This is a very belated post about the scene that welcomed us back to Glasgow after our short break in Dublin. We had a wet summer, a wet autumn, and the rain didn't stop. In years gone by, the Cart would flood with such amounts of rain. Thanks to improved flood prevention, in spite of persistent and heavy rain, it has not flooded in a good while. One evening I ventured out and went for a very wet stroll. I had checked the depth of the Cart an hour earlier, and although it was still raining, it had actually gone down by about 20 cm. Still, the pictures show how close to flooding it had come. A small stream had become a powerful brown force between the glorious autumn leaves.

The Save Pollok Park Campaign has launched a new petition. To remind you, it's all about why having a Go Ape amusement is not a good idea for this particular park, which was bequeathed to the people of Glasgow, rather than commercial ventures. Having a Go Ape thingy there would seriously change the face of the park and make most of it out of bounds for people who don't have the money to pay the £20 entry for Go Ape.

Signatures are needed  to show Glasgow City Council we object to their plan to ignore the objections of the Maxwell family and the National Trust for Scotland.

How do you sign?
by going to the online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/spp2/petition.html
by downloading a paper copy from http://leyton.org/download/savepollokparkpetition.pdf
by calling 07775 832 461 and requesting copies by mail

Ah go on, it's quick and worth it.

Today is pothole day. Did you not know? Well, at least for me and maybe some others in Glasgow it is.

On my way to work this morning (on my pushbike as usual) I got waved at by two people who enlightened me that it would be a really good idea to tell the council about the potholes on my route and back. Apparently, the council is committed to fixing potholes on main roads within 24 hours of notification and 5 days on minor roads. This sounds too good to be true and I shall test the council. The main difficulty was to remember the location of the approximately 15 potholes that I tend to slalom around in order to make my way to work. That's on a 3 mile journey. I do believe I use a main road, but will give the road the benefit of the doubt and only expect repair within 5 days. To be honest, I'd be impressed if they got fixed in 10 days. Mind you, good to know that it was a city councillor who took the initiative of this campaign.

Anyway, I'm always game for a nice wee campaign and if this helps to make cycling more attractive, I'm all for it. Especially as I got a nice cycle map for Glasgow as a thank you (Thank you!!!). So for my dear readers who live in Glasgow and are cyclists, this is the number to ring: 0800 373635.

Some other campaigning to be undertaken is a letter of complaint to Sarah Kennedy. I really and truly hate waking up to her ignorant statement that "cyclists are dangerous. They always break the lights". Hello???!!! It's not cyclists who are dangerous. When did a cyclist last kill another road user? When did a car last kill another road user? Get my drift? It's CAR DRIVERS who are dangerous. And lorry drivers. And bus drivers. And taxi drivers. They kill, injure and behave like monkeys just because they've got a steering wheel in their hands - well, some of them. I'm a car driver too you see.
As to her second statement, cyclists who break lights are in the minority and her sweeping outburst is just offensive. How about cars that don't indicate, cut off cyclists, park on cycle lanes, open doors into the face of cyclist, don't allow cyclist to get into filter lanes, overtake without a safe distance, and in fact- break lights? Oh, shall I dig up the environmental argument? or how about the health argument? I'm sure you would agree that cycling contributes a little less to global warming and more to general health?

Sarah, you really and truly did not make my morning.

So far I thought I was in some sleepy city set scenically between hills, waterways and pastures green. From the day I arrived, being bussed passed this beautyspot that goes by the name of Queen's Park, that I'd end up living in. A leafy park, in the quiet south of Glasgow, duck pond inclusive, model boating pond, bandstand, flagpole on a hill, looking out to the Trossachs. Victorian built spacious park and tenement flats, feel good factor in the package. A park perfect for jogging (4 circumferences for a 10k run, with a perfect hill training terrain), walking, relaxing, piknicking, cygnet watching, duck feeding, going to glasshouses full of creepy crawlies, and now the perfect toddlekingdom for Cubling.

Except that the park has been closed for over a week now.
A week ago Moira Jones was found murdered in Queen's Park and it is apparent that the investigation hasn't got the foggiest as to who beat her to death after raping her. She lived on the same street where I used to live. She's my age. And I thought I'd passed the age of needing to be afraid of rapists.

I've always lived around Queen's Park from the day I first came to Glasgow. I know the area like my own trouser pocket (I don't do handbags). I never ever considered it unsafe, though I wouldn't necessarily walk in the park at night time, but that's just common sense. It's a family park for goodness sake, not a place for a murder. The police are taking it seriously which is good and bad. Of course the murderer needs to be found. Over a week on though, it feels like they can't possibly get any more evidence and that the investigation may not produce any result. In the meantime, the park has been taken over. Saturday's farmers market has been relocated and I just hope that the southside festival and Bungo in the lanes won't be affected by all this. The longer the park is peopleless, the more the murderers have won. To scare us, to make us feel unsafe, to claim the park to fear. At this time of the year, the park should be filled with people. Instead, it is empty apart from 100 police.

Amidst all this, there is the contradiction that the murder of a successful business woman in an affluent area of Glasgow makes for a major enquiry while just two days later, a man was killed in the nearby deprived Shawbridge area. That murder got a mere mention, while Moira Jones continues to make the headlines. Then again, you can picture a murder scene in Shawbridge, but you just couldn't in our beautiful Queen's Park