Pollok Park and The Burrell Collection

We were in Glasgow visiting a friend last week, and on the way back saw signs for The Burrell Collection, but time we saw the signs and thought about going we were in the wrong lane on the motorway to cut across, so we decided this week we would stop on the way back from our visit.

So we packed up a picnic to enjoy while we were out and after our visit pulled into the right lane on the motor way and diverted round. We have been to The Burrell Collection before, but it must be the best part of fifteen years since we were last there.

Its a brilliant day out, and as with so many museums in Scotland it is a free day out. Though we did pay £1 to park for the full day and you can, if you wish, as with any Scottish museum, you can make a contribution.

First off we went and looked round

The Burrell Collection;

The collection is named after its donor, the shipping magnate Sir William Burrell. It’s one of the greatest collections ever created by one person, comprising over 8000 objects.

Sir William Burrell (1861-1958) was a successful shipping agent in Glasgow.  Upon the early death of his father, William and his elder brother, George, took over management of the family firm, Burrell & Son, which expanded rapidly to a position of international standing.  By 1918, the brothers decided to sell off almost the entire Burrell shipping fleet.  William devoted the rest of his long life to amassing the bulk of his art collection.

In 1944, Sir William and Lady Burrell signed the Deed of Gift of their collection to the City of Glasgow - the place of their birth and the centre of their families' business activities.

In 1967, in another wonderful act of generosity, Mrs Anne Maxwell Macdonald and her family gifted Pollok House with its fine collection of Spanish paintings - and 360 acres of Pollok Estate - to the City of Glasgow.  It was generally agreed that Pollok Estate offered an opportunity for the finest of rural setting.

I love the bright airy building nestled in amongst woodland. The museum houses a courtyard outside. Inside there are tapestries as well as Chinese, Gothic and Islamic art work.  It covers artefacts from Egypt, Greece and Rome. There are displays of armour, stained glass and small textiles. I like the rooms that are laid out as a re-construction of how they would have been back in the day that the family lived in Hutton Castle, the family home.

The Collection is celebrating its 30th birthday this week, with free activities for all the family.

Enjoy storytelling in our Chinese pagoda, Arms and Armour demonstrations, soft play for pre 5’s, a dressing up area with historical costumes, object handling sessions with real museum objects plus guided tours of the galleries throughout the day.

 Get creative by adding your mark to our Giant paper collage, create your own Persian Star tile, design and make your own birthday badge, or take part in our new Burrell objects quiz and trail, with a prize for the winner on the day.

The museum will be transformed with live music from Classical Opera student Drishti Bundhoo from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and you will experience traditional Scottish dance music from the lively three piece Loudon Ceilidh band.

As if all this wasn't enough, visitors can claim a 10% discount* in the Burrell museum shop as part of the celebrations.

We went and sat in the grounds and had our lunch, The play park, the highland cattle and the pond are at the end of the park where the Burrell Collection is. We did see the play  park, it was very large and well equipped, but as I didn't have the children with me I did not take any photographs. There are marked walks that takes you round the pond and the highland cows but we did not go round these.


We decided after lunch we were going  over to Pollok House. We had forgotten to pick up our National Trust passes so we didn't actually go in.

Pollok House

A grand country house near Glasgow city centre, Pollok House is Scotland’s answer to Downton Abbey and gives a real taste of upstairs/downstairs life in the 1930s.

Above stairs, the lavish family rooms are packed full of period furniture and furnishings, as well as the UK’s finest collection of Spanish art, including paintings by El Greco, Goya and Murillo. Below stairs the vast servants’ quarters show the realities of running a country house.

Set in the scenic surroundings of Pollok Country Park, which is also home to the Burrell Collection, Pollok House is an enjoyable, educational and entertaining day out for all the family.

Pollok Country Park

Pollok Country Park - Glasgow’s largest park and the only Country Park within the city - features the impressive Pollok House as well as the renowned Burrell Collection.

The park was voted Best Park in Britain 2007 and Europe's Best Park 2008. Its extensive woodlands
and gardens provide a quiet sanctuary for both visitors and wildlife.

Within the park there is also a walled garden, the Old Stable Courtyard and Sawmill, a play park, a mountain bike circuit, a wildlife garden, woodland walks, riverside walks and Highland cattle.

We parked the car at the riverside walk and walked along White Cart Water. We saw ducks jumping off  of here into the water and the children that were around were laughing and cheering as they jumped. We followed the walk along to the weir at the old sawmill.


We went into the old stable yard which house the Education Centre and the public toilets. The only thing I was not keen on here is the fact the same toilets are used by men and women and contains two cubicles in the one room, so I would suggest you go in with your older children that you may normally wait outside for.

The Stables are still used by the big Clydesdale horses. The horses were providing horse drawn carriage rides as it is the local school October week. I did ask and again the rides were free but if you wanted you could put in a donation for a horse charity.

We were in the park for over three hours and saw very little of it really. The park is huge and has so so much to offer. Take a picnic and spend the day. The weather was dry when we were there but even in the wet weather the place would still have lots to offer, just pop on your wellies and waterproofs and let the children run free.

I took more photographs while we were there and have added them to a Google+ album which you can see here

Disclosure - this is sponsored post but the event did happen and its all my own work,