Moray Drive

Moray Drive is a legendary residential road located in the Stamperland area of Clarkston. The road starts at Stamperland Drive, and heads downhill, passes the start of Stamperland Gardens, passes Overlee Wynd and the Overlee Park's Car Park. The road then turns, passing the main entrance to Overlee Park and the Dandelion Field before heading steeply downhill. The road passes Moray Gardens on this hill as well as a site of important religious significance before heading past the Muddy Hill and going back uphill once more, ending at Stamperland Gardens.

History
The southwestern segment of Moray Drive (from Stamperland Drive to Overlee Wynd) is roughly parallel to the Overlee Farm access road that was built after the railway came through this area in the 1860s. Prior to this the access road ended roughly where Strawhill Road meets the Busby Road/A727 today. Overlee Farm owned the area where all of modern day Moray Drive is located, as well as Overlee Park and a couple of neighbouring streets. Overlee Farm is important in the history of this area, and still stands to this day, hidden, off the Overlee Wynd, in the Overlee Park. It is used today to house homeless people, and a couple of other buildings were also constructed for this purpose, directly next to the farmhouse. This driveway is important, however, as it served as the earliest form of the most important road in Stamperland, Moray Drive.

The area of Overlee Park was home to an ancient civilisation, and the surrounding area has been inhabited for many years. In the early 1920s, the Stamperland bungalows development began, expanding Clarkston and increasing its population. This driveway, left untouched for many years, was now used to access the beginnings of Stamperland Gardens. Just a few years later, the Stamperland terraces development began, and a new road was built parallel to the driveway. This road, was Moray Drive. And thus, our story begins.

Moray Drive became the access route to Stamperland Gardens. But also became the access route to an entirely new area, the Stamperland terraces. The terraces in Moray Drive and Moray Gardens were a panhandle, a salient away from the majority of the terraces, a salient with multiple gaps that were believed too steep to build on by the Stamperland bungalow builders, but the terraces were built there nonetheless. The road was built roughly in crescent formation, Stamperland Gardens being extended from its original simple dead end to become the main thoroughfare for the entire neighbourhood, a route that would be walked by many future locals, on their journeys far and wide. And at the beginning of this major road, Moray Drive was built.

The remaining fields of Overlee Farm would become greenspace, the Overlee Park being built there, preserving the rural feel of the area. But Moray Drive was built in the rural land in the late 1920s, and the road would be home to many buildings. The driveway was still there at this stage but had been overshadowed by the importance of the neighbouring road. Starting at Overlee Park, the buildings were terrace-style bungalows, semi detached in nature, but with the same appearance as the terraces further down the same road. These bungalows continue along all the available flat ground, before the terraces are built down the hills. Land was left at the bottom of the hill, and this land would become known as the Muddy Hill, likely so steep that even the terrace builders didn't dare to even attempt to build anything there.

Next over from Moray Drive was Moray Gardens, even steeper than Moray Drive and requiring Moray Drive to access, like a linear storyline of a video game where the challenge increases level by level. And at the end of Moray Gardens, the other side of the Muddy Hill as well as the back of Overlee Park, leading to a circularity that largely goes unchallenged elsewhere in Stamperland.

Nothing changed much on Moray Drive for many years, other than the proliferation of the car causing the road to become full of parked automobiles, blocking the narrow pavements up to some extent and causing a hazard for children running into the road. During the 1990s however two new houses were built at the top of Moray Drive, in a somewhat different style to the terraces, one behind the other, with the behind one hidden away and almost impossible to see, the one at front being much more visible.

In the late 1990s the driveway was mostly removed, replaced with a car park for Clarkston Railway Station, the trees behind the driveway being left and new bushes and trees being planted to somewhat cover up the railway that had led to the original creation of the street. And the remaining part of the driveway was turned into a patch of grass, sometimes called the Buttercup Field, and the Overlee Park Car Park. This also led to the creation of the Overlee Wynd, a twisting road now used for vehicular access to the Overlee Pavilion.

At this time, there were 2 pavilions in Overlee Park, the aforementioned Overlee Pavilion as well as a small other pavilion. The small pavilion was demolished around 2008 and the playground was entirely renovated to modern standards at the same time. In 2019 construction also began on a nursery in Overlee Park, providing education to many locals. This nursery will likely complete around 2021, at which time the Overlee Pavilion will likely be demolished, consigned to history. Overlee Farm overlooks the new nursery, like a side by side comparison of the past versus the future, a view to history next to the modern building.

And the area around the nursery was once home to two storage depots, one being demolished to make way for the nursery, the old wynding road being used to access the nursery, the driveway still existing for a very short distance, hidden behind the trees of Overlee Park, as it once was hidden behind the walls on Moray Drive, a view back to history, back to a time before Moray Drive even existed.

Appearance
Moray Drive begins at an almost crossroads by Clarkston Railway Station. The road heads downhill past a car park before reaching Stamperland Gardens. The road then continues, passing the daisy field at Overlee Park, as well as the car park and main entrance to Overlee Park, as well as the Dandelion field. The road at this time has Stamperland terrace-style bungalows on the left hand side and the park on the right but after the park entrance has terrace-style bungalows on both sides. The road reaches the top of a large steep hill, and on both sides here is Stamperland terraces. About halfway down this hill Moray Gardens splits off on the right hand side with yet more terraces. The road is largely full of double parked cars as the road passes the site of religious significance. The road turns round to the left with the Muddy hill on the right and Stamperland style terraces of the left. Views from here to the end of Moray Gardens and Overlee Park, as well as off to the Netherton Braes and Stamperland Monument are possible. The road continues round to the left, with 2 late 20th century buildings on the right before ending at Stamperland Gardens.

Religious significance
Moray Drive is considered to be of great religious significance to many worldwide religions. Most tourism in the area is done by car, or by buses. Occasionally, people can become stuck if driving buses down the narrow roads locally, however.