Words & Photos by Sam Gibson
The Hardgate (or Faifley) Knowes consist of a rocky ridge which runs through Hardgate between the Faifley housing estate and Hardgate Golf course.
Perhaps the terrain gave the name to Hardgate itself as it was once on the main road from Old Kilpatrick to Glasgow and Stirling.
Once part of the large Auchinleck Farm, which was acquired after the war to house the many made homeless by the Clydebank Blitz, the Knowes area remained relatively undeveloped.
In the past it had been home to two quoiting clubs and several quarries.
Past Lives
The Clydebank Co-op once owned the whole of Auchinleck farm, had their own slaughterhouse at ‘Killers Lane’ (Whitecrook Street) and their creamery in Chalmers Street.
Part of the Knowes was kept for storing cattle by the Co-op after they sold the rest of the farm in the 1920s, only selling the west end of the Knowes to the council around 1980.
Part of that ground including quarries, was used to dump the main part of the Singer Sewing Machine factory, including the clock tower, when it had its ‘modernisation’ in 1960.
Currently the Knowes is having a makeover and, like the Saltings, is now designated a Local Nature Reserve.
Paths resurfaced, bridges rebuilt and steps bypassed to give better access for prams, bikes etc.
The aim is to encourage more people to exercise as well as providing a traffic-free route from parts of Faifley to the Hardgate shops.
Knowes New Woodland
Some 50 years ago the area was mostly heather and whin, trees having previously been kept down by grazing sheep and cattle.
With their removal, trees gradually took over and were supplemented by more planting by the current, and three previous, improvement projects.
The name being used is now ‘The Knowes Woodland’.
The old right of way to Craigton was re-routed through the Knowes some years ago and called the ‘Bankies Trek’ and now the ‘Clyde Coastal Path’ follows the same path.
It can also be used for walks up to the Auchnacraig Countryside Park and Cochno.
Come along and see for yourself.
Parking available behind the shops opposite Tesco, beside the Westhills Hotel, in Hardgate.
Bus stops near Hardgate roundabout or at the Faifley bus terminal