Southside Routes aim for Glasgow tourist maps

The Southside Routes group is taking off, having secured funding of £5,000 from the Association of Community Rail Partnerships and Abellio to put up posters at nearby train stations to mark southside attractions, as well as plans for a website, social media and map leaflets.

The group includes representatives from Holmwood House, House for an Art Lover, Hampden Park, Pollok House, Glasgow Life, Pollokshields Heritage and Govan Workspace — but southsiders are welcome to join the cause too.

Southside Routes chair Julie Gilliland — property manager for Holmwood House — told The Extra: “We were all working individually but felt that more focus was needed when it came to attracting tourists.

“There’s a lot of information out there about the city centre and the westend, so we wanted to pull resources and campaign for extra assistance in promoting the southside of Glasgow too.”

Julie continued: “We’re looking to increase visitor numbers but it’s also to promote what we have on our own doorstep, for local people. We always hear that we’re hard to find at Holmwood House for instance, so a map at Cathcart station pointing us out makes it a bit easier for people to find us.

“We’re also trying to involve as many people as possible in the project. Heritage isn’t just about country houses — it means all sorts of things to different people.

“We’d really love to work with anyone in the southside who thinks they could be part of the group. The more people involved, the stronger we are.”

Southside Routes has received support from Cathcart MSP James Dornan. Writing a column in last week’s Extra, he said: “The southside is brimming with many great places for tourists. Bringing more people to the southside means more money being spent in our area, and that can only be a positive thing for us all.”

Chair Julie welcomes anyone else interested in Southside Routes to get in touch at [email protected].