Birdman of Pollok’s environmental campaign recalled in TV documentary
A dreadlocked environmental activist from a deprived innercity area of Glasgow who won fame as the “Birdman of Pollok” for his campaign to try to stop a motorway being built is the subject of a documentary by BBC Alba.
In 1992, Colin Macleod spent nine days in the branches of a beech tree in Pollok Country Park to try to stop construction workers felling an area of woodland to make space for the M77 motorway.
The protest captured national attention and drew scores of supporters to join him in the area, which they declared the “Pollok Free State”.
The camp became an alcoholand drug-free zone, with the charismatic Mr Macleod using discarded wood from the construction site to teach traditional carving techniques, while youngsters from local estates were introduced to Gaelic poetry, storytelling and music.
The protesters declared independence from the UK, and even issued passports to those living within its ramshackle maze of tunnels, tents and tree houses.
On St Valentine’s Day in 1995 about 100 local schoolchildren declared a strike and walked out of their classrooms to join the protests after police cordoned off the area around the “free state” to allow tree felling.
Ultimately the protests failed to stop the motorway, and around 5,000 trees in the area were cut down to make way for it.
Mr Mcleod died in 2005 but remains a legendary figure for many in Glasgow.
The documentary, which will be broadcast on Monday at 9pm, includes previously unseen archive photos and video footage, loaned by his wife Gehan and closest friends.
Filmmaker Nina Torrance said: “There is so much happening today that parallels what Colin was fighting against that it felt we needed to hear his story today more than ever.”
Alastair Macintosh, a friend of Mr Macleod, said: “He was a chieftain in the true ancient sense. He broke his heart fighting poverty in Glasgow.”