Fernbrae Meadows
Fernbrae Meadows is a public greenspace in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located on high ground to the south of Rutherglen, specifically directly south of the Fernhill neighbourhood. It is a proposed local nature reserve.[1][2]
History
The park was created between 2015 and 2019,[3][4] following the closure of Blairbeth Golf Course, which had operated there since 1956.[5][6] It was named Fernbrae Meadows following consultation with the local community.[7] The park lies adjacent to Cathkin Braes Country Park.[8]
In 1854, journalist Hugh MacDonald published Rambles Round Glasgow in which he describes a visit to the area thus:
From Stonelaw to Cathkin the road gradually ascends through a delightful succession of gently swelling knolls and fields in a high state of cultivation, interspersed with clumps of wood and fine belts of planting, the haunts of numerous birds, and at this season of love ringing merrily with their sweetest melodies.[9]
Archaeologists and antiquarians have drawn attention to the existence of prehistoric burial mounds and cairns in the surrounding area.[10][11][2]
Biodiversity
The recent development of Fernbrae Meadows has created a number of habitats, including wildflower meadow, woodland, wetlands and marshy grassland.
The grasslands contain holcus lanatus, rough meadow-grass, meadow foxtail, bush vetch, common hogweed, sweet vernal-grass, meadow vetchling, broad-leaved dock, field forget me not, common sorrel and bracken.
Wet areas contain meadowsweet, soft-rush, marsh Thistle, sharp-flowered Rush, common yellow sedge, oval sedge, marsh-bedstraw and marsh marigold.[2]
References
- ^ "Local Development Plan 2 : Proposed Plan Vol. 1" (PDF). South Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ a b c McVey, Lisa. "Local Nature Reserves in South Lanarkshire". www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ "A very merry meadow". Green Infrastructure Scotland. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ Teenager rushed to hospital after large scale fight breaks out in Fernhill, Daily Record, 24 April 2019
- ^ "Fernbrae Meadows". Green Infrastructure Scotland. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ Geddes, Jonathan (15 March 2018). "Plans to turn Blairbeth Golf Club into an urban park have been approved". Daily Record.
- ^ "Creating a new urban park at Fernbrae Meadows". Greenspace Scotland.
- ^ The Cityford Burn, Rutherglen Heritage Society
- ^ MacDonald, Hugh (1854). Rambles Round Glasgow. James Hedderwick.
- ^ Topen, Dennis (1995). An archaeological field survey of Cathkin Braes Country Park. Association of Certificated Field Archaeologists University of Glasgow.
- ^ Mearns, Jim (2011). "The journalist, the minister and the lost cairnfield of Cathkin Braes". Scottish Archaeological Journal. 33 (1–2): 66.
External links
- Friends of Fernbrae Meadows on Facebook
