Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
journey is arriving at Wemyss Bay station, an impressive wrought-iron and glass palace
that serves as a reminder of the great glory days when thousands of Glaswegians
would alight for their steamer trip “doon the watter”. It's now the departure point for
the CalMac
ferry
over to Rothesay, capital of the Isle of Bute (see p.228).
Hill House
Upper Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh, 20 miles northwest of Glasgow • April-Oct daily 1.30-5.30pm • £10; NTS
In 1902, Charles Rennie Mackintosh was commissioned by the Glaswegian publisher
Walter Blackie to design the
Hill House
in Helensburgh. Without doubt the best
surviving example of Mackintosh's domestic architecture, the house is stamped with
his very personal, elegant interpretation of Art Nouveau - right down to the light
fittings and fire irons. Various upstairs rooms are given over to interpretative displays
on the architect's use of light, colour, form and texture, while changing exhibitions on
contemporary domestic design from around Britain are a testament to Mackintosh's
ongoing influence and inspiration. After exploring the house, head for the
tearoom
in
the kitchen quarters, or wander round the beautifully laid-out
gardens
.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
HILL HOUSE
By train
Hill House is a good twenty-minute walk up
Sinclair Street from Helensburgh Central train station, or
just five minutes from Helensburgh Upper train station
(where trains to and from Oban and Fort William stop).
The Clyde Valley
he journey southeast of Glasgow into Lanarkshire, while mostly following the course of
the
CLYDE VALLEY
upstream, is dominated by endless suburbs, industrial parks and wide
strips of concrete highway. he principal road here is the M74, though you'll have to get
off the motorway to find the main points of interest. Less than ten miles from central
Glasgow,
Bothwell Castle
lies about a mile northeast of the
Blantyre
mill-workers'
tenement in which the explorer David Livingstone was born. Five miles west of
Blantyre, on the outskirts of the new town of East Kilbride, the
National Museum of
Scottish Country Life
offers an in-depth look at the history of agriculture in Scotland.
From here, the Clyde winds through lush market gardens and orchards before passing
beneath the sturdy little town of Lanark, the best base from which to explore the valley;
New Lanark
, on the riverbank, is a remarkable eighteenth-century planned village.
David Livingstone Centre
165 Station Road • April-Dec Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12.30-5pm • £6.50; NTS • First Bus's bus
#267 from Glasgow (Buchanan St) to
Hamilton runs via Blantyre, and there are frequent trains from Glasgow Central's lower level
Blantyre
, now a colourless suburb of Hamilton, was a remote hamlet based around a mill
on the banks of the Clyde when explorer and missionary David Livingstone was born
there in 1813. A tenement block set in a quiet country park near the river houses the
David Livingstone Centre
. One room shows the claustrophobic conditions under which
he was brought up and the others feature exhibitions on the missionary movement.
Bothwell Castle
A mile or so north of Blantyr • April-Sept daily 9.30am-5.30pm; Oct daily 9.30am-4.30pm; Nov-March Mon-Wed & Sun 9.30am-
4.30pm • £4.50; HS • First Bus #255 from Glasgow (Buchanan St) will drop you off on the Bothwell Rd near the entrance; by car, approach
from the B7071 Bothwell-Uddingston road.
Bothwell Castle
is one of Scotland's most dramatic citadels, its great red sandstone
bulk looming high above a loop in the river. he oldest section is the solid donjon
