyth stills and a capacity of up to 500,000 litres of spirit per year, producing a Lowland-style single malt that entered the market in 2021 under the Stobcross label. Visitors can join interactive tours that showcase the production process, and the premises house a shop and a café. Pedestrian access is provided by the footbridge, while parking is available in the adjacent SEC car park. The location’s industrial setting and proximity to cultural venues such as the SWG3 arts space make it a distinctive point of interest along Glasgow’s waterfront.