The Seven Lochs Wetland Park recently received funding from Awards for All to help engage local communities with nature through a range of activities. Some of this funding was used to provide transport for members of the Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA) so that they could be involved in creating online phototrails for routes around the park.
Phototrails combine a mapped route of a trail with detailed descriptions and photos of potential hazards, path surface, gradient and facilities. It is a useful tool for people with mobility issues as you can check out the suitability of a route before you go.
GDA Members took part in three guided walks along sections of the Seven Lochs Trail in east Glasgow and North Lanarkshire. The aim of the walks was to collect the information needed to create an accurate phototrail of each route and also to introduce the GDA members to new places to visit. The group really enjoyed the walks, with one GDA member saying “The scenery was lovely and it was good to be able go at a steady pace and not be rushed; I enjoyed the whole experience”. Everyone was pleasantly surprised at how easy most of the paths were to navigate, finding only a few issue overall to flag up on the trail descriptions. The next step will be to meet up again to upload the trail descriptions and photographs to phototrails.org where the information will be made available to the public and people will be able to check the suitability of each walk before giving it a try.