Glasgow: New Lanark

We went to New Lanark (UNESCO 2001), a restored cotton mill village where utopian socialists Robert Owen and David Dale carried out social reforms. There were nurseries, schools, housing, and an educational/cultural center for workers. The mills were powered by the waters of the River Clyde, a rather picturesque setting. Such a social experiment was only possible because the raw cotton was produced in the Americas by slave labor.

From the welcoming info sign at Lanark Railway Station (1st below), it's a 40 minute downhill walk to New Lanark Village. On the way we passed several tidy older single family homes (2nd below).




New Lanark village and mills are spread out along the River Clyde. We did not pay to go inside. One of the tallest mills, with 5 stories, is now a swanky hotel (3rd below).






Like most mills of the time, the River Clyde was diverted into a canal (1st below) to control and direct the water to the 3 or 4 operating mills. See the very large historic water wheel at right in the photo second below.




Today water from the River Clyde flows from a man-made lake (1st below) down through two very large pipes (2nd and 3rd below) to the historic Bonnington Hydroelectric Power Station (1921) generating 11 megawatts of power (4th below).








We also followed the Clyde Walkway path to the Falls of the Clde and found a worthy lunch spot view of the falls.








And we spotted some Himalayan Blue Poppies on the uphill walk back to Lanark Station.