Kelvingrove Park – Bridges, Bronzes and a Carved Fountain
Kelvingrove Park lies along the River Kelvin below the tower of the University, and it held three of Glasgow's great exhibitions between 1888 and 1911.
The Friends of Kelvingrove Park have set out a heritage walk of fifteen things to find in it: old bridges, a carved fountain and a company of statues. It's a walk for an autumn afternoon.
- Time
- Fifteen stops round the park, in any order.
- The path
- The paths by the river are level. The park climbs steeply towards Park Circus, and the Park Gardens staircase is a flight of granite steps.
- Where to start
- The Kelvingrove museum's car park, beside the park, from £3 an hour, or Bunhouse Road by the Kelvin Hall. Kelvinbridge Subway station is a short walk from the park.
- When to go
- All year, and at its best from late October into November, when the trees along the Kelvin turn gold. From November the light goes by late afternoon, so walk it by day.
- Dogs
- A public park.
- Children
- A bronze tigress, a soldier climbing a rock and a statue in a traffic cone.
- Toilets
- Public toilets at the bandstand entrance on Kelvin Way and in the Kelvingrove museum.
The walk
The park is free and open at all hours. The Kelvingrove museum's car park is beside it, and Kelvinbridge Subway station is a short walk away. There's no set way round. The Friends of Kelvingrove Park's heritage walk is fifteen things to find, with a map on their website, and they can be taken in any order.
Begin with the bridges over the Kelvin. The Snow Bridge, from about 1800, is named for the gates in its parapet, where carts once tipped cleared snow into the river. The Kelvin Way Bridge waited years for its four bronze groups, and two of them were blown into the water in the Blitz of 1941. The Stewart Memorial Fountain was built in 1871 and 1872 to mark the coming of the city's water from Loch Katrine.
The Lady of the Lake stands on top. Among the statues, Lord Kelvin and Lord Lister sit side by side in bronze, and Thomas Carlyle rises out of rough granite. Don't be surprised to find a traffic cone on one of them.
If it rains
Open paths with little shelter. The Kelvingrove museum, beside the park, is the place to wait out a shower.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Moment Blythswood Street. Sleeps 2.
For further reading, before you go.