This is an extract from a walkers diary - seems we still have some way to go when it comes to providing visitors with hospitality....
Um... Kilsyth

The Falkirk Wheel
The canal miles plodded by and eventually I turned north for Kilsyth, my weary destination for the day and home to yet another surprise. But before I tell you what I think about Kilsyth, it's only fair that I try to pick out the positive side of this little town, because everywhere has its good points and being balanced in one's criticism is a laudable journalistic value. Ready? Here goes.

My bed and breakfast in Kilsyth was superb. Tucked out on the northern edge of town, Allanfauld Farm had a wonderfully warm welcome, a luxurious bath, a soft double bed, great decor and an atmosphere that was as good as any B&B I've visited on my trip. I loved it and I'd recommend it to anyone. Similarly, Kilsyth has a lovely old part of town that's clustered round a well-crafted park, with a couple of little streams babbling past the houses with their manicured gardens and pretty architecture. And on the northern edge of town, just before you get to Allanfauld, the houses are large, discreetly hidden behind hedges and trees, and are very pleasant places indeed. Kilsyth has much going for it.


The extremely long and straight Forth and Clyde Canal near Kilsyth
But I can only assume that back in the 1960s one of the big cheeses on the council estate planning committee had just gone through a nasty divorce and his wife had taken the kids, sold the house and moved in with her parents in Kilsyth. Nothing else can explain why this idyllic little village centre is surrounded by the ugliest, most insensitive developmental insult that you're ever likely to see. Beyond the borders of the old part of Kilsyth are streets and streets of pebbledash houses that are well past their sell-by date, their grey ugliness seemingly washing off in the rain and forming rivulets of mould down the sides of the buildings. The high street is full of boarded-up shops, the only survivors being a mediocre supermarket, a Post Office, the odd hair salon, a couple of bakers, and a tattoo and piercing emporium; I wandered into town at four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, expecting the high street to be buzzing with happy locals, but those shops that hadn't yet gone out of business were firmly shut and locked up behind impressive steel cages, and the only signs of life shuffled past with the sallow, disaffected complexions of those who do little but worship at the altar of PlayStation.


A poetic sign in Kilsyth
People couldn't believe what they saw when I wandered into town. They didn't smile, they just stared; despite being within a stone's throw of the new Millennium Link, the locals were evidently quite unnerved by the sight of a long-distance walker in their midst. I felt totally alien; I also felt completely unwelcome.

Even the pubs were disastrous. I ordered a pint at the Scarecrow just as the jukebox kicked in with 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', and when I asked if they were doing food, I could hardly hear the bar girl's reply above the impromptu karaoke that the group at the end of the bar decided to inflict on the otherwise empty pub. 'Sorry, kitchen's closed,' she repeated, so I collected my pint and drank it swiftly in the corner. The second pub looked even worse – I didn't even bother to go inside, because it looked like a motorway café but without the character – and instead I resorted to buying fish and chips off the sullen girls in the local fish bar and sat in the old part of town, trying to pretend that the concrete disaster beyond the park gates didn't really exist.

Still, my B&B was great. I did mention that, didn't I?

Excellent article. I read it over three times.I!m glad to hear that I am not the only one that feels the way I do about Kilsyth.I was born in Kilsyth at the age of eleven I was taken from my home and brought to America.Kilsyth never left my heart. I dreamed of the day that I would return.When I did come back ,I was astonished to see what had happened to my sweet little town.After a few holidays in Kilsyth, I decided that I would spend my remaining years there.BIG MISTAKE! I spent four months there.If it was!nt for a couple of cousins and a few friends I had made, I would of shrivilled up before my time.So I headed back to America.Believe me when I say Kilsyth was not always that way. The town has so much to offer.Tourists would love it as part of their touring holiday.IF IT WAS CLEANED UP especially Main st.The area has so much wonderful and interesting history that is dying along with the withering population. Please answer.scotchgranny@aol.com

IT IS GOOD THAT SOME-BODY THROUGH STRANGERS EYES CAN SEE WHAT WE THE LOCALS DO NOT-------NAMELY WE HAVE LET THIS WEE TOON DOON--
WHEN WE WERE YOUNG IT WAS RUN BY LOCAL COUNCILLORS PEOPLE YOU KNEW ----PEOPLE WHO CARED--
WE HAVE BEEN SWALLOWED UP BY GOVERMENT LAWS THAT IN MY DAY WERE NOT THERE---THINK ABOUT IT-WE PAY FOR LOCAL GOVERMENT---SCOTTISH GOVERMENT-----WESTMINSTER GOVERMENT---AND EUROPIAN GOVERMENT-IT MUST BE COSTING THIS WEE COUNTRY OF OURS A FORTUNE THAT COULD BRING THE WHOLE OF AFRICA OUT OF POVERTY FOR EVER---APPATHY HAS SET IN FOLKS-HELP---LETS MAKE IT BETTER -----WOOF-WOOF-GRRRRRRRR

You know Bow-wow, |I agree with the first part - WE have let the town down. When you think about it, the writer of that piece was more bothered by the drab attitudes than the drab municipal architecture - it was the dreary looks in the main street, the dreary welcome from the Scarecrow pub, and the sullen girls in the fish shop that he remembers, as well as the great welcome at the Allanfauld farm B&B (credit where credit is due!)

Its funny actually , I get a great welcome now from Angelo's staff because they know me well, but when I first came here I remember that blank stare too, and it wasn't very welcoming. Great fish supper...but: poor customer care, - zero expectations. Now I love the staff there to death, but they took some warming up before I could pursuade them to smile when I walked in with my order!

A couple of weeks ago I visited a wee town in Cumbria called Sedbergh, and they have the same basic problems as us, but boy are they making an effort - their pubs and hotels were friendly - lots of great specialty gift shops and bookshops - the place was welcoming and excellent despite the driech weather. We all met up there as a big family gathering at the Bull Hotel and between the 25 of us probably spent several thousand pounds over two days on food, drinks and accommodation. Kilsyth could do with a bit of that kind of business, couldnt it?

Hi Rob! I couldn!t agree with you more.My thoughts exactly.Bow-Wow is right though, the town needs to be run by Local.and younger Men and Women. In other words. Next election day CLEAN HOUSE . Why don!t you run for a seat on the council?Sounds to me that you are a man that gets things done.

I Hope to come back over for a visit the summer of this year.If my health permits it so.I think I will stay at Alan Falls Farm. Regards Bette