Caching around Rosshall Park
I’m in Glasgow for a much-needed writing retreat (and a bit of cat-sitting). And one of the things that help to keep me going on writing-intensive retreats is getting out for mini-adventures. So once I finished today’s to-do list, that’s just what I did, I went on a mini-adventure!
Today’s adventure combined the joys of a geocaching trail with the necessity of a grocery shop. But the latter isn’t that interesting, so I’ll just stick with the former!
Having recently upgraded my Geocaching membership, I am now able to locate “premium” caches. And that’s what led me to Rosshall Park where there is a series of five caches hidden. It is quite near where I am housesitting, and quite near my adventure to Crookston Castle earlier this year.
Rosshall Park sits on the former Ross Hall Estate which was developed by the Rosse family of Hawkhead. They originally owned the land and have a long association with the area dating back as far as the 13th century. In the early 18th century the estate was owned by a Glasgow merchant, Peter Murdoch. He is the one who laid out the grounds of the first house on the estate, known as Rosshill. He also planted trees and created several walks forming the basis of the current landscape.
In the 1870s, the estate was purchased by James Cowan who built the distinctive three-storey red sandstone house to replace the first house. After the Cowan died in 1907, the estate was purchased by Fredrick Lobnitz. He further developed the estate – especially the rock gardens where he introduced many new plants imported from overseas. The rock garden is now a listed garden and includes a grotto with lots of great paths to explore. The house is now part of BMI Ross Hospital.
Anyhow, those geocaches! There are five caches placed around the park. They are fairly easy finds, but with the high “muggle” count, it can be a bit challenging to collect some of them. But pretending to tie your shoes works as a good cover when required!
Sadly, one of the five caches was unattainable due to heavy muggle activity. However, I will attempt to grab it another time. I did, however, stop off at Crookston Castle again to grab a cache there that I had neglected to get whilst I was at the castle earlier this year. So, I still did manage five caches for the day!
And, as mentioned earlier, I managed to get all of my groceries, too. That means I am now set up (nutritionally) for a busy and productive week of writing my PhD thesis. If all goes to plan, I will have all four of my findings chapters drafted by Easter Monday! I will also manage a couple more mini-adventures and a couple good training runs, too! Stay tuned to see how I get on…
