Parker’s Way

ONE of my favourite countryside corners is Mary’s Wood.Read

I Shall Arise from the Dead

One of my favourite poems is Elegy in a Country Churchyard, by Thomas Gray (1716-71).Read

Parker's Way

September heralds the dark season’s arrival in the countryside.Read

PARKER’S WAY: In those days kids worked in the mines

DURING the 19th century, it was legal for children to be employed in coal mines.Read

derek parker

Parker’s Way

WHILE working as a countryside ranger, I cycled to Muirshiel country park, 800 feet above sea level in the Lochwinnoch hills.Read

derek parker

PARKER’s WAY: The White Cart is river of romance

ONE of my favourite composers is Austrian-born Johann Strauss the Younger.Read

PARKER’S WAY: Fond farewell to Captain Lawrie

I WAS saddened to hear of the passing of Captain Murray Lawrie, of the 1st Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade.Read

Johnstone High Church

PARKER’S WAY: Minister’s tragic story

THE inscrutable role of irreversible fate in human destiny is enshrined in the haunting lines of the 12th century Persian poem, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.Read

PARKER’S WAY: History of the Braes

ONE of the most iconic landmarks on the Gleniffer Braes is Hall of Caldwell crossroads between Paisley and Lugton.Read

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PARKER’S WAY: The glory of Merchiston House

THE highly-acclaimed Downton Abbey TV programme portrays life upstairs and downstairs in Britain’s great country houses during the early 20th century.Read

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Parker’s Way by Derek Parker

ONE of my most treasured personal possessions is an autographed photograph sent by a young Paisley seaman to his twin sister just before he died during the Second World War.Read

PARKER’S WAY: Paisley’s exotic plants

A COMBINATION of wet and sunny weather made this a wonderful year for one of the Paisley area’s most exotic plant families.Read

derek parker

Parker's Way: Pretty Church is a Picture

ONE of Renfrewshire’s prettiest churches is St Mary the Virgin, in its idyllic setting outside Bridge of Weir.Read

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PARKER'S WAY: Ghostly goings on in the woods

THE mouldering ruins of medieval Duchal Castle are rocky reminders of turbulent times of violence, bloodshed and family feuds.Read

derek parker

Parker's Way: Kilnside House was the crown of all crowns

FOR 150 years, elegant Kilnside House was a diadem in the crown of Paisley’s architectural heritage.Read

derek parker

Parker’s Way: Castle’s dark past unearthed

COUNTRY folk conversant with Gryffe Castle’s dark past feared the worst when Major Harold Glen-Coats purchased the historic mansion in 1931.Read

PARKER’S WAY: Iconic sailing ship commemorated Houston reverend’s son

OLDER Buddies will remember the iconic wooden black-and-white sailing ship that was moored at Broomielaw Quay in Glasgow.Read

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Parker’s Way: Woodside Disaster

IF Paisley man John Sydney Farrow was alive today, he’d be in his 80s and watching his great-grandchildren grow up.Read

derek parker

PARKER’S WAY: Check out this horticultural haven

FINLAYSTONE country estate, which lies just a few miles from Paisley town centre, is a horticultural heaven.Read

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