New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde
New Lanark was built in the 1780s by cotton mill owner David Dale to house his workers. His son-in-law, Robert Owen, became a managing partner of New Lanark in 1800 and expanded the business while also implementing a series of social and educational reforms designed to improve the quality of life of his workforce. Today, the village is owned by a trust – the mills have been turned into museums and a hotel, and many of the millworkers’ homes have been restored and reoccupied.
Our most recent visit was not to view the mills – we’ve done that several times. We wanted to see a tapestry that was on display, and then have a walk up to the Falls of Clyde. Tapestries are quite the thing at the moment – last year, I wrote about both the Great Tapestry of Scotland and the Scottish Diaspora Tapestry. Those two were similar in that they had a theme but each panel stood on its own. This one told the story of the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745 (when Bonnie Prince Charlie defeated the government army) so it was like a giant comic-strip. Here’s just a flavour:
I also loved the banners round the walls:
Then it was off for our walk. We’ve done this before too, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much water in the Falls – the immense power which was available to the mills is obvious. We followed the Clyde Walkway past Corra Linn….
….as far as the even more spectacular Bonnington Linn.
We then looped back on the woodland trail and had a last stroll round the village before starting the climb back up to the carpark….
….via the Old Cemetery, reflecting on Robert Owen’s words as we went. Truly a man ahead of his time.
I’ve added this to Jo’s Monday Walk collection.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
I loved my first visit and will be returning to walk some more – with appropriate apparel!!
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Yes – very necessary!
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Simply stunning Anabel, but I couldn’t bear it, just looking at your photos makes me shiver!
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It was pretty cold! But spring is here now.
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I do love New Lanark and the surrounding area. So much beauty and so much history. My favourite place to go is Corehouse. It’s a lovely walk and you get a great angle of the falls. I love the old garden under the trees and the ruined walled garden further in. It’s such an enchanting area.
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Great tip! I’ll remember that. Thanks for visiting.
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These are great pics and that waterfall is so pretty-i wonder how loud it was:) I love old cemetaries-they capture so much to the imagination. i also like those tapestries-remind me of the bayeux Tapestry
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It was pretty loud! Especially the second set of falls.
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Another beautiful post, Anabel!
By the way, are you going to do the A to Z Challenge again this year? I wasn’t sure I could fit it in this time, but I think I’ll give it another try… have a good one!
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Thanks John Mark. Yes, I am doing the challenge – one post back is my theme, Gallus Glasgow. See you on the trail I hope!
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Absolutely! I’m thrilled that you’re jumping back into the challenge, and wouldn’t miss your posts!
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A wonderful post – interesting tapestries, a walk in the countryside, a great river and waterfalls and a history lesson thrown in. Just what I love about the blogging community. Thanks Anabel 🙂
Jude xx
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Glad you liked it! I certainly wasn’t expecting the falls to be so full, even though we have had a lot of rain. It was awe inspiring.
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So unusual to see cartoon style tapestry, Anabel! I love it 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this. As I said in my reply on mine, this is a walk I have wanted to do for a while. I’ve read and heard about the New Lanark village but never been there. So much water in the falls too! I really enjoyed myself 🙂 Cheers for the link!
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Glad you liked it! Many thanks for all the comments and tweets – I’ve been offline since 2:30 or so and just catching up now.
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You’re very welcome 🙂 I come and go on the ‘net. Can’t cope with life tied to a smartphone. I was out walking much of the day (surprise 🙂 )
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I remember it! We’ve been walking ‘together’ a while now, haven’t we? 🙂
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Yes, I suspected it might have been after we started following each other but wasn’t sure. Debbie has also walked there.
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Yes, Debs has a few times 🙂
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In all the times I’ve been in Glasgow, I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about where the River Clyde originated. So I was a bit astounded when I googled the Falls of Clyde to get a map and saw that this might river starts off as a stream! That is a great waterfall.
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It does! Even not far outside Glasgow, it’s quite a different river.
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