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Wildlife Walk - Falls of Clyde

Description

Robert Owen began the co-operative movement at the New Lanark Mills. New Lanark has been preserved as a wonderful visitor attraction and is also a World Heritage Site. The Falls of Clyde adjacent to New Lanark provide wonderful opportunities for wildlife watching and the East Walk leaves from New Lanark and covers part of the Clyde Walkway. The reserve is home to badgers, otters, red squirrel and a breeding pair of peregrines. The latter are a conservation success story: after an absence of 200 years they returned in 1997.

This delightful, circular walk leads you through the more quiet areas of the reserve. Enter the reserve through the archway and continue along the main path for 100 yards and follow the blue waymarked route. Pass by one of the many badger setts. Look out for sett entrances, snuffle holes, and prints along the woodland path. The path continues past a small pond (perfect for dragonflies, pond skaters and frogs) and leads onto the wildflower meadow, a popular haunt for our resident owl, especially in the evening.

Highlights of the walk include the eighteenth century Corra Linn Viewing Pavilion and the reserves most impressive feature, the waterfall Corra Linn. This 27-metre cascade waterfall has been immortalised by William Wordsworth as 'the Clyde's most majestic daughter' and is well worth the walk during any season. Turn right onto the Clyde Walkway and listen for the melodic songs of warblers and tits in the ancient broadleaved woodland.

Heading back to the village be sure to look for seasonal wildflowers along the river edge boardwalk as well as dippers and kingfishers.

Access Info

Follow signs to New Lanark World Heritage site. Signposted from all major routes and less than one hour's drive from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling. The reserve is situated 1 mile from Lanark. From Lanark a local bus service runs hourly from the railway station to New Lanark. The start point for the walk is the Falls of Clyde Visitor Centre, New Lanark.

Additional Info

The reserve has several walks available. Pick up a map at the Falls of Clyde Visitor Centre. The reserve is open during daylight hours and is also home to breeding peregrine falcons. To find out more about the Scottish Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre please click on www.swt.org.uk A visit to this area would not be complete without stepping back in time in the New Lanark World Heritage village. To find out more about this fantastic visitor attraction visit www.newlanark.org

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