Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.

The Clyde Gorge.

When you mention the River Clyde, visions of shipbuilding in Glasgow's bygone days springs to mind with all the muck and grime which went with it. So it was refreshing to visit this place seven years ago and see the Clyde at its wildest and beautiful best. That day the river was in spate and the falls were as impressive as any I had seen. It's taken me a long time to return and the walk through the gorge seemed to have had work done to it by adding more viewing platforms unless my mind was playing tricks with me.

The Clyde was much more benign than it had been all those years ago and the gorge took on a more beautifully sedate appearance and mood. The walk from the New Lanark World Heritage Centre which is known as the Badger Trail is only about three miles there and back but it never strays far from the Gorge and along the way there are ample opportunities to view the falls; the best one being the viewing point for the Corra Linn.

There are three falls in total -

Dundaff Linn which is just on the edge of the Heritage Site.
Corra Linn which is situated at a point where the Clyde Gorge narrows and is midway along the trail.
Bonnington Linn which is at the far end of the gorge and is just before you reach the weir (which is the point where the Clyde's character changes from being wide and benign to being narrow and spectacular).

My only regret was that I visited maybe three of four weeks too early as the trees hadn't really started to get their autumn colours. I should imagine the gorge will be breathtaking when everything has changed.

I have include five photos to the end of the blog which I took back in 2008 to show how it was that day and, as you can see, it was very impressive.

Oh and I've just realises that this is my 150th blog :)

River Clyde

Dundaff Linn

River Clyde

On the Badger Trail

Water pipes from Dundaff Dam

Corra Linn

Clyde Gorge

Light on leaves

River Clyde

Bonnington Linn

Clyde reflections

The Badger Trail

Autumn Colours

Dundaff Linn

Corra Linn

Dundaff Linn - Oct 2008

Corra Linn - Oct 2008

Bonnington Linn - Oct 2008

Looking towards Bonnington Linn

New Lanark World Heritage Site.

I was staying in my caravan in the Lakes and an early rise and a trip to the Trossachs for the day was intended but once I was on the M6, the reality of a long drive up and then home again lost its appeal somewhat. I then contemplated going to visit the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel just outside Glasgow but getting through that place can be fraught especially as I was hitting Glasgow at rush hour so that was also kicked in to touch.

So, recalling years ago when I last visited the Clyde Gorge and when the river was in spate, I decide on cutting my journey short and instead heading for New Lanark to see it in its more gentler state and take some photos of The World Heritage Site as well. I will be doing a separate blog on The Clyde Gorge at a later date.

New Lanark was founded in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers. Dale built the mills there in a brief partnership with the English inventor and entrepreneur Richard Arkwright to take advantage of the water power provided by the only waterfalls on the River Clyde. Under the ownership of a partnership that included Dale's son-in-law, Robert Owen, a Welsh philanthropist and social reformer, New Lanark became a successful business and an epitome of utopian socialism as well as an early example of a planned settlement and so an important milestone in the historical development of urban planning.

As the New Lanark mills depended upon water power, a dam was constructed on the Clyde above New Lanark and water was drawn off the river to power the mill machinery. The water first travelled through a tunnel, then through an open channel called the lade. It then went to a number of water wheels in each mill building. It was not until 1929 that the last waterwheel was replaced by a water turbine. Water power is still used in New Lanark. A new water turbine has been installed in Mill Number Three to provide electricity for the tourist areas of the village.

In Owen's time some 2,500 people lived at New Lanark, many from the poorhouses of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although not the grimmest of mills by far, Owen found the conditions unsatisfactory and resolved to improve the workers' lot. He paid particular attention to the needs of the 500 or so children living in the village (one of the tenement blocks is named Nursery Buildings) and working at the mills, and opened the first infants' school in Britain in 1817, although the previous year he had completed the Institute for the Formation of Character.

The New Lanark mills operated until 1968. After a period of decline, the New Lanark Conservation Trust (NLCT) was founded in 1974 (now known as the New Lanark Trust (NLT)) to prevent demolition of the village. By 2006 most of the buildings have been restored and the village has become a major tourist attraction. It is one of six UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland and an Anchor Point of ERIH - The European Route of Industrial Heritage.

Part of the site has been converted in to a hotel and private dwellings but the large mill is still open to the general public and a roof garden has been added. Also the old school rooms are open as are various worker's cottages and the house where Robert Owen resided.

My main reason for coming though was the Gorge walk but I had a good wander around the site before the crowds started to arrive. The only drawback was that the morning weather was a bit dull as you can see from the photos. If I'd have arrived a few hours later the sun would have been out. Just before leaving I popped in the coffee shop for a cappuccino and had a look around the Mill Shop which, unfortunately, sold the usual over-priced rubbish that places like tis always seem to sell.

The road from Lanark to the Site

New Buildings 1878

Mill lade and Hotel

Mill lade

Mill lade and Hotel

The old water wheel.

Old Mill

Robert Owen's school

Back of the old mill

Mill lade and water houses.

Back of the old mill

Old dye works

View of The Heritage site

Site gardens

Old water turbine behind the mill

Hotel windows.

Newlands Valley and a pint in The Swinside Inn

I hadn't been on this walk or stroll for many years and what a belting day we picked to do it. The walk itself is about as flat as you will get in the Lakes except for the little pull up to The Swinside Inn but that just gives you a good excuse to stop for a pint, especially on a warm and sunny day like we had.

The walk starts off in Portinscale just outside of Keswick and, after passing by some very expensive looking houses, enters open countryside. The walk heads through Ullock Farm and is then followed by a short stretch of road walking or should I say country lane walking. Newlands Beck is eventually joined and the path simply follows this until you see a branch off to the Swinside Inn. I think the path by the beck carries on to the hamlet of Stair at the foot of Causey Pike which, along with Barrow, dominates the view from the valley.

The pub was busy with both walkers and people out for Sunday lunch and the nice pint of cold lager went down very well on such a hot day but, reluctantly, we pressed on. The next little bit of the walk is quite tiresome as it is on roads connecting Keswick to Catbells and on a hot Sunday, they can be quite busy. None the less, it is over quite quickly as the path then goes down to Hause End. Then the walk is easy if a bit long-winded. You walk through woodland and pastures, past Lingholme Gardens to get back to Nichol End and Portinscale.

We finished off an enjoyable day by visiting the Coledale Inn in Braithwaite, another fine traditional Lakeland pub.