Lanarkshire & The Clyde Valley

 

Don’t get me wrong – I love Glasgow. But one of its joys is the ease with which you can get out of it. Within half an hour, you could be sunning yourself on a beach or exploring picturesque, rural scenery.

Let me invite you to my favourite getaway area – Lanarkshire and the Clyde Valley. I live there, and believe me; it’s worth getting to know. Yes, I realise that North Lanarkshire was once full of coal mines, steelworks and heavy engineering. But things have changed, and it has cleaned up its act. And the Clyde Valley – well, it never was industrial, and it is surely one of Scotland’s best kept secrets.

Yet Lanarkshire’s industrial past is nothing to be ashamed of. Managers of the 22-acre Summerlee Heritage Park in Coatbridge, eight miles east of Glasgow, agree with me. For here, where the Summerlee Ironworks once stood, the area’s former industries are celebrated. You can go down a coal mine, ride on a tram or go inside a reconstructed miner’s cottage. It also has a hall of working machinery, which clanks and turns all day. But beware – you won’t see it all in an hour or two. Set aside an afternoon, or better still a day.

And not far away, in the former mining town of Blantyre, is the David Livingstone Centre, which celebrates one of Lanarkshire’s greatest sons. A missionary and doctor, he was born in a one room tenement flat next to a cotton mill, and now the whole tenement has been given over to his life and achievements.

Of course, all this history may get a bit wearing. If so head for Strathclyde Park, where you’ll find M&D’s, a huge fairground with the world’s first spinning roller coaster! Great for the kids, but if, like me, you can’t quite see yourself boarding it, take a look at Strathclyde Park itself, with its Roman bathhouse ruins and the international rowing loch. Or go to East Kilbride, which has Scotland’s biggest indoor shopping complex. Here you can flash the plastic to your heart’s content.

East Kilbride is a new town, but there’s still plenty to see. The Museum of Scottish Country Life (part of the National Museums of Scotland) is here, as is Hunter House Museum in an old farmhouse where John and William Hunter, who pioneered surgery in the 18th century, were born.

Not far away is Hamilton, once Lanarkshire’s county town. The shopping is more traditional, and it is certainly the place to eat. Italian, French, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Scottish – all the great cuisines are represented. Plus there’s Chatelherault Country Park. This is one of my favourite places. It is centred on a magnificent early 18th century hunting lodge of the Dukes of Hamilton, which has been restored to its full glory. Surrounding it is parkland with woodland walks, white cattle and the ruins of Cadzow Castle, visited by Mary Queen of Scots.

Having sampled Hamilton, head down the Clyde Valley Tourist Route towards Lanark, passing the gardens centres and orchards (introduced, it is said, by the monks of Lesmahagow Priory) that are a feature of the area. The scenery is gentle and picturesque, as are the villages with their cosy pubs.

Lanark is forever associated with William Wallace, and his statue is on the wall of the Parish Church of St. Nicholas. But there is another church, though only the ruins are left. This is St. Kentigern’s, and I usually visit it to pay my respects at the grave of William Smellie, the "father of modern midwifery", who died in 1763.

But if you’re in Lanark you can’t afford to miss New Lanark, on the banks of the Clyde. It’s a World Heritage Site, and has altered little since Robert Owen, 200 years ago, built a cotton mill and village that was years ahead of its time. The place has not been preserved solely as a museum (though it does have some wonderful tourist-type attractions); it is a thriving community, and the houses are still occupied. Nearby are the Falls of Clyde, glorious waterfalls that are now harnessed to produce electricity. They can still be seen in full flood at certain times of the year, and they are spectacular.

Moving deeper into South Lanarkshire takes you through some wonderful countryside, with the bulk of Tinto Hill never far away. This is walking country, slightly bleak in places, but always beautiful. While here, visit Biggar, Scotland’s “museum town”. There are six museums in and around it, from the Gasworks Museum (within the town’s old gasworks) to Greenhills Farmhouse, where you’ll learn all about the Covenantors. A day will not take it all in, and when I tell you that St. Mary’s Church was the last church to be built in Scotland before the Reformation, you may want to put time aside to explore this as well.

The moorland around Crawfordjohn and Leadhills is another area of outstanding beauty. Its nickname is "God’s Treasure House in Scotland", because gold was once mined here. Indeed, the Scottish crown is partly made from gold discovered in the area. The British Gold Panning Championships are usually held in Wanlockhead, another small village. I’ve tried panning myself, and though I never got rich, I had great fun. Lead was mined here as well, and in the Wanlockhead Lead Mining Museum you can learn all about the industry. You can even go down a real mine.

I’m at the end of my tour, and yet I’ve left so much out. The ruins of Bothwell Castle, the finest 13th century castle in Scotland, for instance; the Time Capsule in Coatbridge, one of the country’s best leisure centres; and Motherwell Heritage Centre, which tells the story of North Lanarkshire. Then there’s the John Hastie Museum in Strathaven or the Carmichael Visitor Centre near Thankerton, where there is a collection of waxworks featuring great figures from Scottish history. And not forgetting the magical Biggar Puppet Theatre.

There are just so many attractions within Lanarkshire and the Clyde Valley. And I’m the lucky one – I live there, and I can, and do, visit most of them. Visit them yourself, and you’ll feel lucky too.