Craigends of the 20th Century a Renfrewshire estate remembered

My dad took my sisters and I for walks up the "manor" as we called it for many years with our dog Lucky.

I remember the big old grand entrance covered in brambles and weeds and walking up the long driveway. I remember the walled garden with walls intact but garden just a mass & tangle of weeds.

It was considered brave to jump down into the wine cellar under the ruin of the big house. There were still old bottles in the wine cellar at this time but alas the historian in most of us was probably satisfied with smashing at this time...

The tunnels? Yes there definitely were tunnels. I think I recall two.. One pretty long one took you from near the house entrance towards the river.I remember it had a big pipe of some sort running across about half way through.

My pal Drew and I used to cycle up from Linwood on "secret seven" or "Famous Five" type adventures at night. We would use the lights from our bikes as torches to explore the tunnels and the wine cellar.

Like a lot of people I enjoyed the grounds of the old manor for many years and when I went back as a "grown up" seeking historical enlightenment I was very disappointed to discover the manor had been demolished and plans were underway to build a housing estate.