The Gyp

Queens Park Gyp- ill man's account of events

A clear and slightly chilly morning was presented to us for our first recorded Gyp. A brief bus journey was required from Glasgow city centre and dropped us off at the entrance to this famous old public park in the south side of the city. A short but rather steep climb was required to reach the glass house. Clairwil, knowing the terrain better than I had planned that we scale this peak first in the interests of getting it out of the way and not troubling our tired old legs any more than we needed to.

The glasshouse itself was a revelation. The heat hit me immediately and a bit of disrobing was required(easy ladies, all that came off was my scarf) The pond caused immediate interest. The majority of the fish were brightly coloured but rather small tropical numbers, though they were no match for the bottom feeding leviathans who lurked and darted around the other end of the pool. Observing all this with an air of mild bemusement were two tropical ducks. They were a little inactive, but their prescence gave the whole thing a slightly surreal air.

A quick look around the animal house was in order. The tropical birds and the Chinchillas being the stars of the show. Then it was off out again into the cold February air. The next port of call was the falgpole at the top of the park. The views out towards the North of the city were astonishing. The words "I Can See My House From Here" came to mind. I couldn't, but you know what I mean. On a completely clear day, I may just have been able to.............

Then it was down the hill to the duck pond. About half way down however, we were halted in our tracks by a pair of small dogs who indulged in the kind of frantic chasing that only little dogs seem able to muster. After a few moments watching this whirlwind of fallen leaves and dog hair we decided to move on to something a little more serene. A few ducks were seen hanging out with some swans on a small islet, probably up to no good but beyond that the vast majority of the bird population were small gulls and pigeons. Very nice they were too, but it was the handfull of Swans that piqued the interest of a few families at the waters edge.

A fine day was wrapped up with an excellent lunch and a few well earned drinks in a rather nice Kilmarnock Road hostelry.

Until next time.................

p.s I'll stick some photos up in a seperate post. Blogger is playing silly beggars with me and won't let me upload photos in this post.

posted by iLL Man @ 4:22 pm