Just seven miles north of Central Glasgow by flying crow, this, erm, country park combines woodland, heathland, marshland and moor along with formal walking routes, a loch, castles and gunsites left over from WWII, alright.

It's the first place people pass through on the start of the West Highland Way, you know the 100-mile-long trek from Milngavie to Fort William although some people have been heard to bang on a bit too much about it.

That means there's some fun to be had by smugly sniggering at the prospect of the interminable slog up the east side of Loch Lomond that they currently have no idea of, hee-hee!

Here's the thing, we're not entirely sure how to get here other than a random car park appearing on a road out of Milngavie that still doesn't exist in SlyBob's mind.

Drumclog Moor might not sound the most enticing but it sounds authentic and you'll find it next to a reservoir where there's ample space to park and to get the old boots out of the boot.

They're not strictly necessary, by the way, the paths are well established but the park covers 270 hectares, which is 667 acres in old money, which is about 350 football pitches with room for throw-ins and corners.

That's not a massive area but big enough yet not so big that you'd have to be a complete idiot to lose your bearings but more on that in a minute.

A broad track heads west into the park and it's not far to where this will be a carpet of bluebells in a couple of weeks' time.

Oh! It already is a carpet of bluebells, a couple of weeks early given the usual visiting time of year. We're not used to seeing them out in such full force and that's down to milder winters and deceptively warm spells in spring before the frost has fully gone, probably.

We've seen the evidence and we're right with you now, right Greta?

Bearing left will bring you to meet the West Highland Way but that's ancient history and a path on the right through ancient woodland eventually leads down to what's believed to be called a 'burn'.

When we say ancient woodland, it's our understanding that simply means a load of trees that hasn't got all pines in it. There's at least one pine in here, though, a pine marten - WOW!

Too quick for these not-so-nimble fingers, it scampered across the path then into undergrowth refusing to reveal itself again, it honestly did.

This was the first in the fur, so to speak, and with fewer than 4,000 estimated to live in Scotland, what a rare treat considering this isn't even a particular stronghold.

Sly didn't even see it so Bob will be talking of nothing else for the rest of the week although a couple of ranger types won't be quite so impressed.

I'm sure there was a shrug and an 'Aye we hae thaim', which roughly translates as 'Yes, whatever.'

Random signposts point to a castle and a fair bit of the 14th-century fortification still stands. The West Highland Way follows an age-old route and this high spot meant an eye could be kept on the comings and goings.

The Grahams were the main clan occupiers although the Campbells claimed brief ownership and the Buchanans of Ross Priory fame tried their best to add it to their property portfolio.

Once the historical ding-dongs were all done, the currently incumbent Graham, AKA the latest Earl of Montrose, created the walled garden and summerhouse behind.

There's no romantic clan history by the beginning of the 19th century, the Grahams were now a succession of London-based noblemen and prominent politicians. They were no strangers to an Eton education, neither, making Mugdock Castle no more than a base for holidaying toffs.

If the history is to be believed, the lodgings weren't that grand and would be lucky to receive a from advising trippers, these days.

The toffs' frolics may well have involved some period-appropriate appreciation of Mugdock Loch where fisherfolk and canoeists can carry on in a 21st-century manner.

The path continues around the water where there are more signs to a visitor centre and a second, now known to be fenced off, 'castle', which was more of a country house from the early 1800s.

No time for that today, however, we need to get back but with just a mental map of Mugdock, I'm sure it's this way?

Hmmm, the Khyber Car Park, pretty sure that's not it so carry on but we're now heading back towards the Visitor Centre. No problem, the castle is definitely back this way but no, the South Car Park isn't the one we need, neither.

The West Highland Way? We cut off to avoid that earlier, remember, I think it's just through these trees and back the way we came.

Crikey! That's quite a drop down there but there's a fence in the way, anyways, and is that the imaginary road we drove in on and who put that golf course there?

It's genuinely not known how this happened, the park isn't that big,x` other than SlyBob likes to navigate by the sun.

Rough time of day and with it behind, there's a slight problem with that system in that this is Scotland in early May. The sun disappeared about two hours ago and some locals might say that many months.

There's no other option than to head back to the South Car Park and walk back by the road, which now definitely exists because there's at least three-quarters of a mile of it!

Back at Drumclog, oh look, here are some West Highland Wayers just setting off even if it's a little late in the day.

Who's laughing now?