Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SOUTH LANARKSHIRE
South Lanarkshire combines a highly urbanised area south of Glasgow with scenically gor-
geous country around the Falls of Clyde and the World Heritage-listed area of New
Lanark, by far the biggest drawcard of the region. If you're roaring up to Scotland on the
M74, there are some fine places to break your journey.
Lanark & New Lanark
POP 8253
Below the market town of Lanark, in an attractive gorge by the River Clyde, is the World
Heritage Site of
New Lanark
- an intriguing collection of restored mill buildings and
warehouses.
Once the largest cotton-spinning complex in Britain, it is better known for the pioneering
social experiments of Robert Owen, who managed the mill from 1800. New Lanark is
really a memorial to this enlightened capitalist. He provided his workers with housing, a
cooperative store (the inspiration for the modern cooperative movement), the world's first
nursery school for children, a school with adult-education classes, a sick-pay fund for
workers and a social centre he called the New Institute for the Formation of Character.
You'll need at least half a day to explore this site, as there's plenty to see, and appealing
walks along the riverside. What must once have been a thriving, noisy, grimy industrial vil-
lage, pumping out enough cotton to wrap the planet, is now a peaceful oasis with only the
swishing of trees and the rushing of the River Clyde to be heard.
Sights & Activities
MUSEUM
New Lanark Visitor Centre
(
www.newlanark.org
; adult/child/family £8.50/6/24; 10am-5pm Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm
Nov-Mar)
You need to buy a ticket to enter the main attractions. These include a huge
working spinning mule, producing woollen yarn, and the
Historic Schoolhouse
, which
contains an innovative, high-tech journey to New Lanark's past via a 3D hologram of the
spirit of Annie McLeod, a 10-year-old mill girl who describes life here in 1820. The kids
will love it as it's very realistic, although the 'do good for all mankind' theme is a little
overbearing.
