New Lanark & the Falls of Clyde, Scotland, Winter
We’re back in the Highlands for a week!
On the way up from Cumbria, we stopped off roughly halfway through to check out a place we’ve been meaning to visit for ages: New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde.
New Lanark village—now a World Heritage Site—is a “planned settlement“, founded in the late 18th century Scottish industrialist David Dale alongside English entrepreneur Richard Arkwright. Cotton mills were built here to take advantage of the only waterfalls along the River Clyde, and housing was also built for all the mill workers.
Further up the Clyde, one can find several large waterfalls especially the pinnancle Corra Linn, which drops 84ft and is the 9th largest waterfall in the UK.
Although there was disappointingly little water in the Clyde, after a relatively dry winter, the walk itself was beautiful, the scenery gorgeous, and the village fascinating.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–3.8 zoom lens. RAWs developed in Capture One for iPad using Digistock’s Ektar 100 film profile, then finalised in Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
New Lanark & the Falls of Clyde, Scotland, Winter by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
There is no public parking allowed in New Lanark, so you have to park in the designated car park above the village then follow the footpath down. Here I framed the bell tower above the New Buildings.
One of many things that makes New Lanark unusual is that there are no street names. Instead, the buildings are named, and often very directly so. The nearby block of four houses are called Wee Row, and the larger block of 8 are Double Row.
We exited the footpath into the village proper, following the signs towards the Falls of Clyde. The buildings on the left are named New Buildings, millworker housing, named so because they are the newest to be built.
A closer look at Wee Row and Double Row in the distance. The longest block of housing on the right is called, you guessed it, Long Row. Nearby, to the left, is David Dale’s House, one of the founders of the village.
Walking down the street alongside New Buildings, with the bell tower front and centre in the block. It used to ring every day to single the start of work, but now only rings once a year on New Year’s Day.
We followed the signage towards the Falls of Clyde, but looked back to capture this great summary view of the village.
The first falls you come across are a series of powerful cascades known as Dundaff Linn. They’ve created a series of cataracts in the river bed, tessellating together like Tetris.
Further up from Dundaff Linn, a weir has been constructed allowing for this slightly unusual composition that I enjoy.
The first glimpse of the main waterfall of the Falls of Clyde: Corra Linn, dropping 84ft. Looking a little dry unfortunately after a relatively dry winter. It’ll be good to revisit after rain.
Further up the gorge is the third of the Falls, known as Bonnington Linn. These falls also mark the point where you return back to New Lanark.
We returned back to New Lanark close to the river. Alongside the river are the main Mill buildings. Mill 3 still has its roof in tact, but Mill 2 now has a roof garden and cracking views.
The waters of Mill Lade trickle alongside Mill 2, leading towards Mill 1, which is now the New Lanark Mill Hotel.