IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Gleniffer Road, PAISLEY, PA2 8UL

Was meant to be a hotel, became a Christian Conference and Retreat Centre, but unsure of its present function.

For a view of the well as a whole, and for further information, see Image The detail in the present photograph is a medallion bust of Hugh Macdonald. The surrounding text is a verse from "The Bonnie Wee Well", and reads: The bonnie wee well on the breist o' the brae, Where the hare steals to drink in the gloamin' sae gray, Where the wild moorlan' birds dip their nebs and tak' wing, And the lark weets his whistle ere mounting to sing. Hugh Macdonald / Died 1860 / Erected 1883.

For a view of the well as a whole, and for further information, see Image

The well, a memorial to the poet Hugh Macdonald, is located beside Image, at Macdonald's Rest, within the bounds of Gleniffer Braes Country Park; for further comments on its location, see the link given earlier in this paragraph. [The following information was largely drawn from the second volume of "Paisley Poets, with brief memoirs of them, and selections from their poetry" (1890), by Robert Brown.] A few years after Hugh Macdonald's death, a smaller structure (the original "Bonnie Wee Well", named after the title of one of his poems) was erected here, to the poet's memory, by the Glasgow Ramblers' Club. This first memorial was damaged on several occasions, and was finally removed to Glasgow Green. The Paisley Old Weaver's Society then raised funds for a new memorial. Of the various designs that were submitted, that of Angus Ferguson, a glazier, was selected. That new memorial, shown in my photograph, was erected in the same place as the earlier one, and is the work of the sculptor John Gordon, with the exception of the bronze portrait medallion at the top, which is by John Mossman, and which is shown in Image The inauguration of the well, in 1883, was attended by a crowd of six or seven thousand people. This memorial, which is listed, is fairly large; it measures roughly nine feet by four. However, a verse from the above-mentioned poem "The Bonnie Wee Well" is inscribed on the portrait medallion; it was therefore only natural that this would become the well-established name for the memorial. For example, that name is used on the maps that appear on information panels throughout Gleniffer Braes Country Park (such as at the Image). For another detail from the well, see Image, which shows the basin at the bottom.

The building on the right is called Kingdom House ("a Christian Conference and Retreat Centre"), and is located at Macdonald's Rest. Not visible from this angle, but inset on the same side of the road, on the near side of that building, is Image

The country park is a very popular area with dog walkers. There is a good network of paths and plenty of open space. The view here is over Foxbar on the edge of Paisley.

Looking over Stanely Reservoir and Paisley from Gleniffer Braes Country Park.

Just to the east of the Robertson Car Park.

As shown here, a toposcope is situated at the viewpoint in Image; it is shown and discussed in Image In the present photograph, the background shows Image; for the nearer building at the foot of the slope, see Image Compare Image, an image of this viewpoint from a different angle.

In the foreground is the toposcope, gifted by John Robertson, that occupies this viewpoint in Image It is discussed separately in Image The tower block that can be seen on the left is Oliphant Court (Image), which is located on Heriot Avenue in the Foxbar area. Compare Image, which shows another part of the view from this point.