New Lanark at Christmas. Falls of Clyde. Arthur's Seat. Looking Backwards.

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I normally post up to date trips that I've done recently but a few months ago I found a couple of folders in a file from around 10 to 15 years ago that I thought would do nicely for a Christmas/New Year post. This is New Lanark at Christmas, a former self contained cotton mill town stuck down in a gorge to make use of the powerful River Clyde for industrial purposes. Water driven power.  Tourists, pre Victorian, Victorian, and post Victorian used to flock here, including the great and the good.  Drawn to see the pioneering developments and reforms of Robert Owen. late 1700s early 1800s, who looked after the welfare of his workers better than most in order to get the best out of them, and thus increase production.

I've been here around a dozen times over the decades but this solo visit was the most memorable as it coincided with icy conditions. Hard frost and a sprinkling of snow in the week before Christmas. Decorations up giving a cosy glow despite the sub zero temperatures. Twinkling in fact.

It was a winter wonderland.

One of the mills. New Lanark is now a tourist attraction. There is a car park just above the gorge and you walk down or you can drive down just to drop elderly/ disabled folk off then drive back up again to park. I've not been there for years so maybe there's a shuttle bus down now.

The other big draw being the Falls of Clyde, a spectacular set of waterfalls with the River Clyde plunging over a considerable drop and then down various rapids. Normally these days the water is sucked away to generate hydro electric power and you only really see its full glory after sustained heavy rain when they don't require extra water or during open days. The falls are reached from a riverside path direct from New Lanark. One winter I timed it perfectly, both to catch it in full spate conditions and then later here.... on this solo trip with a 10 day freeze up of between minus 5c to minus 20c cold spell over the mountains. 

In these conditions it was back to being spectacular again. A world of ice. Like something out the arctic regions. Mini ice bergs floating downstream.

Very impressive.

An ice cave....

Thick ice crystals coating all the trees around.

And I'll end with the beauty of Holyrood Park in Springtime. May in fact. Another solo Edinburgh bus trip many years ago when I was blown away by this unexpected golden flourish while ascending this ancient volcano and mini mountain. 

A carpet of yellow flowering gorse most of the way to the summit on this one memorable occasion.

And an equally delightful descent via the zig zags path. Happy New Year and best wishes for all of us in 2026.

https://newlanark.org/introducing-robert-owen/

River Leven Walk. Leven Swamp. Strathleven House.

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As it was a fairly murky day... in a month long run of very wet, murky, but thankfully mild days... Alan and I headed for Dumbarton. We parked here beside the River Leven and Levengrove Park then walked up the west bank of this river, seen above. A walk we had both done before, probably with different hillwalking friends, but not for a few years... five years at least....so this walk felt fresh again. 

A view from the car park of the River Leven flowing under the town's old stone bridge. In spate this is a short, winding, but very powerful river. It drains all 23 miles of Loch Lomond, a mere 10 miles away, and is surrounded by dozens of mountain streams so the catchment area is huge. The River Leven is the only outflow... which is why we were here. Powerful enough to be impressive... not high enough to flood the paths we were walking on... which does happen.

A dark deep river full of submerged currents, looking in places as if a giant sea monster was squirming just under the surface.  It is tidal for several miles inland. Unless you were a very good swimmer, experienced in turbulent rivers, there's a good chance you would be pulled under. Never to be seen again. Down at Dumbarton several moored boats are dragged under  each year, unless properly maintained and given enough slack rope on the mooring to allow for the rise and fall of the tide and spate conditions. I have seen a difference myself of around ten feet between summer river levels and full flood conditions in winter.

Bellsmyre and the Lang Craigs in winter sunshine. Just above Dumbarton, on this west side river track you pass the Leven Swamp. An area of undulating bumps and hollows that gets a fresh influx of flooding nearly every winter, resulting in this area of flood plain being permanently drowned year round as the various hollows can't drain back out again. Stagnant, freezing cold, and waist deep the only thing missing is poisonous snakes and alligators.

Luckily, a good tarmac path weaves through it popular with walkers and cyclists in summer.

It also passes under the main A82 heading north, the only fast glimpse most Munro baggers and tourists get of the River Leven heading up in their cars past Balloch and Loch Lomondside. This was a new mural for both of us. And a good one.

 Motorists will not see it though as they rush past on the road above.

A male goldeneye duck. Not a very good (rushed) photo but recognisable due to its distinctive white cheek patch. According to my bird book only Scandinavia and the Arctic are coloured in as its natural habitat... not the UK. And I don't remember ever seeing one before. But they may be winter visitors to the UK. Around three pairs here, males and females.

A berry tree. A winter lifeline for wild creatures.

A bend on the mighty River Leven. Robert The Bruce, King of Scotland, retired here for the last few years of his life. Living beside the River Leven in a small mansion house, hunting, fishing, boating, and wildfowling in this area until he passed away.

One person I'd never heard of though was Tobias Smollett. This is his memorial in Renton next to a school on the Main Street. An 18th century Poet, Writer and Surgeon, he's mainly known today for being an influence on Charles Dickens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_Smollett

This is also a good landmark as directly down from here a pedestrian bridge crosses the River Leven, the first walkers bridge since Dumbarton. We crossed here to walk down the other side of the river back to the car. This new path was not tarmac and was extremely muddy in places. We ended up with mud on the trousers up to knee level after a month of wet weather. Still enjoyable though. A hassle washing boots and trousers off in the sink later. Like wading through a chocolate factory.

We made a slight detour to let Alan see Strathleven House, an 18th century mansion now run by SHBT/ Dumbarton council? with various private offices inside. At one time the Vale of Leven was a major industry hub with a long string of factories making good use of water power from the river, using its exceptional year round flow to drive machines, textile mills, etc on both banks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strathleven_House

Swirling water. Not as tranquil as it appears here. Fast flowing.

The underpass tunnel on the east bank with the A82 traffic thundering above.

Looking back at the A82.

Lusset Glen . Old Kilpatrick. Under the Erskine Bridge.

Canal Reflections.

Forth and Clyde canal. As it was only a 2 to 3 hour walk along the River Leven we stopped here as well.

Fungi breaking down a log.

The Romans did not get any further north than Old Kilpatrick/ Bowling on the West Coast. Put off by the tribal fortress of Dumbarton Rock and the savage mountains beyond with the threat of easy ambush in such wild country. This sculpture in Lusset Glen shows that and local industry maybe. Didn't see an info sign anywhere but this is how the Romans transported liquid goods.... wine etc...across the empire.

It certainly wasn't here the last time I visited.

Loch Ardinning and Kilmardinny Loch Day.

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The week after Alan showed me some places in Paisley I hadn't been before. mainly Stanely reservoir and castle, in the last post, I decided to return the favour as he hadn't visited Loch Ardinning or Kilmardinny Loch. Dumgoyne above with the snow covered pyramid of Ben Lomond in the distance. 

It has been a full month of grey dismal weather recently, mild, around 8c to 10c degrees above freezing and very wet. Good news for people watching their heating bills and scraping car windscreens but not so good for general mood. This post is from early to mid November when we had a run of below freezing days and minus -5c below nights in the cities and towns. Snow over the mountains.

We parked on the A81 layby next to Loch Ardinning which is just east of Mugdock Country Park on the road between Milngavie and Strathblane. Campsie Fells view here with a white van on the B822 descending into Lennoxtown.

The western end of the Campsie Fells from Loch Ardinning. You can do a circular walk here on this attractive upland moor with good views. And it's close to Glasgow so an easy drive and no car destroying potholes on this particular run. ( I've already had expensive car damage just going to the local shops and back, bumping every few days over unavoidable and numerous ruts in the road- which have been there for at least the last 3 years. A first world country? I think not. And any trip on foot from the pedestrian bridge on the River Clyde through the graffiti mess that exists there, then Clydeside itself, then up through the 'four corners'  Union Street and Argyle Street, to end along the hollowed out and crumbling Sauchiehall Street of Glasgow's once glorious 'Style Mile' of shops, (once the largest outside of London) only demonstrates how much online shopping  and other advances in technology/ shopping tastes has hurt nearly every town and high street UK wide.

A frozen Loch Ardinning, above. Around a two hour walk here to do the full circuit across this upland plateau.

Campsie Fells view.

A house sized boulder stuck in a small stream. With no large cliffs for miles around a melting glacier drop is the obvious answer here. Many of the numerous small lochs in this area also formed like this from stadium sized blocks of ice, stragglers left behind, the melting bulk over centuries, already trapped in hollows, creating the network of attractive ponds still visible today in this vicinity.

Ice in the sun. 

Kilmardinny Loch above. We then travelled down a short distance to Kilmardinny Loch in Bearsden. I've known about this place for decades as well. It only takes 10 minutes to walk around this small loch at a fast pace but we went slowly. All the way round various carved animals can be found.

Most of the creatures here come from Julia Donaldson's book series. Although London born and bred her family lived in Bearsden for many years- hence the carved figures. The Gruffalo here. I think. Stick Man. Room on the Broom. Tiddler. and The Gruffalo's Child are all short (20 to 30 minute long) animated films on TV based on the books. All are delightful. Meant for children but equally good for adults. Simple yet funny and clever. They are usually shown around Christmas/ New Year on UK TV. I've seen all of the above and they are on a par with Wallace and Gromit. If you get the chance watch them.

Young badger. A carved bench.

Owls and fox bench.

Blue and green headed male mallard ducks.

Hare and woodpecker.

Some are obviously inspired by Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the like.... Incidentally I just found out Julia Donaldson has overtaken J.K. Rowling as the UK's most read author. She has had a very varied, busy, and remarkable life... and you can read about it here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Donaldson      This is worth reading in full.

The Gruffalo's Child. By a weird coincidence, yet one that happens a lot, I just got back from this walk, switched on the TV a short time later and this story was on. Magical. It is a belter, funny, charming... and with soft Scottish accents. It also manages to capture the beauty and wonder of winter at its very best. If you haven't seen any of the short films mentioned you are missing out.

It also explained , after seeing the film, why some of the creatures had a very stylized look to them, which works well in the film... but not so good here.

I prefer the more realistic older carving of a fox, above....

than this new version. It works well in the film. Not so much in static real life.

But it did explain the various characters dotted around the woods. The end.