16th February – the Falls of Clyde

Verity and Chris have been staying with us for a few days, and Leonie came down from Oban on Tuesday night, so yesterday we enjoyed a day out doing some walking and photography.

Our first stop was the Falls of Clyde near Lanark.  Along the banks of the River Clyde is the World Heritage Site of New Lanark, a village that was established in 1786 and grew up around a number of cotton mills.  Under the ownership of Robert Owen, a Welsh philanthropist and social reformer, the mills employed and housed 2,500 workers, and they were fully operational for nearly 300 years, only closing in 1968.

Contrary to the views of his day, Owen believed in giving his workers healthy conditions in which to live and work;  he established schools for the children, provided sources of fresh food, and he turned the mill into a highly profitable enterprise.  It’s an inspiring story, but I’ll reserve that for a feature in The Hazel Tree!

We took some photos of the impressive mill buildings which now contain a hotel, a visitor centre, a café and workshops.  They are all beautifully restored, and the old water wheel that once pumped water to the machinery is still in working order.

The river flows through a deep wooded gorge and over a series of very picturesque waterfalls.  Dippers were flitting around the rocks in the middle of the river, a goosander flew overhead, and we glimpsed a peregrine above the trees (peregrines nest regularly in the woods around the falls).

At the first waterfall, Leonie and Chris also caught sight of an otter playing in the foaming white water – it then hopped upstream against the strong current, and started playing in the calmer water above the falls.  The rest of us missed it, and it didn’t return, however keenly we looked.

The path along the bank led us past several more falls and some lovely stretches of calm reflective water.  Snowdrops were flowering in the woods, and – amazingly – some of the low-growing bushes were showing the first signs of green leaves bursting from their buds.  Chris spent some time getting long-exposure shots of the tumbling water, which turned out to be stunning.

After about half an hour we reached Corra Linn (linn is Scots for waterfall).  This is the highest of the falls, and in the 18th century it inspired many artists, including J M W Turner.  The falls were not flowing at full spate, because on most days the nearby hydro-electric station takes a large proportion of the flow away, and also because we’ve had very little rain recently.  However, it still made an impressive sight as it dropped into the wide gorge.

High on the bank overlooking Corra Linn is a small lodge house, now roofless and derelict, with the date MDCCVIII (1708) carved in stone above the front door.  Known as the Bonnington Pavilion, this was a summer house for artists and poets who wished to observe the falls in privacy and comfort.  There was room downstairs for a kitchen, and on the second floor were big viewing windows, as well as a fireplace which would have made it a very warm and cosy retreat.

When the Pavilion was first built, large mirrors were placed on the wall directly opposite the main window, so as to reflect the view and give the impression that the waterfall was actually inside the room.  Apart from Turner, famous visitors to the falls included Wordsworth, Coleridge and Sir Walter Scott.

It was a lovely morning, with a chilly breeze but some nice slanting sunshine coming through the trees.  We made it back to the car by lunchtime, and then decided to head north-east, up to Gullane on the Firth of Forth.

I’ll post some pics from the beach at Gullane in the next day or so.  Meanwhile I hope you enjoy our images of the Falls of Clyde.  The long exposure shots are taken by Chris, while most of the wider-angle ones are Verity’s.   The rest are mine and Colin’s.

Please remember all these photos are strictly copyright © Colin & Jo Woolf, Verity Woolf & Chris Sansom.

Mill buildings (1)

Mill buildings (2)

Mill buildings (3)

Quote by Robert Owen on notice by mill houses

Water wheel and mill buildings

River view with mill buildings

Falls

Falls close-up (1)

Falls close-up (2)

Falls close-up (3)

Falls (1)

Falls – long exposure 1

Falls – long exposure 2

Edge of falls

River & low falls – long exposure

River – long exposure

Calm water with hydro station

Reflections

Snowdrops

Pipes into hydro electric station

Power station

Corra Linn

Corra Linn – long exposure

Bonnington Pavilion

Inside the Pavilion

Front of Pavilion

Date carved over front door – 1708

Bonnington Pavilion (2)