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There was an old English radio presenter (Tommy Boyd) who once talked about "the Glasgow glow" umpteen years ago. One night he randomly started enthusing about the feeling he got heading North on the M74 one night, when he headed past Abington and over the moors near Lesmahagow. Because Glasgow sits in a bowl in the Clyde Valley, you get the odd peek of the lights as you approach the city (I've seen a noticeable glow behind Ben Lomond before heading South near Tarbet). And then finally, once you pass the last hill, there it is: The Glasgow Glow.
Technically light pollution isn't really something to be celebrated, but I always thought it would be nice to get a proper view of the 'Glasgow Glow' from a nearby hill. I searched online for the phrase, because the presenter had suggested it was a famous thing with name value, but bizarrely there was nothing. No photos, chat or anything. It seemed like he'd just made the concept up by myself. So does Glasgow have more of a 'glow' than other cities, because of the topography of the Campsies, Kilpatricks and Eaglesham / Fenwick Moor?
My wife announced she was having a Girls' Night In one Friday night in April 2015. I had to scarper, so scarper I did. I jumped on the train straight from High Street to Old Kilpatrick.
I arrived just before 7pm. Sunset was due at around 8.10pm, and I don't think I had a proper torch, so I'd really have to get my skates on to reach the summit of Duncolm and get back to the track safely. But conditions were great, with sunshine and some high light cloud.
The track is great because of the reservoir at Loch Humphrey (it's actually a road to be fair). And Duncolm must be one of the only Scottish hills to have accommodation halfway up (well, 1/4 of the way up) at Gavinburn Cottages.
Views were very hazy back towards Clydebank, and Glasgow was actually hidden as a result. Would this affect the 'Glasgow Glow'?
Still a great surface as the road heads up towards the big right turn above the Kilpatrick Braes.
I passed two other people, who were also up here surprisingly late. At some point I ended up running - I think both ways, possibly. From looking at the timestamps it's not really possible to get up and down in less than three hours without jogging at least a few times.
Oh yeah, we're on a flightpath too.
After only 45 minutes (I really must have been jogging by this point), Loch Humphrey appeared, along wth loads of pylons.
The summit is somewhere through there, but the road is about to give up soon.
A track continued for a bit, then turned into a fainter path. Duncolm is behind Little Duncolm and Middle Duncolm, so the path weaved to the left of the first two hills.
The final climb. But it's already 8.06pm so I think sunset is like five minutes away?
Phew! I'm here, bang on 8.12pm, which is I think is the exact moment of sunset. Now, how to get down in the dark...?
The first lights were beginning to appear in Glasgow, so it looked like the haze was disappearing just in time.
Yeah, er, should probably get going now...
Yeah, like, RIGHT now.
Already the clouds were starting to turn a weird purple-ish.
I reached Loch Humphrey less than 20 minutes after leaving the summit. I think I was doing quite a lot of jogging by this point.
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Oh dear. Err. But at least the Glasgow Glow is starting to properly form behind the hills?
Ok um I can't see much now. Just got to get round the corner now to the Kilpatrick Braes again. In all seriousness I might need the Glasgow Glow to help me back home.
There she is!
I don't know what this was. Something over to the right maybe - Erskine? Bishopton?
Yaaaasssss. I know where that is.
It's a proper glow. Tommy Boyd was right. You don't notice it when you're stood in Glasgow at night, because, well, you're already there. You know you can see much fewer stars than someone in Galloway, but other than that you don't really think about it much.
This last photo was only 2hrs 15mins after leaving, so I think I must have been constantly running by now. I was well down the hill now, so the road is safe enough as long as you're careful. Maybe I was using the torch on my phone (I'm not sure, as seven years is a long time). Or maybe the Glasgow Glow was guiding me back to the station. I must have got back at around 9.45pm for the train back home.
The next day I put the last photo through a filter thing to exaggerate the light, for a laugh. It's a great walk for a summer's evening, as you would have more time than I did to saunter up there. It was a great experience to get the classic La La Land view of Glasgow, a full four years before La La Land...
