A fitness instructor has published a book of lockdown-inspired walks on Amazon.
Yvonne Carroll and husband Paul wanted fresh exercise routes to explore during the pandemic.
The challenge forced them to wander in new directions from their home in Kelvindale.
After pounding miles of paths and tracks, the couple thought they would share the collection with others.
The result: Glasgow’s West End Walks which is now available for download at £1.50 or for order in paperback.
The book is designed to be used with the locating app what3words instead of a map. Walks range in length from 4.5 miles to 13 miles.
Suitable for cycling
Many of the routes - both linear and circular - take in the River Kelvin and Forth & Clyde Canals and all are suitable for cycling.
Some routes are familiar - such as the walk along the River Kelvin into Kelvingrove Park.
But others take in less frequented parts of the city - such as Dawsholm Park, the Garscube Estate, the Western Necropolis, Drumchapel Way and Cairnhill Wood.
Yvonne told Glasgow West End Today: “I am a fitness instructor and not a publisher.
“Obviously, in lockdown I went from having work to not having work.
“I’d already had a go a while back at publishing on Kindle, so I thought I would give it another go.
“And we’d started finding new walks during lockdown.
'Go-to walk'
“And some of these walks we had just discovered because we were looking for somewhere else to go.
“The first walk in the book, to the University, is one that we do a lot.
“That was our go-to walk because we like to call in on a pub or cafe when we’re out.
“But in lockdown we thought we can’t keep doing this walk.
“You need to find other places to go - so we walked in the opposite direction along the river.”
Yvonne said they knew Dawsholm Park but hadn’t really explore routes through it.
They also weren’t familiar with all its residents.
“We didn’t know about the parakeets that have made their home there, so I mention them.
"I work in Garscube and I have classes there, but I’d never gone beyond the sports centre.
'Gorgeous'
“It is absolutely gorgeous there.
“I knew about Cairnhill Woods from my childhood when we lived in the Westerton area.
“But my mum mentioned woods in Drumchapel that she went to when she was a kid.
“So I went on the internet and found walks at Garscadden and the Drumchapel Way.”
The couple are keen outdoors people.
Yvonne published a book on Scotland’s North Coast 500 travel route on Amazon but says she is not an expert or particularly tech-minded.
She didn’t include maps in the digital book because she wasn’t sure about copyright.
“It was my husband who came up with the idea of using the What3words app.
“He’s the techy person out of the two of us.
“We think it works and helps people know where are they are along the route."
* Anyone interested in purchasing the book can see the link here.
