The Falls of Clyde

Monday 27th May 2024

I didn’t stay in one place for very long during my holiday in Scotland, so after just two nights in the town of Moffat in the Southern Uplands I drove north through heavy rain to the World Heritage Site of New Lanark beside the Falls of Clyde. When I got there I was pleased to find that I had left the heavy rain behind and the sun was breaking through the clouds as I made my way down the hill to the village that was founded in 1785 to provide housing for mill workers. I had planned to visit this area at Easter in 2020 at the end of the Clyde Walkway but after that holiday was scrapped because of Covid I found I was no longer interested in doing the Clyde Walkway, though I still wanted to visit the Falls of Clyde which had perhaps been my only motivation for doing the walk in the first place. It was not New Lanark that had interested me, rather it was the waterfalls on the River Clyde that attracted me to the area, and so I was soon past the buildings and joined the route of the Clyde Walkway into the Falls of Clyde Nature Reserve and fabulous woodland. Some bluebells had survived the hot weather of earlier in May along with several other woodland flowers, but generally most of had gone to seed, though this failed to detract from my enjoyment of the walk. An excellent path afforded me with viewpoints into the gorge where I was able to get a glimpse of the awesome spectacle even though the views were sometimes obscured by rapidly growing vegetation.

The first waterfall is Dundaff Linn which could be seen from New Lanark but a closer look was not possible due to intervening trees. Beyond, I walked along a wooden boardwalk that helped me get close to the water, which at this point was gently moving and hardly hinting at the ferocious power of the falls upstream. Corra Linn was the next waterfall that I saw and this was spectacular in its woodland setting falling into a vast, steep sided bowl that forced me to climb high to get around it. The path always kept me safely away from danger but sacrificed up close views that would have been more dramatic. When I had finally had enough of the scene I resumed my progress along the path, always keeping right whenever I reached a junction to maintain my course beside the river even though this sometimes only led me to a viewpoint whose exit was the way I had come. The third and final waterfall was Bonnington Linn which was broader than Corral Linn and encompassed several branches thanks to a small island in the river where a now derelict bridge would have previously taken people across the waters but no more. I was able to safely cross the river just above Bonnington Linn and from there I returned along the opposite bank where more viewpoints afforded me with stunning sights of the waterfalls, though overgrowing vegetation proved constantly frustrating.

After passing Corra Linn I settled into a pleasant woodland walk that would have justified coming here even without the waterfalls. A few fallen trees provided me with a tricky obstacle to circumvent especially as I couldn’t see the path on the other side but once I passed I was able to continue the walk beside the river and past New Lanark where there is no way across the river. After passing New Lanark the path widened underneath thick woodland and while underneath it started to rain heavily, so clearly the heavy rain that I had encountered on the drive north from Moffat had now caught up with me, so while sheltered under the trees I put my waterproofs on before continuing along the trail through the woodland with little or no view of the river to my right. Eventually I emerged onto a road where I turned right to reach Clydesholm Bridge where I was in doubt as to the onward route back along the northern bank of the river. There was no sign to indicate the route of the Clyde Walkway and the most likely route was through a shut gate beside a private residence. After a long time spent wandering around and looking at maps, I eventually decided there was no other place to go so I went through the gate and soon I was beside the river on a very wet path that was clearly the Clyde Walkway.

As the rain began to ease I climbed the steep bank to reach a road before descending a zigzagging path through Castlebank Park that brought back down to the river and after passing through Braxfield Park I climbed once more to reach the New Lanark Road. This was an amazing walk that saw me pass stunning scenery through the narrow valley of the Clyde where several waterfalls mesmerised and enthralled me. I was fortunate to have sunshine while passing the falls and for the rain to wait until I had reached the less interesting section of the walk, and I thought that I must have been benefiting from the large amount of rain that had fallen this year to produce such spectacular waterfalls that were worth the wait.