The Secrets of Glasgow’s Green Belts are to be revealed in a Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Inspiring People talk at the Easterbrook Hall in Dumfries on Monday (October 21).
Speaker, Kat Jones, is an enthusiast for the adventure to be found in the local and the familiar – exploring the unknown places which lie metres from a commuter route, or down a bank from a housing estate.
And, at 7.30pm in the Gilchrist Room, on the Bankend Road’s Crichton estate, she will share stories from her journey to circumnavigate the 11 designated green belts around Greater Glasgow and how it turned into a 300km peri-urban adventure, finding wildlife havens among the landfills, quarries and golf courses, while negotiating routes over ground criss-crossed with dual carriageways, motorways and railways.
Full of surprises and observations, her journey reinforced her belief that “the true value of Scotland’s world-leading access legislation lies in our right to walk in the countryside right on our doorstep”.
Gearing up for her talk, she said: “The RSGS lecture series may be known for inspirational stories of adventure and endurance from the four corners of the earth, but, in walking Glasgow’s Green Belts, I have discovered that there is adventure to be found in the most familiar places. I am really looking forward to sharing some of the unusual places I visited and the people I met on my 300km route around the periphery of Glasgow.
“I have always loved maps and during this adventure, I found so much joy in the simplicity of studying a map and then heading off to forge a route between two points. I hope that I can, in my lecture, celebrate the incredible freedom that we have in Scotland, thanks to our access rights, to wander and to explore, wherever the map leads.”
• RSGS Inspiring People talks are open to all, tickets are free for RSGS Members, Students and U’18s and £15 for general admission. Tickets are available to book online in advance at rsgs.org/events, and some may also be available at the door.